rolling r&b 2024

Really nice new one from Ayra Starr – "Commas":

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

(her track Rhythm & Blues was a highlight for me last year, but sadly didn't get traction in the EOY poll)

Pure vibe here (and brand new artist, apparently):

Mreens - Living Room

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KTINMTG-O0

Usher is back, with Pheelz - "Ruin". really good job adapting his own style to afrobeats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsv9EAuW5H8

looking forward to his super bowl show

ah yeah rly like that usher song

If only drummers were involved

new one from lay bankz comes straight from the t.r.l. era
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTZQH1-sbFA

I've been enjoying this song by Ryan Destiny, "How Your Hands Feel" - the production reminds me of Miguel at his peak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb1sF_QsbyI

ah that's really nice

loving "made for me" by muni long, yes i know it is very generic 2004 in its sound but it's done so effectively (yes i also know it came out last year and we high-minded ppl are aware of everything immediately upon release and have fully formed unchanging/correct opinions)

generic 2004 = yes

I have a bunch of new traxx to share... rather than post them individually, I welcome you to visit the 2024 Faves playlist that I'm dumping them into (will organize later).

That works

A few I do want to highlight:

Mreens - Living Room
Apparently this artist's first single... I think it's arresting, a singular track:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KTINMTG-O0

Rene Bonét - The Conversation & La Quinta Inn & Suites
I won't embed them both, but they're advance tracks from an album coming out next month (Voice Memos). Great atmosphere – downbeat slow-burn with trap beats. I'm a sucker for that vibe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dU3sORReYg

lol morris, you street teaming for mreens or smthg?

thx for rene bonét btw - sounds really good + didn't know her!

Did I mention Mreens before(?) Shit...

Oh no! Sorry. Er... it's such a singular track, I forgot I put it here a month ago!

just goofin. i like the song, btw. very interested to hear more.

I'll post it again in a month! :-D

Jermaine Dupri, Nelly, Ashanti & Juicy J turn a classic ‘90s jam into… a retro dance jam…(?) It’s hard to resist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gff4gcNjPIg

btw, this (from monotony) was on point – a keeper for sure:

I've been enjoying this song by Ryan Destiny, "How Your Hands Feel" - the production reminds me of Miguel at his peak

someone i just stumbled on. here's the most recent thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NysqWG5Oww
cyanca - "my bad"

the older stuff seems a bit more neosoul in comparison to this. thought you might dig, morris.

Thanks, I do!

Thanks, I do!

loving "made for me" by muni long, yes i know it is very generic 2004 in its sound but it's done so effectively (yes i also know it came out last year and we high-minded ppl are aware of everything immediately upon release and have fully formed unchanging/correct opinions)

― dyl, Friday, March 8, 2024 7:24 PM

We just got to it: https://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=31549

I got Keyshia Cole vibes.

i went back into some of that cyanca stuff from last year + this is technically only about six months old. sep of last year:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu716TnuxaE
cyanca ― "pb+j" (2023)

damn, pretty good jammy jam i reckon.

nice track from Leigh-Anne - "Stealin' Love":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl_BhkAy3Wo

xxp keyshia cole is an apt comparison w/ how she belts out the chorus, which to my ears is basically perfect. i've come to enjoy giving the lyrics a sapphic reading, the fragrance being specified as 'perfume' (which i'm sure was done for rhyming purposes but w/e) and naturally the 'twin' line

Have you folks heard the two albums she released as Priscilla Renea? Jukebox (2009) is somewhat strange; it’s very poppy and eclectic, but almost “novelty song” in approach, or musical-theater influenced.

Coloured (2018) leans into country-soul, with powerful ballads. It’s v good, IMO (…and interesting to listen to at this particular moment).

My favorite songs of hers as Muni Long are still, like, “Thot Thoughts” and “Bodies”… but it’s obv these more trad numbers (“Hrs & Hrs” and “Made for Me”) that have really taken off for her!

only song i heard by her as priscilla renea was "dollhouse", and not even until years later

That aforementioned Rene Bonét album is out today – it's nice

this isn't particularly r&b, its fuzz makes it pretty rock-coded, but at the same time the vocal filter brings it directly into the lineage of Miguel. good song. Omar Apollo - "Spite"

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

lol new lucky daye is pure pop...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXlRp8pca3A
"HERicane"
(influence in title not mine)

hey this joyce wrice is kinda nice-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdaCBt4hAPo
joyce wrice+esta+duckwrth - "too fast"

oh shit check out this lushness...!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiyaDct0STs
amaria - "beggin"

YAYA BEY

!!!!

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.

new flo album is pretty good! reminds me of the chloe x halle record from a few years ago

i enjoyed it also but found the cynthia erivo press release-style intro track incredibly corny

ya i guess big rube wasn’t available

I love FLO, but their name is practically ungooglable.