rolling r&b 2022

thx everyone- lots of new goodies to check out + catch up with.

the eliza album is called a sky without stars and is out today. haven't listened yet but "heat of the moon" has been a recent repeater for me.

very singular, deep late night vibe on a sky without stars on first listen. if you liked the singles, you'll like the album. really sparse, eerie bass grooves for the most part and oddly reminiscent of atliens beats at times. she has that subdued withdrawn vocal mannerism down perfectly and it probably isn't going to be everyone's thing, but i'm very into it.

excuse a possible spamming in here while i play catch up.

first things first, this ari lennox is damn good. beats are stellar across the board. the song with lucky daye even has a crusaders sample! what!? dope. very solid album.

going back to the eliza album quite a bit since friday and i have to double down on its strength: very firm four mics from me.

be back with more...

digging into ravyn lenae now and immediate first listen love on "m.i.a." megajam.

rest of the album is also very solid, but more of a sustained vibe. her voice reminds me of someone i can't properly place atm. definitely going to listen more but damn, "m.i.a." - that's the shit i'm here for.

I'M GONNA RUN THE TOWN

AIN'T NOTHIN IN MY WAY

Sevyn Streeter's "23" is a joy and a possible best of the year rnb track for me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu0mxcFbZaE

The new George Riley album/EP Running in Waves is fire.

philly artist lay bankz went viral on tiktok for a song that i actively avoided because of its title ("left cheek (doo doo blick)"). i heard that song in the wild recently and loved it, pretty fresh mix of r&b and east coast club that really leaps out of the speakers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApSejZt95-k

her new song "in my bag" is even better, imo. didn't know that you could write a slow jam at 150 bpm, but there's a first time for everything

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du7roy1k68I

There's a new Charlotte Dos Santos album and it is slightly exquisite:

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

Possibly half of it has already been released over the past year but all is new to me; bit Quadron-ish.

I’m not familiar w/ Dess Dior, but I really like this jam with Mariah the Scientist (“Stone Cold”):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T3wA9a-1Ug

(Mariah is saying she has new music coming up soon, as well)

...and here's her new song, Bout Mine

I really like her stuff. Apparently "Spread Thin," from her last EP, has become kind of a minor hit

there was some discussion about afropop/afrobeats’ influence on current US r&b a few weeks ago over on the Wizkid thread.

Masego is more afro-friendly than most. his new track “Say You Want Me” is co-produced by P2J of Wizkid and Burna Boy fame:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=960TNYKBxxs

Lush new single from Mahalia – "Bag of You"

need to play catch up again in here, but also wanted to share the new luna luna single:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBJjOu4ZaXY

"talk too much"

very haunting. i like it a lot. more bilingual pop music, please.

http://narrowcast.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-20-best-r-radio-hits-of-2022.html

Some Dude’s faves he heard on radio

always a fascinating peak into a different world, in several ways....

Nice to see Ella Mai show up on a list this year (and I did think Summer Walker f/ SZA and Cardi B - "No Love (Remix)" was great; I believe it's on the LA Times list).

a new twist on the r&b/afrobeats merger:
US artist Fridayy (who did work with/for Chris Brown, DJ Khaled and Lil Baby) turned to Asake for the remix of his gospel-y “Blessings”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z0VCpMG5Eo

That’s… interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PIpzA2vbcU

another one for the d&r&b playlist

Ari Lennox ft. Summer Walker • Queen Space

― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Wednesday, August 31, 2022 11:52 PM

as things continue winding down on this year, this just grows in stature. easily top ten of the year for me.

This is a really nice ballad:

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

King Sis - It's Yours

Lush new single from Mahalia – "Bag of You"

― Reese's Pisces Iscariot (morrisp), Sunday, November 13, 2022 9:45 PM

this is stellar. very much sigh + smile vibes.

I’m not familiar w/ Dess Dior, but I really like this jam with Mariah the Scientist (“Stone Cold”):

(Mariah is saying she has new music coming up soon, as well)

― Reese's Pisces Iscariot (morrisp), Tuesday, October 18, 2022 10:47 PM

also a shout for this. very sick beat and that attitude — well well well. . . i know how it goes. i ain't impressed.

mariah's probably my most anticipated album right now. absolutely ready for a a full length. she's amazing.

oh yeah re: mariah the scientist, here's her latest single. i kinda forgot about it because it's just. . . okay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC2EcXbjUyU

"bout mine"

not really feeling it, but it hasn't impacted my anticipation.

Good track she released this week - "Christmas in Toronto":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-M0u-nbfvY

(we started this year's thread talking about Mariah... feels nice to wrap it up with her as well)