rolling r&b 2020

banger

lost summer jam for the summer we never had

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWqGG92GsrQ

phonte and vic mensa, produced by zo. i love this so much

that show is dope

I like this from Ayanis, whose 2018 single "Awh Yeh" was huge for me. This one's from back in January - it has 2mm views as of now (that's decent, no?)

Ayanis - Lil Boi (Big Talk) feat. Queen Naija

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvDH2-G77-0

i like that, has some clever lyrics

appreciate the tasteful references to classic music videos too. i def prefer that to the sometimes-gratuitous interpolations that pop up in the songs themselves lately

that's great

This is really nice:

Mahalia - Plastic Plants

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBaDGFrdNg0

love mahalia

Loyal, by Ceraadi, was a jam last year... they're still tearing it up:

Ceraadi - Tear It Up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gro3S-uWuk

(throwback-style jams are hitting the spot for me right now)

Jaguar coming July 31:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EbdB36nU8AAaiAT.jpg

1. Moment
2. Track 2
3. Dive
4. Track 4
5. Track 5
6. Experience ft. Khalid & SG Lewis
7. Ass Like That
8. Track 8
9. Track 9

love that cover

I need it

Summer Walker has a new EP out July 10. Nice BET Awards performance (w/Usher):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVqh9kCltAM

Rollerskating video (for dyl):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJGSU0nXd-w

:D

TIL her first name stands for “Kill All Arrogance Stop Hatred.”

Kaash Paige - Jaded

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrTM2jPAdhg

👑 when the Queen is coming, you move!! It’s just what you do lol new Jaguar release date: August 7th 🤎 pic.twitter.com/IrJRpxuTeo

— Victoria Monét (@VictoriaMonet) July 7, 2020

The new Summer Walker EP, Life on Earth, is really good:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ebs74MhWsAAcdzn?format=jpg&name=large
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EcbuhxFXQAMlm3t?format=jpg&name=large

def need to listen to that soon

here's a song i heard earlier today. i'm a bit taken by how warm, hopeful, gently uplifting it feels. (the video ends on a note that's not quite that)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GR4OJgDvFY

theres so much new R&B these days ... not a TON of it is connecting on a mass scale but a lot of it is doing decently, I'd love to read some really good critics on contemporary R&B

I think this would be a really good time for publications to properly cover r&b, not just because the genre is in particularly good health, but with the wider cultural conversations happening it would be a really good time to commit to covering work produced in a style that's still mostly associated with black voices

I'm aware how patronising and clunky and simplistic that statement reads but at the same time, I feel like we're talking about Black Lives Matter and empowerment and yet the coverage I see of contemporary r&b is so minimal

I agree it would be great (and, yes, “timely”) if a genre in which young Black women thrive were more celebrated!

it's so frustrating

I can't get over this EP - the first three tracks, especially, are just blazing. She's a major artist, you know? I'm so pleased, especially bc I never really connected w/Over It.

Summer Walker - My Affection

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMCpQ0FxJIo

i'm late but i am also enjoying summer walker's ep

Voicemails was a masterpiece but I somehow missed a new Tink album even existed. Belated thanks to Maura for the link. Have now picked it up and it's pretty great.

Victoria Monét's Jaguar is out on Friday; Kaash Paige's album Teenage Fever next week... this is gonna be a great month for r&b.

...and while I'm here, another great recent single:

Savannah Cristina - F'd Up (feat. Flo Milli)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HXrzCvALJM

bonus (nice!) live version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLUvRA3ZbJ8

Victoria Monét's Jaguar is out on Friday

jonesing for this so much rn

in the meantime this is an absolute jam

Teedra Moses, Salaam Remi, D-Nice - Black Love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QUDXlGuc00

9 songs, 25 min

👍🏼

"Moment" as Track #1 is such a choice

short excellent EPs are the answer

My only quibble (as a fan) is that I sometimes wish her lyrics were a little stronger - she's into corny puns & sex metaphors which are more silly than sexy (to me). There are some good lines, though ("We in your Porsche, but you coulda got it in a rental").

I'm also not sure why the two (great-sounding) "Interludes" weren't fleshed out into full songs(?)

the title track also demands an extended mix!

I wonder if there will be speculation around the identity of the woman in "Touch Me" ("based on a true story," says Victoria). the line about all the tattoos; the Porsche reference... u see where I'm going

i'm fine w/ her lyrics. mind you, i honestly rate Goapele's Milk & Honey lyrics and tone (and song) very highly, so

I'm also not sure why the two (great-sounding) "Interludes" weren't fleshed out into full songs(?)

that is otm. i would gladly have 9+ mins of the glouriously sizzling wmebfil

impressive collection of songs (and consistently striking instrumental work)

the title track also demands an extended mix!

definitely. "experience" too imo

Victoria Monet Jaguar got a good review in Pitchfork yesterday but a 7.1 score.

there's a quite nice video for the title track now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unniQzo65W8

i want to mix it with montell jordan's "get it on tonite" (or any other derivatives of the claudja barry tune it samples)

I don’t know about that video, lol

new neyo and jeremih is low key but nice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdiLrboD3f8

Love an all-male love duet

wasn’t able to really enjoy Jaguar at first because I had been expecting a sprawling album to get lost in, not an EP frontloaded with previously released singles and just three new tracks

tried again today, with just the new stuff and, yes, it is good...

...but it’s over before it begins - I still want that sprawling album to get lost in

guess I’ll have to play it on shuffle and hope the listening *experience* somehow balances out between the new and the familiar

just fleshing out those two interludes would have made such a difference

its replay value is something for the ages, tho

she revealed Jaguar is part 1 of 3 parts

a very good read: https://nypost.com/2020/08/07/victoria-monet-jaguar-interview-album-project/

^why does that entire piece use an accent grave instead of an accent aigu over the “e” in her name?