R&B 2014

considering the 2013 only got one Brainwasher post the whole year, i'll just go ahead and start this off with a list of artists maybe probably dropping albums this year, feel free to add to it:

Miguel, Frank Ocean, Mariah Carey, D'Angelo (????), Maxwell (?????), Jeremih, Chris Brown, Omarion, Elle Varner, Jennifer Hudson, Trey Songz, Melanie Fiona, Jazmine Sullivan

also presumably Sevyn Street, August Alsina, Bridget Kelly and Jhene Aiko will follow-up their 2013 EPs with albums, and all other new artists will be stuck in EP land

the Toni Braxton/Babyface album is out in Feb, shaping up to be pretty promising:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEw_t9jR8Yc

r&b gods have been smiling on london - in the past week i've found out about imminent shows from king (next week!), teedra moses (feb) and jazmine sullivan (march)

is badu on deck this year or did i hallucinate that

I dunno, if so that's great news

Also I guess this year we'll get lots of Tide Dolla $ign and other Mustard&B hits

what is going on with KING, did anything come out after 'in the meantime'?

i'm really into this song. bieber sounds mostly whatever but future's vocals esp those super-high backing vocals in the chorus are amazing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoRT0Wa5OrY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxPDAtWnqN0

Track of the year so far for me. Some vintage Polow-throwback production

Oh damn there's already a three month old Complex article on him. I regret everything

Can a mod please delete my post and ban me from ILX

gahhhhhh king in london is sold out ;_________________;

Now that Terius is no longer on Def Jam will we see more collabos with Tricky?

lol wow in googling around in forlorn hope i just learned that king apparently did backing vox on avicii 'lay me down' o_O

http://m.essence.com/2014/01/08/lionel-richie-mary-j-blige-and-erykah-badu-added-2014-essence-festival-lineup

Lionel Richie, Mary J. Blige and Erykah Badu will join previously announced headliner, Prince.

Main Stage performances this Fourth of July weekend will also include Jill Scott, Ledisi and Charlie Wilson. The Superlounges will see electrifying performances from Sevyn Streeter, Marsha Ambrosius, King, 112, Sebastian Mikael, Naughty by Nature, Doug E. Fresh, Stephanie Mills, PJ Morton, Eve, Robert Glasper, Amel Larrieux, Big Sam's Funky Nation, Raheem Davaugh, Kourtney Heart, Elle Varner, Leela James, Liv Warfield, The Original Pinettes Brass Band and more to be announced.

also that Avicii song is really good. Adam Lambert on lead vox, Nile Rodgers guitar.

least surprising news: i really love that toni braxton/babyface song

Maxwell has posted non-vocal clips of a new song to his Instagram, along with footage of him running around in Dubai or something:

http://instagram.com/p/i83NCoRjLa/
http://instagram.com/p/i84yWdxjM2/
http://instagram.com/p/i86GrJxjOa/

what the fuck

oh cool this song was supposed to debut "in days".... in summer 2012 http://singersroom.com/content/2012-05-24/Maxwell-To-Debut-Of-All-Kind-New-Single-In-Days/

sounds like chris dave is on it, so that's good.

shit, i was wondering what happened to jade alston last year after dropping her mixtape in jan - seems she spent a lot of it in hospital having been diagnosed with a "potentially fatal heart condition"

the good news is that she seems to be managing it and (while we weren't looking) set up a kickstarter to fund her proper album and smashed the target: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1412324390/jade-alstons-first-album-we-will-live

btw, new yummy bingham mixtape is pretty decent on first listen: https://soundcloud.com/yummybingham/sets/no-artificial-flavorz

also, way late on this but tiara thomas's "4dolla bill" bangs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzYTLyvG1Gc

yeah, that was her initial 'follow-up to "Bad"' a while back, never took off. i still have hopes for her but i dunno if her being signed to Rico Love's label while his solo record is taking off is a good or bad thing for her momentum.

btw, new yummy bingham mixtape is pretty decent on first listen: https://soundcloud.com/yummybingham/sets/no-artificial-flavorz

^^ just like that? never expected anything else coming from her after (the quite great) 'the first seed' sinked. better google megan rochell, just in case - 'you, me & the radio' 4 life.

I've been waiting ages for the Timothy Bloom album, and it does not disappoint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWY3hxApp3I

https://soundcloud.com/beyondthesky/the-morning-after

oh i'll def have to check that!

feeling this singer i stumbled on, satin beretta: https://soundcloud.com/mhpr/got-me-satin-beretta

i was wondering what he had been up to. it seemed like he lost some momentum after "'til the end of time" and the other one that i don't really remember but glad to see he's putting a record out

Yeah, "End of Time" was a tough one to follow. He continued releasing really fantastic tracks with kind of a Raphael Saadiq, Stone Rollin' sort of feel, but they weren't enough to keep him on his label. The LP is great, though. Plays like a more concise, rocking Channel Orange at times. Hope it finds him an audience so he keeps recording on his own; he's too gifted to just keep writing songs for other people.

That Satin track is nice. Good reminder that vibey music can still bump.

Missed K. Michelle's headling W. DC area club gig the night before Thanksgiving, but not sure I want to see her open for Robin Thicke at the Patriot Center basketball arena in February though. She's doing a number of gigs opening for him that month.

headlining

i like this song... it's basically what you would expect but mustard throws this little string riff in here that is pretty cool

http://www.xclusiveszone.net/2014/01/tinashe-ft-schoolboy-q-2-on-prod-by-dj-mustard/

i mean it sounds to the T like "cassie as produced by dj mustard" but i'm not mad at it

http://www.youtube.com/v/DxPDAtWnqN0&fs=1&hl=en

Track of the year so far for me. Some vintage Polow-throwback production

― 龜, Wednesday, January 8, 2014 5:16 PM (6 days ago)

this is a nice song to hear when you're hung over because it reminds you that somewhere life is worse

These Mae Oriel and Elli Ingram tracks have stuck with me for the last couple of months

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9Jzzo69A-E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSkjyT3PDSU

That beat should be off limits. My fav Big song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rogvlB2SP4k

Irv Gotti put his fist through a wall when he realized he hadn't already turned it into an R&B song himself

lol. Yeah that track is all time. Too many R&B singers are beat-jacking '90s hip-hop, which annoys me on paper, but the results are usually pretty effective, so I understand why they do it even if it's lazy.

I won't embed it here, but there's a new-ish Eric Bellinger/Problem track that's just Kris Kross's "Jump." And I hate it, but I also kind of don't hate it.

it can be done well and it can be done poorly, i try to be case-by-case with it. love the Ariana Grande album, hated Tamar's "Juicy" jack.

ariana grande album has all those trap snares tho, kinda takes it out of the 90s sound

reusing the pun sample sounded v fresh to me tho

sort of a timeless sound maybe

yeah they at least put a spin on the beat. that link up there is like a straight rip of everyday struggle with like one pointless touch added

'trap snares'??

snare rolls

http://soundcloud.com/satinberetta/got-me

the tink mixtape is good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzH2u9dqwAc

that tinashe single is the first thing i've really liked by her. more mustard less hemsworth plz

i def prefer her rapping stuff

last year obv but i really like this song on the mack wilds album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uKn0qWMvWU

that was an xp to tink not tinashe

well tinashe doesn't rap

The Mack Wilds album is pretty OK. It commits to the downtempo '90s hip-hop vibe admirably (its only features are Method Man and Raekwon) and Wilds is an agreeable enough presence, even if the songs aren't all that memorable or ambitious. I'm a sucker for this stuff, though.

heard a really good algebra blessett song called 'danger zone' on the radio - throwback vibe but with that ever-elusive unbeholden, self-possessed jazmine sullivan swag. preview clips of the lp (on bbe) sound v strong

first listen to the algebra album (on worst promo stream in the world) is very pleasing indeed

this tink mixtape on the other hand is tedious in the extreme, she's like a parody of thin-voiced cassie fan club fetishists. occasionally decent when she raps though

that mixtape sounds barely anything like cassie

her voice

the beats are completely unremarkable and she doesn't alight on a hook once

oh as i type a beat that catches my ear hoves into view! it's the sub-2min outro

the sean paul interpolation in that tinashe song is so great

she's so right for dj mustard beats

tbh my exp with tink's R&B material isn't far from Lex's

shes a p great rapper tho, imho

she's not a star or anything but it's a solid tape with some sounds (the acoustic stuff primarily) that is hard to find right now

hang on how is any sound on that tape hard to find? are you serious?

I am finding it strange that Lex doesn't like Tink as a rapper, though

i do like her as a rapper but she only does it like twice on this tape? and not extensively on previous tapes i've heard

wow i appear to have four separate tink mixtapes in my itunes, all listened to once each, and i can't remember a thing about any of them

new danity kane is great : https://soundcloud.com/rap-up-music/danity-kane-bye-baby

i do like her as a rapper but she only does it like twice on this tape? and not extensively on previous tapes i've heard

wow i appear to have four separate tink mixtapes in my itunes, all listened to once each, and i can't remember a thing about any of them

― lex pretend, Friday, January 17, 2014 9:35 AM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i don't like the winters diary / R&B ones personally

but there are def memorable moments of rapping on her other tapes

yeah i guess it's all scattered and i never went back to them, point me to the rap ones? not going to sit through the r&b nothingness again

i do like the new danity kane on one listen but godddd that dawn/druski split really did rob us of something that was gonna be really special

Danity Kane song is v nice

Did they split for real? I must have missed that. Why?

http://kempiredaily.com/drew-scott-on-professional-fallout-with-dawn-richard-it-was-one-of-those-things-that-needed-to-happen

his solo EP was pretty iffy, hopefully he finds a new client or muse to work with

i was pretty surprised his solo thing didn't focus on production tricks at ALL

Ouch. Too bad.

enjoying the new jennifer hudson track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY2PXJHsXno

v tasteful flickers of electric piano behind her voice throughout

oh i see this actually came out in 2013 oh well

yeah great single. Came out last fall but didn't get a video until this week, so it's current.

It's the first Pharrell track I'd heard in a while where I didn't immediately go "Oh, Pharrell," even though it's pretty obviously him when you think about it

i'm digging this rico love song

i bet it's better than anything on the next trey songz album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZiAw7n_TzU

it's certainly better than the new ty dolla EP (which is purposefully only okay anyway)

It's the first Pharrell track I'd heard in a while where I didn't immediately go "Oh, Pharrell," even though it's pretty obviously him when you think about it

oh wow i didn't even guess

Love j hud in the video, ti's interjections throughout (aside from the actual rap) throw me out of things a bit.

lovely hook on that j hud thing

was talking about Rico Love's EP on last year's thread, it's really dope, glad the single eventually popped off big

the J-Hud feels very transparently Pharrell to me, think it's a pretty wack song. J-Hud in the video tho <3

yeah i love the rico love ep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMAJ-itl4m4

anyone feeling this

compter love sample kinda played out but cool beat otherwise

I'm also very much into this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LQoM477wlI

this rico love ep is really gross. side-eyeing two of three songs so far is not a good strike rate

thankfully "they don't know" isn't one of the gross ones and it sounds decent

if you ignore like two lyrics (both of which are bleeped out on the radio) it can be fun to pretend that "they don't know" is about another guy

haha "They Don't Know" is definitely one of the gross songs!

most of them are gross but still listenable

i like this http://www.missinfo.tv/index.php/ciara-anytime-feat-future

bando jonez (lol) track is pretty great... some real early jeremih vibes

this song is hilarious

SEX
HAVE YOU HAD IT?
GOOD SEX

The best feeling I can muster for a new Jodeci album produced by Timbo is cautious optimism: http://www.missinfo.tv/index.php/timbaland-is-helping-produce-a-new-jodeci-album/

Whoa, that could be really good. And if it's not, nothing lost.

you guys

the algebra blessett album is really good. she walks that line between poised and emotional with such ease. "danger zone", "recovery" and "forever" especially

good, looking forward to that

Yeah this Blessett album is hitting the spot; thanks for the rec

new J Holiday 'Guilty Conscience' is kinda nice too. Thinkin About You, After We and Guilty Conscience are worth checking.

http://open.spotify.com/album/5qqwPc7Zs7HAgmmuQzuXVm

i like this http://www.missinfo.tv/index.php/ciara-anytime-feat-future

― le goon (J0rdan S.), Monday, February 3, 2014 3:41 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

REALLY like this, a bit lusher than i expected!

mmmmm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z2yr-iLrHk

i like the babyface & braxton album.

"heart attack" is so good off that album

it is pretty nice all the way thru. their voices + the production are so soothingly pleasant to listen to that i haven't even really noticed the lyrics yet.

This is good. Take It Back is basically exactly Sade's By My Side tho.

just dropping in to say Babyface/Braxton is GREAT

what do we think of TAMAR Braxton's "All the Way Home"?

i'm a big fan, definitely one of the best tracks on a hit-and-miss album

babyface/braxton just SOUNDS so good - just really natural and unforced and obv their voices are a perfect match. it sounds more like the 90s than any 90s throwback but not b/c they're making a point about the 90s but b/c they're old and those are clothes that suit them best. this carries even the 1-2 weaker songs but the other fantastic thing is how indelible some of the hooks are, like "roller coaster", that chorus, just wow. and then lyrically you get something like "i wish"!!!!!

also that new ciara/future duet is just incredible, they sound even more besotted with each other

reverby guitar is a good look for both too

predictably i am enjoying this j holiday record

me n u bro

predictably I'm loving this Braxton-Babyface record. "I Wish" has the most devastating lyric I've heard in months: "Please don't have a girl/
Cause you'll give that woman the world"!!!!! Talk about otm.

Not sure I love it yet--there sure is a lot more & Divorce than Love, Marriage--but the highs are pretty high: "I Wish," for sure, and "Where Did We Go Wrong" are both shattering.

oooh, "i wish". parts of it almost recall "this woman's work"

and she wrote it herself! Is it her first solo composition?

OH SNAP!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w1yLCjfK4Q

I don't take em to the crib I take em to HO!TEL! SUITES!
Never know which one it is I got about FOUR! DAMN! KEYS!

man i miss this place sometimes

x-post-

what do we think of TAMAR Braxton's "All the Way Home"?

― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn),

i'm a big fan, definitely one of the best tracks on a hit-and-miss album

― scott c-word (some dude),

Yes, great track. Has gotten lots of DC r'n'b radio airplay too

man i miss this place sometimes

There's always room on the Trey Songz bandwagon. I'm driving an empty bus in circles here

I own a Trey Songz album that I bought with my own money so it must be A Wisconsin Thing? Maybe?

If his career bottoms out he will always be welcome to play our many casinos

Sure, if he turns into Kansas or the Bodeans

"sweat" off the face/braxton album is amazing

a lot of this album sounds like pre-edm ne-yo to me

That's a "r. kelly's new album sounds like the-dream" influence ouroboros

Mishon produced by Jermaine Dupri and Bryan Cox ft. Problem. I'm really down with Problem becoming one of R&B's go-to guest verse dudes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAeIfyQ6fiw

v nice. got that vintage so so def bounce to it w that bass line

actually this is perfect

wow this toni braxton album is the shit

It's really growing on me, yeah.

New Ne-Yo EP for Valentine's Day. It's Ne-Yo at his most mom-friendly, but it's pretty good if you like that lane. "Gotchu Right" is slick.

http://www.thisisrnb.com/2014/02/new-music-ne-yo-3-simple-rules-ep/

oh my god i'm so happy about this

Mom-friendly Ne-Yo is the best Ne-Yo (or at least better than EDM Ne-Yo).

He really sounds like he's enjoying himself here. I mean, that's usually the case with Ne-Yo, but even more so than usual here

Should I give R.E.D. another shot?

It's not without its charms.

Also new Jojo, Mya, and K. Michelle today (probably among others)

Also new Pleasure P (which is really sleepy and disappointing; he'd been putting out some good tracks a while back).

Urngghhh all these new releases have made me so happy

remember when dayo posted that icejjfish song?

Candice Glover's album is pleasantly non-adventurous until the last track, where she busts out her "Love Song" cover again and (for me, anyway) retroactively invests personality back into the rest of the album.

is anyone optimistic that pharrell's album is gonna be cool and not corny cruise ship shit like "happy"

no

same

it's hard for me to think of pharrell's commercial revival as a real revival given that his actual music and style has become more boring

I'm counting the weeks till a university department uses "Happy" as theme music.

There are like at least a dozen college dance videos that have been up on YT since December.

I know this because I researched them all yesterday.

Euphoria is insanely underrated on this board.

Administrative euphoria can never be overrated enough.

The bulletin has already been posted, hasn't it.

Every time I see one of those workplace montage videos, I imagine how nightmarish it must be to actually shoot one.

the problem with "happy" is that it sounds dead inside and on the verge of a complete breakdown

i know those seem to be at odds with each other but more importantly they're both at odds with "euphoria"

I'm at odds with your "euphoria."

is anyone optimistic that pharrell's album is gonna be cool and not corny cruise ship shit like "happy"

― le goon (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, February 19, 2014 10:17 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i don't necessarily think the album is gonna be a masterpiece but i don't think it's gonna all sound like that song -- he JUST did that Despicable Me soundtrack and had been working on this album for a while before "Happy" took off. i'm guessing it'll be a mix of styles as much as In My Mind or any of the NERD albums.

So there's a chance there will be a Lee Harvey feature?

i love how k michelle's valentine's day mixtape was called still no fucks given and contained songs called "fuck you" and "drink bleach"

hahaha that's great

my anticipation for and interest in hearing the pharrell album is really zero

the k michelle tape also contained this song called "justin bieber" which i'm just going to put here quietly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8VJFTqpm_Q

ha

posting this here since we don't really have a pop thread anymore

i really like the new zendaya single

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7s31XcmKKA

rolling pop 2014

dig that

Iamsu/ty$ remix is cool too

Zendaya's got joints, I'm glad that "Replay" turned out to be a real sleeper hit. her album's also got a good song co-written by Dawn Richard and Harmony Samuels.

!!! can't wait to hear

Has anyone seen Sevyn Streeter perform live? She's at the Howard Theatre next week. Thinking about it.

LOL on one listen I know exactly who produced that Zendaya song

I hit it I hit it I hit it first...

lol i thought it was a direct sample from that unfortunately-titled sean kingston/chris brown song

same producer, too

Everytime it occurs to me that I haven't heard anything new from King something new pops up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2TCAyocov0

"As of right this second my main focus is my new album," he tells Billboard's The Juice of his upcoming full-length, due this summer. "It'll be out probably towards the summertime, predominately R&B this time. I had a little stint with the dance music and all of that, which I had a good time with-- and I love the audience, I love them for accepting me doing it --but I had to go home on this one. Had to take it back to my roots, and not to say that there won't be one, maybe two songs on there that the dance crowd can get into, but the majority, the girth of the album, will be R&B."

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/5915485/ne-yos-new-album-will-be-predominately-rb-exclusive

YESSSSSSSSSS

:)

The VDay EP was pretty sweet I thought

LOL at "the girth of the album"

Unprecedented length

i like ne-yo's dance songs more than pretty much any other R&B singer's (and iirc he said almost the exact same thing before the last album), but 2 per album is enough. first song on that new EP was real nice.

Haven't really paid attention to the lyrics but I have been enjoying DC r'n'b/rap radio's hourly playing of K. Michelle's "Can't Raise a Man". Luv her voice

song titles are corny as shit but consider me intrigued by this tracklist

01 Marilyn Monroe
02 Brand New [ft. Justin Timberlake]
03 Hunter
04 Gush
05 Happy
06 Come Get It [ft. Miley Cyrus]
07 Gust of Wind [ft. Daft Punk]
08 Lost Queen
09 Freq
10 I Know Who You Are [ft. Alicia Keys]
11 It Girl

05 Happy

:D

This track-by-track review makes "Happy" out to be an outlier on the album:

http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/features/track-by-track-features/first-listen-pharrell-g-i-r-l-146733

LOL, oh I thought that was the Ne-Yo tracklisting.

haha me too

4. Gush
By now, the room is struck by how powerfully each song so far has crashed in on its vigorous and insatiable beats, demanding attention and fanning the flames of our un-self conscious sedentary dancing. We’re treated to a little throwback line with the song’s hook of “Light that ass on fire,” but the solitary and sombre strings that rise trembling through the song are a far cry from Busta Rhymes’ metallic bounce. The song falls back into its disco beat to fade out over a buoyant guitar solo.

Relieved this isn't the sex jam I assumed it would be from the title, but this almost sounds equally gross to me.

is he going to shill for his qream thing in "freq"?

all these songs called "marilyn monroe" getting more shine than brianna perry -_-

haha I was going to make a "is 'Gush' the sequel to 'Blow'" joke and that description is making me think it might be, musically at least

kinda really looking forward to this record now

uhh…does jason derulo's "talk dirty" count as R&B? I know that I heard a tune by him a few years ago, but since before this song I couldn't distinguish him and Taio Cruz, that I heard it on the radio five times while driving around Hawaii last week is significant. the sax part that starts out sounding atonal but ends up with a middle eastern tonality does the trick. My wife dislikes current pop music, but she likes this tune.
'
and Danity Kane "bye bye baby"? do not remember their previous tunes, but methinks this one represents mainstream pop evoking Random Access Memories.

good gawd: K . michelle may be the greatest artist in music right at this minute…EVERY SINGLE SONG she does has these hyperreal talk lyrics.

Derulo has never gotten a drop of urban radio play in America, always been a pop radio darling even though the current hit has 2 Chainz on it and obviously SOME of his songs are pretty much R&B.

the K. Michelle mixtape is wild as fuck. if i never apologized to lex for giving zero fucks about her back in the day, lemme do it now.

I was XD at "Justin Bieber" but then in the past there was https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnqlUzA2Klo

"Anytime" is my song of the year so far

"anytime" really is amazing

on one cursory listen the ashanti album is only alright, though it's nice that dawn richard had some influence

also, the zendaya album that came out last year and no one noticed is EXCELLENT

I'm really surprised Zendaya didn't get much attention at all.

yeah the way these beats CRUNCH is pretty satisfying. great mavado reference too

Probably didn't help that Replay took forever to properly get picked up here in the US. It's only just recently gone top 20 on pop airplay.

this is cute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8LcydxG6II

apparently they have worked with black butter, supported ciara, and one of them used to be in mini viva

lol one of those things is less impressive than the others

they've released about 3 pretty decent singles in the past year or two, iirc the last one gave me mis-teeq vibes? as with so many r&b/pop girl groups they deserve to be a lot more successful than they are (which is, not at all) but at the same time i can't really argue exactly what would make them stand out

"left my heart in tokyo" is a straight up classic, RIP

i've just been trawling back through their old videos and the newest one seems like a significant step up - better song and better production values.

one of them is a total j-ware doppelgänger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QnBylFZpVk

i like this

lex's interview with Braxton-Babyface: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/28/toni-braxton-kenneth-babyface-edmonds-interview

This album is like how I imagine marriage to be: I look past its flaws and love it until death.

i've been digging the zendaya album for a minute or two but forgot to mention it.

replay is fun and the dawn richard-penned number is pretty good too. the new single 'my baby' is what really made me pause and pay closer attention and it's buried as the last track on the album

what's the deal with this john legend song in the top 5 of the hot 100 right now

what's the mystery? his biggest previous hit was a syrupy piano-and-vocals ballad and those have come back in style in a major way the last couple years.

is there a particular deal with it?

xp

what's the mystery? his biggest previous hit was a syrupy piano-and-vocals ballad and those have come back in style in a major way the last couple years.

― he always came across as a great guy in Kerrang! in the 90s (some dude), Wednesday, March 5, 2014 1:31 PM (44 seconds ago) Bookmark

i was wondering if it was propelled that high by any specific commercial/show/movie etc

i mean in the previous 5 years the guy only had one single chart on the hot 100 at all, so this is a bit of an outlier is all i'm saying

i mean he also made a video for it with his naked wife who is a sports illustrated swimsuit issue cover model, so that can't hurt, although it seems to be primarily radio driving its popularity.

he also didn't HAVE a solo album for the previous 5 years. it's kind of bittersweet that a really good, slept on album is getting a second shot with its blandest song, 75% is co-produced by kanye and has lots of cool shit going on in it.

It blew up after the Grammys performance, no real mystery.

i mean he also made a video for it with his naked wife who is a sports illustrated swimsuit issue cover model, so that can't hurt, although it seems to be primarily radio driving its popularity.

― he always came across as a great guy in Kerrang! in the 90s (some dude), Wednesday, March 5, 2014 1:33 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The radio support is there, but also it's been consistently gaining on streaming and has been in the top 5 for digital sales for weeks since the Grammys.

i actually kind of like that song fwiw

also doesn't he host american idol? that probably helps. or is that usher?

i dunno but that's racist

did he perform it at the grammys, i don't even remember

but that would 100% explain it

Legend is currently a judge on the ABC music show Duets along with Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Nettles and Robin Thicke.

whaaaaa?

Killer minimalist production on this new Omarion track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSmsN-kTVbY

Duets was one of the better singing competition shows, but it only ran for one season like 2 years ago.

FWIW, the John Legend song went to #1 on the Australian singles chart in early December, so well before the Grammys. (I wasn't in the country at the time, but some quick research reveals that the song was used in a couple of TV promos).

Radio play has really picked up here in the last two weeks, which might explain the spike in interstate crashes as a result of people falling asleep behind the wheel.

lol

it is called "All of Me." It sucks and it indeed has put him back to square one as a dude that does everything "correctly," like a male Alicia Keys: I remember reading Q/Mojo writers falling over themselves re: Legend, cuz he harkens back to Marvin Gaye and dudes they get, as opposed to, oh I don't know, T-Pain. Perhaps Monsieur Pretend knows of what/whom I speak here.

This after he did "ready to go right now" with Andre 3000, an effortless tune that did not seem laboriously respectful of tradition. and I'll say this: 2 years ago I moved away from the East Village. several times in the immediate months prior, I saw him, as he lived around there, and women who clearly knew who he was but also women I'm confident had no idea whatsoever who he was, without fail would check him out as he walked down the street, like I would if I saw a Lea Michelle-looking/PAWG chick.

legend is a regular looking dude. "male alicia keys" is pretty otm tho

OTM upthread re how there is a vogue for ahem authentic piano ballads like that Great Big Sea tune and with any luck the most boring Rihanna song that will ever exist…

For the latest installment of In Performance at the White House, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have invited some of soul music's greatest living vocalists for what's being billed as the "Women of Soul" concert.

The show, live streaming Thursday (March 6) on the White House website, will feature Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle and Grammy/Oscar-winning rock singer Melissa Etheridge, as well as The Voice winner Tessane Chin, Ariana Grande, Janelle Monáe and Jill Scott. The president will make his remarks beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.

hmmmm

with any luck the most boring Rihanna song that will ever exist…

shine bright like a diamond...

the maad*moiselle mixtape is worth a listen i think https://soundcloud.com/maad-moiselle/sets/indigo

new elle varner:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8XuxwtigZ0

elle oh elle

that intro hhaaaaa wtf

I wuz referring to "stay", mr Pretend. very dull, but not as dull as "say something" or Legend's tune.

http://www.audiomack.com/album/sermons-domain/fvck-love-ep

Marsha Ambrosius just dropped an EP, sounds pretty good

The Ashanti album finally came out.

ooh liking the ambrosius

the ashanti album hasn't yet inspired a second listen...

Maad*Moiselle's ep is great. Her voice is brilliant.

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

A bit late, but Marsha Ambrosious does Sade over DJ Premier/Jeru's "Come Clean"

thats cool

new Elle Varner, much better than the last track

https://soundcloud.com/ellevarner/elle-varner-see-me-tonight

I promise I won't hijack the thread with #TiffanyTuesdays rarities, but I really like this one. 143 was way overlooked last year; hope she's able to pull off a proper followup this year

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewy8OVMB4zc

that is really good! once again!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MESh5DMfsw

didn't know this was sevyn's new single... not sure if i realistically expect to hear it much on the radio but i still really like it and her

i'm not entirely sure who Mali Music is (it appears he does gospel but just started making secular music) but i really like this corny song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxNO3KBQfmU

I know that a guest spot on an R&B track isn't exactly the best showcase for one's rapping but holy shit, Kid Ink is lame.

even still (and contrary to the cb one obv) that song somehow finds a resolution as dazed duet that it didnt have as soliloquy. very nice indeed

huh i hadnt caught on that 'it wont stop' was a diplo number

thought these two might have been the same producer on a paris texas vibe

i've heard the original "nEXt" on the radio a bit already, gorgeous song, if they start playing the one with Kid Ink ad libbing over every other line i may fly into a rage

at the mention of your name
kid ink
whyyyyyy

is that mali music joint the same one i posted a month or so ago or nah?

"beautiful" ?? probably. i searched the thread for his name iirc

anyway dope track

sorry yeah i couldn't listen before and couldn't recall the name of the song. yeah that song is a jam, kind of teriusy in parts actually

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFz_EBJlp5U

this is nice

lol faux 90s

"making champagne out of lemons" is a solid lyric

lemon champagne would be kind of grim though

Lots of up and comers dropping great stuff lately.

Mila J is Jhené Aiko's older sister, but you'd never guess it, since she sounds like an actual corporeal presence. I think I'm gonna hear this all over this summer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1DaNJN4C2Y

The production on this RaVaughn single has a nice, Los-y bounce:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB2uU_P3HBo

And I'm not usually into singer-afterthought-rapper combos, but Freddy Hefner is genuinely witty and her latest mixtape is a hoot:

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

well this marsha ambrosius single is quite something

https://soundcloud.com/marshaambrosiusofficial/marsha-ambrosius-run

though possibly a little straightforward in comparison to "come" off her valentine's ep, which was also amazing

shudder to think of the balearic style made up terius-y los-y subgenre you guys will invent and market a few years from now

get over it; it's going to rule

I assure you that TeeFlii does not rule

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZoOwN-sG78

i love this grown man joint -- reminds me of intro "why don't you love me" in particular. attn andy k?

new Tiara Thomas single is great, really should've been the kind of thing she released right after "Bad"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPey308t_P0

Dunno if it was mentioned, but I love the Rochelle Jordan track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeNtz1euQvQ

damn

thanks for that alfred

Great song.
She has this awesome interlude fusing Ghost Town DJ's my Boo and KP and Envyi's Shorty Swing My Way on her debut tape, that I really wish was a full song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa0FT51lhjM

speaking of rochelle jordan, i like this random thing she did with illangelo - somewhat similar to tinashe's "2 on" in that her wispy voice finds a good foil in a beat with some oomph

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS23wSUz3nE

i also urge everyone itt to check out Fatima - Yellow Memories (Eglo Records, 2014)

has anyone talked about adrian marcel's "2am"? i am into it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNOL0B6ulcg

"2am" is one of the first singles of the year... before he suffers chest pains at his desk w/o knowing why, i'll note that deej posted itt a few months ago

uh, one of the best singles of the year

the sza album isn't very good but this one song is the shit

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

Are artists like Chet Faker and Glass Animals considered R&B? Not purist at all but they do seem to have a strong rnb influence.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP_-P_BS6KY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIA1XQnAv5s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP_-P_BS6KY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIA1XQnAv5s

www.spin.com/articles/rhythm-snooze-from-sohn-to-chet-faker-a-global-group-of-artists-explore-the-edm-rb-axis/

digging this rachel marie record a lot, seems like all the r&b cognoscenti are ignoring her which is a shame really

http://rachelmarieluv.bandcamp.com/album/reminiscent

www.spin.com/articles/rhythm-snooze-from-sohn-to-chet-faker-a-global-group-of-artists-explore-the-edm-rb-axis/

― festival culture (Jordan)

Oooh, well it's definitely a trend that will continue throughout the year... so, does this mean I can hijack this thread with this sort of bastardization?

new lil mo mixtape is wild

http://thelilmoshow.bandcamp.com/releases

there's a new mya ep too, on one listen it's nice in her usual chintzy way

the one she released on Valentine's Day or a newer one?

new - https://www.2dopeboyz.com/2014/04/21/mya-sweet-xvi-ep-stream/

this is dope but lol at him looking like a cross between Danny Brown and Ralph Tresvant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-a2jQbXY5Q

otm nice track too

late on this but "can't raise a man" is amazing, first k michelle joint that's really grabbed me

yeah that's a great single

love it when she sez "better run for the hills" which I don't remember anyone saying since Steve Harris in 1983…

how do we feel about SoMo, the white kid from Austin? Sirius the Heat plays his "Ride" from time to time, which I like…

and what about Jhene Aiko?

xp Kind of reminds me of a Fantasia single in the way it sneaked its way into my heart; one of those stealth singles that just grows on you.

I love K. Michelle, but sometimes I feel like she tries too hard to upstage her own material. This is a nice example of her working with a song instead of trying to one up it

feel like the somo song would have been a bigger hit in like 2007/2008 when stargate was doing that brand...

K Michelle upstages YOU

I have encountered nothing to change my opinion that k michelle is the best thing to c happen to r&b of late

Tink, Jeremih, instant classic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cWy7NnsNv4

like that! who is tink?

she's a Chicago-based rapper-singer, and yeah that song is great

definitely her best song

my radio station played an edit of "loyal" w/ part of k. michelle's version in the middle of it :) (before too short's verse lol)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lQtoRFaLsA

fuckin' TINK!!

i like the "loyal" answer line

Yeap, Usher brought it.

the beginning 1:30 or so was cool, builds nicely but then falls apart at the hook imo

Miguel, Frank Ocean, Mariah Carey, D'Angelo (????), Maxwell (?????), Jeremih, Chris Brown, Omarion, Elle Varner, Jennifer Hudson, Trey Songz, Melanie Fiona, Jazmine Sullivan

yep, frank ocean, d'angelo and maxwell all dropped albums

Is there a thread where we can keep track of them?

the sum total of major label R&B releases thus far as far as i can remember: August Alsina, Toni Braxton & Babyface, the Ty Dolla $ign EP... i think that's it

completely forgot about that new d'angelo album; i should really give that a listen

kelis!

Kelis is in the former major label refugee bin with Ashanti though

lol i actually did forget what label food was released on ;_;

that new Usher is v Rich Harrison-wave ^_^

yeah the drums are very crisp

the sum total of major label R&B releases thus far as far as i can remember: August Alsina, Toni Braxton & Babyface, the Ty Dolla $ign EP... i think that's it

― some dude, Tuesday, May 6, 2014 9:21 AM Bookmark

Pharrell, Aloe Blacc, Ledisi, that Somo dude that I want nothing to do with

oh yeah i forgot about Pharrell, love that album

!

what

I like it alright but would not have pegged it as a a Sh1pley fave.

love is a strong word but i dig the record

The Pharrell LP is mighty impressive for a record willed into the world through commerce alone. There aren't many pop albums this sure of what they are and that deliver so fully on what they set out to

the Neptunes made a hundred amazing songs simply because there was somebody with a checkbook saying "write us a hit," it's not like his creative process is usually divorced from the opportunities presented by the industry.

if i listen to this and it makes me ill, i'm blaming you directly al

k

i made it to gush and i think i'm done

TMI

har har but it was your recommend pal

nothing like the arms-folded foot-tapping "well okay if YOU like it" 4-song test drive, definitely the best way to experience music, that's totally what I wanted you personally to do

dude, i go through three or four albums a day minimum same as you do; i don't "arms-folded foot tap" my way through anything unless that's the proper way to dance to it, russian folk style
that note was meant not as "ha ha i DON'T like the album now YOU are the fool" but as a "does this get better past the track about pharrell ejaculating"
i think evan r's note (which, though divorced from my own taste) is more or less my take on 85% of Neptunes production) answered the question

well i do like side 2 more than side 1 fwiw

har har but it was your recommend pal

― sitting on a claud all day gotta make your butt numb (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, May 6, 2014 5:05 PM (32 minutes ago) Bookmark

oh no al, forks may no longer take your recommendations seriously

with no students in sight this week between semesters the student cetner still plays "Happy" constantly on loop; it's like I'm in a parade salting Kim Jong Un.

and saluting him too

Girl really exists to affirm your preconceived notions. If you like Pharrell's disco songs, here are 10 of them, if you don't, steer clear.

It'll be interesting to see if Pharrell is the best selling R&B album of the year, though. Since Beyonce and Timberlake are unlikely to release new albums, who could top him, aside from maybe Usher or Chris Brown?

or Mariah, I guess, but I really have no idea how that thing will sell

mariah easily i think, maxwell possibly, miguel if he has some sort of gargantua-hit?
i wonder what a new d'angelo album would actually sell

mariah has no shot

chris brown and usher could, maxwell potentially

Pharrell will probably squeak his way to gold. Chris and Usher and Miguel's last albums didn't (although Frank Ocean's did so he's probably the surest thing). Maxwell and D'Angelo probably will do the biggest numbers whenever they drop.

chris at least has a legit hit on his hands

i dunno why they don't just drop the album while he's in jail, team breezy seems to rally the hardest when ol boy is in trouble

mariah's never released an album that's sold under a half million copies US
admittedly it's been since 09 but i would absolutely bet on her

yeah this weird rollout her album is doing could go well for her, or not.

i think she needs to embrace an older audience quite frankly.

Her audience IS an older audience quite frankly.

Thats what im saying! But that first single didnt seem attenuated to that truth

do you all know something i don't know about summers' finally coming out this year or are you trying to give me a heart attack for no reason

He's booked a tour for this summer which may or may not portend new material, but he hasn't confirmed any release date yet. I think I should be interviewing him soon and if I do it will be hard not to ask him six variations of "seriously, when is the album coming out?"

Thats what im saying! But that first single didnt seem attenuated to that truth

the pretty consciously retro "#beautiful" seemed fine with it

pretty surprised by how much i enjoyed the new boots mixtape, though his voice is a bit too blah to push it to that next level beyond cute production

new lyrica anderson ep is solid despite the gross cover art

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/416862878847623168/f64jlVcL.jpeg

The bass and drums on the Usher single sound fine and his voice is as sure as ever but he doesn't do much with the conceit.

I prefer the Usher song to recent JT but why does he say kiss "it" instead of kiss "me"? It kinda ruins the vibe imo.

Brian: You said you gave Mary Jane a pearl necklace!
Thurgood: Obviously you missed the whole point of that story, Brian.

Ehhhh... ye ol dicksucky trope just feels so played out right nowt. I need more romance in my r&b.

lol, now not nowt

just fyi you've got a maximum of 2 years before there's a hit R&B song about sucking dick called "long neck"

shout out to my main bitches and my side bitches
need a n*gga with some good neck, ostriches

~ nicki

Of course. ijs the song would have been better if there had been a stronger sense of mutuality. As is you get the feeling that she's a really good performer and that... ahem... sucks some of the tingle out of it for me. That being said, beat + vocals sound great.

it's make love in the club, not have sex in the club, don't be crude jeez

oh i heard the usher song on the radio the other day and though he was singing "kissin'" instead of "kiss it" oops

a couple of the songs on the boots tape are pretty good (incl. the bey one)

That Jeremih/Schlomo EP never came out for reasons that aren't clear. If it's been shelved, that could make Jeremih the only artist on this thread's opening roll who might have two releases not come out this year

which would suck

btw, i went back to pharrell's album and knocked out the last half; it's better than side a, yes. This ain't my world tho'.

new jaaaazmine

http://www.vibe.com/article/new-music-jazmine-sullivan-feat-meek-mill-dumb

That is so good!

yup

Wow, that was well worth the wait.

Jamming to this:

Keyshia Cole - Next Time (Won't Give My Heart Away)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzXn-G4Mi14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc4S40wLgg4

nice

danity kane single with "grindin" sample is awesome https://soundcloud.com/official-danity-kane/lemonade-ft-tyga

This Sevyn track is pretty heavenly. First "official remix" in a long time I've liked lots more than the original.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FRwVjl9QyM#t=106

the original song is perfect as is, don't really think it needs a guest rap, but if it's gonna have one i'd much rather YG than the awful Kid Ink video version

The rap (the YG one, not the Kid Ink one obv) really works for me because the contrast highlights how unusually soft Sevyn's delivery is. Her verses are like one long sigh.

just heard this on the radio... never heard of this singer and/or song. has it been posted in here?

production is great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdjaiXGUam8

Yup, I love that one. Mila J is Jhené Aiko's older, better sister. Not sure if it's a legit hit yet, but it's getting there.

The rap (the YG one, not the Kid Ink one obv) really works for me because the contrast highlights how unusually soft Sevyn's delivery is. Her verses are like one long sigh.

― Evan R, Friday, May 16, 2014 12:55 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the great thing about Sevyn's delivery though is it's so dreamy but she's basically doing a Meek Mill flow

Ha, I don't hear that at all, but it's awesome to think about.

Man, J0rd's post has me going back and rereading this thread and it's crazy how much great stuff has been posted. Dearth of big albums aside, this is shaping up to be a really memorable year for R&B

wait is she really related to jhene or are you just saying they're similar stylistically?

they're actual sisters

ah

after that song played some message came on the radio saying it was "sponsored" by a record label -- over the counter payola! -- but i fucked with it regardless

yeah they seemed to just start giving it a big push. i like it, but it also keeps reminding me of the recent Tiara Thomas single that i like more.

Good song! Can we stop paying attention to Aiko now, please?

Also: is "It Won't Stop" doing well on recurrent? I hear it at least four times a week -- in its Chris Brown version.

it's still hanging around top 25 of airplay... it's had a super long tail

which would be a story if anyone gave a shit about rap/r&b radio

yeah "It Won't Stop" was huge, will hang around quite a while and prob be top 5 on the year-end R&B airplay chart

actually i guess not since it kinda straddled '13 and '14 but w/e, huge song nonetheless

https://soundcloud.com/officialjeremih/jeremih-featuring-yg-dont-tell-em-prod-by-mick-schultz-dj-mustard
rhythm is a dancer lifts

i love all dj mustard r&b singles from this year except the trey songz one but including that jeremih one

after that song played some message came on the radio saying it was "sponsored" by a record label -- over the counter payola! -- but i fucked with it regardless

― le goon (J0rdan S.), Friday, May 16, 2014 2:03 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah I heard them do this for Aloe Blacc and was like WTF?!

that label-sponsored iheartradio on the verge artist promo has been pretty funny in the way it has successfully gotten, in addition to its share of artists who truly seemed "on the verge" (like aloe blacc, jhene aiko, sam smith, and sadly iggy azalea), some random no-names like katy tiz onto radio playlists

huh...

Under U.S. law, 47 U.S.C. § 317, a radio station can play a specific song in exchange for money, but this must be disclosed on the air as being sponsored airtime, and that play of the song should not be counted as a "regular airplay".

one of my local stations played the 50 Cent/Trey Songz single for a couple weeks with a drop of 50 introducing it, he didn't say anything about sponsoring or w/e but i assumed it was somehow paid for.

the Katy Tiz ordeal was really weird because it was a song that had already gotten a major label push 3-4 years ago by the act that wrote it, Rock Mafia (who got Miley to star in the video and VH1 played it to death for a minute), but i guess it failed badly enough that someone decided they could use it again with somebody else.

that 50 cent/trey songz track is kinda trash

50/trey is trash

Don't like mila j's fake timbo track (jhene's "the worst" is a jam though)

Not feeling the rhythm of a dancer lift ... P blatant attempt to recreate "show me" and between that and the new mase single I think we're finally reaching mustard saturation point critical

he didn't even produce that mase song

also that song has zero impact anywhere

the mila j is derivative but just about has enough ragged vim to please. helps when the guitar licks get sloppier and it pushes the song away from tim and closer to organized noize

feel like i get the broader nascent vibe deej is rejecting with it tho... like that rochelle jordan fake aaliyah cut upthread is well-executed but deader than dead inside. p creepy

then again u guys were all waving ur walking sticks at that shariya j shit last year so idk

looking at mila j's twitter having read her wiki it's almost kind of sweet how she refuses to accept "japollonia" is not a good idea

danity kane single with "grindin" sample is awesome https://soundcloud.com/official-danity-kane/lemonade-ft-tyga

― le goon (J0rdan S.), Friday, 16 May 2014 16:04 Bookmark

feel like private pressing up a 12" of this just so i can lovingly place it in a cut-out bin

lol

heard the drake remix of "2 on" on the radio earlier u_u

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn2aEXiisGc

anyone ever talk about this? song goes ham (video goes ham-handed, avert ur eyes)

This song is five minutes too long.

gtfo marmaloid, if anything it needs an extra 5 to truly potboil the adult contempo realness

song has been on the R&B airplay charts for a bazillion weeks but i don't even hear it on the grown folks station here. the background vocals going "march" are the worst, sinks the whole thing imo.

leave steel murgnolia alone

The Ledisi single is lovely:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMSW1Z2UFZQ&feature=kp

I made a mixtape of my favorite tracks of the year so far, because I think it's been a really good one. I think most of this has been posted in the thread already, but in case anybody wanted to play catch up http://www.sendspace.com/file/wqm76t

1. Schlohmo & Jeremih – “No More”
2. Adrian Marcel – “2 a.m.”
3. Timothy Bloom – “Stand in the Way (of My Love)”
4. Mila J – “Smoke, Drink, Break Up (Remix)”
5. Tink ft. Jeremih – “Don’t Tell Nobody”
6. Sevyn Streeter ft. YG “Next (Remix)”
7. Tinashe – “2 On”
8. Satin Beretta – “Got Me”
9. Trey Songz ft. Young Jeezy – “Ordinary”
10. Tiffany Evans – “Footprints”
11. Omarion – “Work”

he didn't even produce that mase song

― le goon (J0rdan S.), Saturday, May 17, 2014 9:38 AM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

also that song has zero impact anywhere

― le goon (J0rdan S.), Saturday, May 17, 2014 9:38 AM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

since when has mustard actually having produced a mustard track actually mattered

with the Mase record I mean: if it had come out 6 months ago it would have a shot at being something. But now it will never get played anywhere, coming out in the wake of "24 hours" etc.

or is it because mase hasn't charted a single since 2004

a white australian just got her first no. 1 single with a "mustard" beat, as did complete personality vacuums like kid ink, i'm sure it was within his capabilities if he'd had better timing

Zero people under the age of 25 give a fuck about Ma$e.

i mean i'm not arguing that we *haven't* reached mustard critical mass, it would be basically impossible for him to be more dominant than he currently is. but i don't think he's "over" and there's plenty of better examples than mase ("fancy" is a good one)

zero people GAF about Sage the Gemini (or ... 4,000 that bought his album) but they like "red nose"

i'm not saying he's over, just at the point where a mustard beat (or faux mustard beat" needs to do something genuinely novel to make room for itself now, while as recently as two months ago something fairly pro forma like "24 hours" could get traction

yeah i dunno if that's necessarily true. he's more prone to derivatives now ("24 hours" and the jeremih single being obvious post-"paranoid"/"show me" examples) but songs like "2 on" and "who do you love" are pretty pro forma and still rising in popularity

anyway i'm still optimistic about his ability to have another wave

"Red Nose" is a better song than that Ma$e joint.

Yes, it is

i was out jogging today around a cemetery and there was a ma$e cd on the ground next to a busted liquor bottle and some dogshit
no judgments, just reporting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-r7jvV3Pgk
kinda hella tired of post-thicke blue eyed soul OOO GIRL I'M GONNA FUCK YOU type guys but this is pretty good

ymmv if hot jazz retread rubs you the wrong way

Like the feel of this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8vE0bsmxIg

oh that is lovely! ariana grande via tiffany evans as a girl group <333

WHY IS IT NOT ON UK ITUNES

Could just as easily have gone in the afrobeat thread
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlSNZJwHQLw

that Love Dollhouse song cool but it's sad how the r&b vocal group lineage is so broken that it's pretty much impossible to do it without being at least a little bit self-consciously retro :(

also the white chick is Katy B's kid sister and I claim my $5

Does anyone know if the chorus of the Love Dollhouse song samples something? The beat and verses obviously sample The Honey Drippers' "Impeach the President".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWC79TcWWsI

not the chorus but the pre chorus i guess

funny that "Can I" uses same Honey Drippers' sample as Nas' "I Can"

like the song a lot

why are the vocals on the chorus to that love dollhouse thing so damn quiet

Really liking the new Ne-Yo single. http://www.missinfo.tv/index.php/ne-yo-money-cant-buy-feat-jeezy/

i read that as money-cant-buy-jeezy

yo money can't buy "feat jeezy"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv_lSYM-XSo

welp.

jesus christ "drink your bowel water" ("bowel water" ??)

song was already bad enough

bathwater, dude

I want to live in a world where this is the version of the song every station plays from here on out

SEXY BLESSINGS

"Those little stretch marks you got that sit on your ass cheeks? When I'm hitting it from the back, it look like the ocean to me." The ocean!

yes, that line is totally what I was there for

hahaha this much improves the song

i can't stop playing this

yeah the stretch marks line

listening to r&b/hiphop radio this spring, started to notice the tag that was on, I think it's fair to say, 1/2 the tunes…

was "wuzzah pon a bee?" "duggah twon a dee?"

figured out it was "mustard on the beat." you'll hear it maybe every 5 minutes on urban radio.

yeah, several consecutive songs are mustard-produced or -"inspired" basically all day every day

was trying to link to our dj mustard thread and amazingly it looks like we don't have one
rolling irrelevant rap bro internet thread 2014
^is where majority of mustard discussion happens

and incidentally, it's "mustard on the beat, ho"

Nah it's

buzza on the beat, revivalist

m.o. (of "for a minute" repute) have a new single which samples sweet female attitude's "flowers" http://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/read/youneedtohearthis-catalogue-009-mo-dance-on-my-own

there's a new josé james album already!

http://www.npr.org/2014/06/01/316464382/first-listen-jose-james-while-you-were-sleeping

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-review-jose-james-20140609-story.html

http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2014/06/09/album-review-jose-james-while-you-were-sleeping/2DMLnsVcmQQj3ev714h3lO/story.html

http://sacurrent.com/music/don-t-sleep-on-jazz-chameleon-jos%C3%A9-james-1.1704513

Tom Moon on NPR sure does like him...

TOM MOON, BYLINE: Catch up with Jose James now because he's a rarity - an artist evolving at warp speed.

New Goapele "Hey Boy"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN1ag80zdp4

New Ameri[i]e "What I Want"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR8PQG8WiF8

There was an error parsing the BBcode in your post:
Unable to match all tags
Possible contributing factor: Too many [i] tags

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The Goapele is nice. Still listen to her last album Break of Dawn often.

Hate that Amerie song.

i really like the joe album so far

I'm enjoying the Joe album a lot too. Stronger songs than last year's Doubleback. A good deal of it feels like Joe's answer to R. Kelly's Love Letter/Write Me Back, but the genre homages feel a little more natural in Joe's hands than they did in Kelz's

Also there's a stepping song on it called "Take It To the House" so there's a lot of my favorite things going on there

oh wow, will have to check out the Jose James. looks like it's his regular band instead of session all-stars like Chris Dave and Pino...i'm sure that has its pluses but those guys were a big part of the last album's appeal for me.

the Think Like A Man Too soundtrack (aka the new Mary J. Blige album half produced by The-Dream and Tricky Stewart) is good. i guess R&B albums just need to be attached to Kevin Hart movies to get released now.

The first soundtrack also had a pretty good song from Jennifer Hudson and Ne-Yo.

oh yeah i LOVED that song, thought it deserved to be bigger

this is great http://www.complex.com/music/2014/06/listen-to-faith-evans-i-deserve-it-f-missy-elliott-and-sharaya-j

missy sounds great

oh hell yeah

http://www.thewrap.com/mariah-carey-me-i-am-elusive-chanteuse-nielsen-soundscan/
guess i was wrong here. i would imagine she struggles out a quarter mill sales if she can get a single out but this (and the lack of any discussion whatsoever of the album that i can see?) is a sea change imo.
i will rep for faded, dedicated, camouflage and money btw

i guarantee you that a lot of this album's target demo doesn't even know it exists (see also the 'think like a man' soundtrack)

r&b radio has been overtaken by throwbacks and crossover hits

well ostensibly at least that's carey's lane! dedicated is basically nas and mariah talking about the nineties fr crissakes

yeah BUT playing a new song that sounds like an old one is a much farther bridge for programmers than just playing the old stuff

admittedly, she's sampling drake on that track so i dunno about anything these days

jlo's argument:

“Mariah and I did what the kids are doing. We had the time when we would drop the thing and it’d go straight to number one and the album would go straight to number one. We did that two, three, four times over. She’s probably done it many more times than even I did. At a certain point in your career, there’s a reinvention that has to go on. But there’s also, you’re in it for a marathon, it’s not about a sprint. This is not a movie, this is not an opening weekend and it tanks. There’s singles that are gonna come out over the course of the next six months. So to me, the release of the album is a celebration because it’s the beginning of something new.”

She added: “So for me it’s not about the first day sales. We’re in a different time in our career. We are in a different status than the ones that need to prove themselves and come out and go, ‘My thing has to be number one right now!’ Ours doesn’t have to. We have a fanbase, we have years behind us, we have loyalty, we have people who are interested. And that’s a blessing to be in this spot. People always try to make you feel bad about that, but honestly I think it’s a badge of honour.”

mmmmmmmmmaybe but i'm not entirely sure that ain't whistling in the dark. on mariah's album at least, I don't hear a massive bust-out third/fourth(?) single... it's not as if the r. kelly collabo is gonna catch fire.

shame thirsty didn't leave a mark... that struck me as the best bet

i think the Mary, Mariah and JLo albums are all pretty good (JLo might actually be my favorite of the bunch, although this isn't really the thread to talk about it i guess), they just don't really have the killer single or career narrative to pull off that over-40 comeback thing Pharrell's doing right now (also that kind of thing unfortunately just easier for men to do than women without age becoming a big factor).

my heart's dream is that is 2024 J-Lo opts for the big hat and pharrell goes for the sparkly bikini

She’s probably done it many more times than even I did.

lol "probably"

i mean, jlo completely otm. the sales stuff can be fun to talk about but if the music's good it's not the point.

(al is the jlo album really good? hadn't checked it out b/c wimbledon, thought "i luh ya papi" was fun but inessential, it's not like she's ever done great albums anyway)

lex, none of this is conversation about quality, it's about sales

at least as per the album sales of jlo and mariah

why would you talk about the sales instead of the quality?

it's a call back to the earlier question of if Pharrell is going to have the best selling R&B album of the year.

I like the Mariah album pretty well when everything's said and done; it sounds expensive and slick and is weak in places but is generally better than I had hoped. It's just lacking a huge single.

it's hard to turn your audience over for two generations and not have some sort of dip, esp w/ the way R&B sells nowadays

(al is the jlo album really good? hadn't checked it out b/c wimbledon, thought "i luh ya papi" was fun but inessential, it's not like she's ever done great albums anyway)

― lex pretend, Wednesday, June 25, 2014 3:13 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

have never been big on her singles (even "papi") but the album is weirdly impressive, for real

the drag-rap bonus track is dope

sevyn streeter chose the song about domestic abuse as a single, huh? excellent.

Really impressed by the new Keyshia Cole track, which is maybe the least Mustard song ever to have a Mustard drop on it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzEN0xPkdv4#t=132

TY dolla sign "paranoid" is on R&B radio constantly…has an excellent conceit…

I really love the new Trey Songz album.

ha i was just coming in here to say how underwhelmed i am by it. he's still a basic nonentity who occasionally lands on a hot single to me, like how many albums deep is he and i'm not interested in HIM at all. this had the usual couple of interestingly-produced highlights but overall ehhhhhh.

trey's hardly a nonentity. he's a very established, distinctive voice and persona at this point. it's just a very annoying voice and persona for most of this record.

I dunno I think he's still pretty "you know, kinda like that one guy, but not..."

He's obviously a big name and talented songwriter, but personality-wise he's kind of a blank

album really picks up at the end, last 2 tracks on the non-deluxe and some of the bonus cuts beat everything that came before it

Did anyone like that August Alsina album? Maybe it's the BET Awards getting a hold of me, but something clicked and I really like that one too.

I hadn't heard much by Alsina but the song he did at the BET Awards had me curious to check him out.

i've never really liked a trey album but i'm w/ shipley on this one

as far as name recognition and voice and thinks like that go. like lex i'm not interested in him at all but i think this album is pretty good.

i like at least three august alsina songs at this point but still have little interest in listening to his album

The singles really undersell the album.

he's still a basic nonentity who occasionally lands on a hot single to me, like how many albums deep is he and i'm not interested in HIM at all.

In fairness Trey Songz never really asks you to be vested in him or his persona. That's never been a prerequisite for him; he's not an Usher or a Mary J. type of figure where he updates you on what's happened in his personal life since his last album. He's always emphasized material over his persona, which is pretty generic, but on this album in particular I think it works really well for him.

Yeah I don't think Trey is interested in selling a narrative or persona that goes much deeper than "ladies' man that likes to party" and there's space for that. There are times where it works and it doesn't. It works most of the time on his latest album due to much better material than his last album.

yeah i meant nonentity as in uninteresting rather than unrecognisable. i think the material is more consistent than on chapter v but doesn't have the highs, the real jams, which makes it a worse trey album because his use is more "hot individual jams" than "consistent, coherent album statement"

i have a lot more residual affection for jlo (better singles stretching back a longer time) but she's much the same kind of artist (though her new one is more "some hot jams, some stretches i don't care about at all because who is here for jlo trying to be emotional on ballads").

Yeah I don't think Trey is interested in selling a narrative or persona that goes much deeper than "ladies' man that likes to party" and there's space for that.

yeah but six albums into his career and there's been barely any progression, it's not a bad album as such but it's just completely unsurprising and i'm a bit jaded about trey at this point i guess

on a +ve note i can def cosign that faith evans/missy/sharaya j single, and j0rdan's right, missy sounds more relaxed on it than she has in YEARS anywhere (i grew to love her "without me" feature but it did seem a bit laboured initially)

the trey album peters out towards the end but the first 10 or so songs are pretty great

"cake" is one of the best terius rip offs in years

I like this more than any Jhene thing I've heard in a while. Kendrick wrote the rap.

https://soundcloud.com/jhene-aiko-1/jhene-aiko-stay-ready-j-henny-rap-verse

would rather just listen to the EP version where kendrick raps the verse himself tho:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nfJ7i0wNkk

oh, didn't know there was a different version

New The-Dream EP avail. tomorrow. Titles include "Pimp C Lives" and "Outkast". Okay!

http://www.contra-paris.com/backcover/

new kalenna and an indication that an album will exist this year! ^_^

http://www.audiomack.com/song/kalenna/murder

New Usher featuring Nicki, produced by Pharrell.

http://www.audiomack.com/song/onlyvibe-1/she-came-to-give-it-to-you

odds of that having a "Blurred Lines"-ish attempt at a sexy viral video: 80%

this sounds like a kylie minogue song to me

I like this one but man, if they could have de-Blurred Linesed it by 20% that would have been nice. Just take out the whoops at least.

based on "Good Kisser" and "I Don't Care" i'm pretty optimistic about this album. the last one wasn't hurt too much by a wack Pharrell track.

this sounds like a kylie minogue song to me

― le goon (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, July 8, 2014 9:56 AM (53 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Well that's kind of random.

um why does this rip the melody of "dub be good to me"

Did you mean "Just Be Good To Me"?

And the answer is because that melody is great.

jazmine's "dumb" video is out, disappointingly is victim to the puppet theme that has inexplicably become trendy in recent months

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10jPwPYOTYo

um why does this rip the melody of "dub be good to me"

― lex pretend, Tuesday, July 8, 2014 10:46 AM (47 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

loool...uhhh lex...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHMnCr0pE4w

i know that song

has the collective force of mustardwave and "grindin" samples REVIVED LUMIDEE??

i wanna say.... yes???

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waVEzBcuQC8

YES

*puts in playlist with "lemonade", plays on loop for rest of summer*

lex i already had your name down on the petition but your enthusiasm is appreciated regardless

the bit of the beat that isn't "grindin" is kind of like if mustard was trying to make "on the floor"?

it's so good

I co-sign all this enthusiasm.

yeah that is hot

anyone know where that is filmed?

great song. guessing it was filmed in puerto rico

anyone know where that is filmed?

― k3vin k., Tuesday, July 8, 2014 4:05 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark

spanish harlem?

it's in new york city somewhere

it's definitely new york. it looked like brooklyn but i'm not sure

yemi marie's "love bop" is such a jam, though the full version doesn't seem to be on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRPZ9uakdzM

So much to like about that video but my favorite parts are the Rahm Emanuel cameo and the "VIDEO COMING SOON" teaser at the end

that lumidee video makes me very happy

nick hakim opened for maxwell on saturday night and i liked his set a lot. EP just came out today.

https://soundcloud.com/enhakim/sets/where-will-we-go-pt-1

this is really nice, thx.

that lumidee song is cool. seems only right that mustard-wave resurrect some of the stars of the early 00's golden age of pop rap/r&b

looking forward to downloading this heatrock off lemon-red

lol

another kid from the wire dropping 90s revivalist bangers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPX9I0Sp6rc

attn maura, new lloyd - very good, very lloydy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6wvhmB4pmc

also the marsha ambrosius album is absolutely lush, deluxe princesque sex jams

immediate miguel vibes from the marsha ambrosius, damn

bizarre "love is stronger than pride" cover on there though, and i kinda dislike the "loving you" interpolation later in the record

jeremih & shlohmo just dropped their ep for free, just about to check it out.

bizarre "love is stronger than pride" cover on there though, and i kinda dislike the "loving you" interpolation later in the record

they're both pretty unexpected. i like what she does on "stronger" arrangement-wise if not dre verse-wise, she gives it some body and makes it very unsadelike.

yeah i'm kind of into it!

"shoes" is pretty eyebrow-raising and "so good" is epic

if she was gonna reuse a couple of songs from the ep earlier this year i don't know why she didn't pick "come", because that track is something else

stronger is very nice.
i've been enjoying the trey songz album
i got through one play on the thicke album and that about did it for me. even out of context, it's just not very good.

don't at all care for "Stronger."

Loved the EP released last spring though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vvvlK2E3V8

thought this was just a low-key jam at first but i can't get enough of it now. something a bit early MJB about it - the song, not kalenna's voice - the way it bumps, the way it purports to be a straight-up declaration of love but her words and delivery suggest she's still working through things. ("promise you'll never leave" introduces that paranoia most explicitly because as we know, if you leave she'll crank wu-tang in her matte black truck.) but the chorus aaahhhhh you just want to surrender

def a quality song. def more overtly and self-consciously invocatory of 90s signifiers than 'matt black truck' which is a little bit boring imo but still not in a dead-end way like some

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyqCj8D2Wzw

on that note i find myself less averse to this necromancerette turning her creepy hand to amerie now

anyone else got the Ambrosius?

yeah. sounded evenly nice and hq but i'm postponing its intimate langours for less humid times

sade/jeru brundlefly is indeed one of the silliest things heard in ages

new shanell mixtape!!!!

http://www.livemixtapes.com/mixtapes/29153/shanell-nobodys-bitch-2.html

OK I love the Ambrosius despite duff tracks. Favorites: "Shoes," "La La La La," "Love," "So Good."

well the shanell mixtape is definitely not as slanted towards ER-esque bangerz as the first nobody's bitch but i'm certainly not complaining about these lush grown-woman real-talk voluptuous slow jams. "stay down" >>>>

Smartphones is a jam, dang

^otm

that Usher-Nicki song is meh.

i thought so too at first but i'm liking the way it sounds on the radio

I really like how light the new Elle Varner single is

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

it's almost toooo light but i do enjoy it

Khia's new album is a mess. On first listen I kinda think it's great.

has teyana taylor's newish single "maybe" been discussed yet, it is pretty impressive imo

i would google it but i'm not falling into her trap

lol

Khia's new album is a mess. On first listen I kinda think it's great.

― jay., Tuesday, August 5, 2014 9:55 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

AAAAGHHHHH this is neither on uk itunes nor on the internet at large, it seems -_-

New Tank album is streaming, and surprisingly funky for a Tank album. Nice complement to that Joe album from earlier this year (if not quite as good)

http://www.thisisrnb.com/2014/08/listen-tank-stronger-full-album-stream/

i thought Khia was a rapper

there were a couple of kinda revelatory r&b cuts on khia's last album and she's been saying she wants to do more like them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KSQgVxe4Y4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqVhwV1QxEs

OH WAIT IT IS ON ITUNES IT'S "LOVELOCS" WITHOUT THE SPACE

and it's on amazon uk for £5 less

*throws £7.49 at khia*

It's on spotify.

…separate from her other stuff, cause apparently she's now "Khia Shamone".

it's already made me go O_O and/or !!! about five separate times and i'm not even done yet

there's a nine-minute abstract slow jam, a skit that remakes "my neck, my back" as a queer cabaret thing, a house track performed as kuntilla, who seems to be an alter ego of an alter ego, tons of great beats, AOTY

a house track performed as kuntilla

jesus christ this thing

Wow this is refreshing. Feel like a lot of R&B albums trying to be weird or individualistic over the last couple of years have just leaned on either Prince or Sade tropes that are actually very commonplace, but this Khia album has real personality. "Fool Proof" is one of the most unique songs I've heard this year.

Kind of reminds me, not sonically but in spirit, of Miguel's debut for the way it alternates between expertly crafted songs and half-sketched toss offs without making much of a distinction between the two. It's got that "let's run with any idea regardless of where it takes us" vibe to it

i generally like krit but this is pretty straight up boring
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtS3YBXCoWQ

the faux vaudeville "my neck my back" skit is a piece of work.

evan, did you hear khia's last album? this one's way more r&b but it's very much picking up where that left off in terms of off-the-wall persona, hooks, ideas. (and even apart from the O_O moments, who knew she was so good at melodic hooks? album is unbelievably generous with them.)

the 9-min epic, btw:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsmlPTRb6C0

also, this one's proving the keeper from the shanell tape for me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leH5lU2T51o

I'd heard a few of her old Atlanta-ish singles, but missed the last album. Had no idea this was the tip she was on.

Find out some good R&B Songs here

*vomits all over the keyboard*

The selection of older songs are mostly great though.

f&p 2014

fancy a bit of spam?

wow hadn't heard these john legend or pharrell songs. good stuff.

Ahead of the curve for 2015.

YEMI MARIE VIDEO!

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

lol at "FUCK THE SYSTEM" graffiti at .58

saw king last night. their cover of zapp & roger's 'computer love' >

lol if the first big bop hit nationally is sonically not a bop song at all

OMG I need to hear a KING version of "Computer Love" right now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpEcM6NA3IE

:D

Ahhhh awesome is there any word on an album from them yet?

Just that it's "coming soon"—they played a bunch of cuts from it the other night.

o_0

HOW WERE THEY?!?!

really, really wonderful.

take my word for it:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2014/08/12/king-gets-royal-reception-great-scott/oPKqCmiqjz3arJfl2TY8iK/story.html

doing a $12 show in NYC tomorrow, tix still available:
http://lepoissonrouge.com/lpr_events/king-august-14th-2014/

http://gawker.com/k-michelle-the-hardest-feeling-woman-in-showbiz-on-h-1623996450

k michelle is the best

This new Elijah Blake song is the strongest thing I've ever from him; really cool interplay between his voice and the beat on this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-xri9R5560#t=121

feeling this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D1fv-RWYv8

this is nice and can't see it already in the thread, acoustic premiere of new Jazmine Sullivan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkC3ZEb-_7s