rolling r&b 2024

this is _easily_ her best material yet.

invest in temani hill.

Lovely song (FIG - The Goo):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a76yglCA3cA

The new Ayra Starr album is out; beautiful cover, but none of the tracks have caught my ears like the two I already knew & loved – "Rhythm & Blues" (from last year) and "Commas" (posted at the top of this thread).

"Commas" is for sure my "song of the summer"; it's such a lush, gorgeous track...

Here’s an awesome live version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UzUgPSqpjg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTi1Nh1rYCI

really enjoying this

What do people think of the new Normani album?

I like it!

Yeah, it's solid. I like how she did an about-face from pop fans was clinging onto Motiviation. She doubled down on making an R&B album in a pop scene where the genre's influence is minimal now.

Worth checking out Moth, the new album from Fana Hues. My faves are "Sweet Like" and "Down" (I'm hearing so much cool/interesting percussion in r&b these days...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SJdS6vl9GM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RneJVx3ZII

So apparently Normani is an R&B singer who had exactly one very minor non-hit single about five years ago and has nevertheless created an absolute mountain of Twitter hype for her new debut album. So weird how the hype machine works.

she's always had disproportionate twitter hype, like a lot of the girl groups and former girl group members. i liked her just fine but tbh i feel like the industry has wasted years of time and effort trying to identify who the enduring star from b-tier group fifth harmony (that had like 2-3 hits of any note) would be when honestly it didn't take long before the answer clearly emerged as 'none of the above'

that said, saying she's had one minor non-hit single is selling her a little short. she wasn't the first-billed artist on them, and yeah they ended up on others' albums, but "love lies" and "dancing with a stranger" were both big. i'm guessing they were intended to be bigger, but "motivation" and "wild side" both did something in the end too

lucky daye's album comes out in a couple weeks. gallant might have an album coming? he just dropped this track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D6gneld-_w

The Normani album had become mysticised in the same way that Sky Ferreira's alleged second album continues to be - i.e., it had been hinted at and promised for so long, ostensibly subject to record label mismanagement, etc. I understand both her parents being diagnosed with cancer also contributed to delays.

Normani clearly idolises Brandy (who shows up on the new album!) and performs with gymnastic dance moves, which to me is an appealing combination and I'd certainly rather her be the enduring Fifth Harmony star over Camilla Cabello. But RCA have kind of dropped the ball with this album rollout (no music videos for an artist who's primarily known for thrilling music videos? No physical copies available for that first week chart boost?) so if that's going to happen, then it won't be with this release. The music on the album itself is really good I think, aside from the James Blake feature which feels superfluous. "Candy Paint" reminds me of Rich Harrison, and "I'm Yours", "Still" and "Little Secrets" are all excellent Darkchild-style bangers.

new Omar Apollo is great

It’s been posted on her main thread, but Tinashe’s “Getting No Sleep” is one of the best tracks I’ve heard this year. Instant playlist add…

only a few songs in but so far i love love love tink winter’s diary 5. maybe breath of fresh air effect after the very confused and unfocused kehlani record

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

lynda dawn - "where you are"

so are we bit talking about this doechii album? it’s a lot of fun!!!

bit = not

will check it out.

this is right on time―
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuwMe4IK_ZE
temani hill ― "clouds"

invest.

ooh yeah, thanks.