rolling r&b 2025

no thread yet?

i've been digging the new nao album, especially opening track "wildflowers"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfFt-fc9GjY

i have not been digging sailorr and her insufferable but somehow very buzzy "pookie's requiem"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRlWPrmkTq8

no one grabbed the baton from me when i revived the kelela thread but her live album from the blue note is stunning to me, will def be one of the best R&B albums of the year

it's so good that imo she needs to do a reverse everything but the girl and shed dance beats for jazzy R&B

otherwise i'm waiting around for the summer walker album

Thanks for starting this. Will check out the stuff you mentioned.

Nothing much to contribute other than that I too like the Nao and Kelela (live) albums, and the Mereba album (The Breeze Grew A Fire) is also really great.

Whoa, had no idea there was a Kelela live album.

not sure if any of leon thomas's music has been discussed on ilm (search turns up posts about the same-named jazz vocalist) but he is definitely building up buzz and just did a good tiny desk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNnsTNZR2bU

yeah loved his tiny desk, and happy he played “breaking point” which is my fav of his

that was my fav from that set for sure, i haven't listened to his albums in full tho

Mereba album is really good

^I've been getting into that too, even considered starting a thread. a gentle breeze of an album

agreed, it's really good adult contempo r+b/nu-quiet storm. her voice continues to be just kinda passable, but her lyrics are always good. the beats this time remind me a lot of the ilxor fan fav we are king, especially on side two/second half. i don't mean to downplay it; just initial thoughts. "counterfeit" is great and a first listen love.

I think that's all pretty much otm. it *is* slight but I find it charmingly so

I’m here for it

this is top tier classic twee vibe imo. same with "counterfeit." i'm not even joking when i say that the way she puts her words together, combined with such earnest vibes is really reminiscent of bobby wratten to me. just big, wholesome, and sometimes venerable, naive vibes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLUtlsYxqpU
mereba ― "heart of a child" (2025)

thanks for the shout, everyone. this showed up in my new release notifications but i balked on checking it out until ya'll posted because i've been kinda mid on her previously. this album is great though. maybe it'll spark a revisit to the her catalogue.

listening to "Hawk" right now and at times it almost sounds like something from the late-90s Tortoise universe

neo/soul singer durand bernarr recently released a cd-sized album which is obv spotty but i am digging a lot. some great singing and deep grooves, and this one track that evokes organized noize and erykah badu (and specifically, "liberation" by outkast)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_n1iMh7p-Y

i write "neo/soul" like that because in the past he's been somewhat of a throwback soul singer, but he's decided to go neo on several tracks on the new one (titled, bloom)

yeah I like the durand bernarr album.

Besides the terrific Summer W. single (which came out at the end of December), here are a few tracks I've been digging:

Amelia Moore ft. Coco Jones, Absolutely & Samara Cyn - See Through (Remix)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZWy_Bvh740

Flau'jae - OTW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAkI6BQ8Jbc

Wé Ani & Ajii - Forget About You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sltR1WB8Zms

grown folks r& b listeners are line dancing with fans in their hands to 803 Fresh song - "Boots on the Ground" w/ its lyric "where them fans at"

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

There are multiple videos and tik toks for the boots on the ground where them fans at line dance out

I wish I could convince you folks that you can like young r& b acts & older grown folks southern soul ones, like the above too.

Yes to We Ani & Ajii track above xpost

A new Amerie single! It's fairly conventional compared to her last project (way back in, gulp, 2018)... sounds like there's an album coming in June.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rklha0RBxP0

This Ayra Starr single from back in February ("All the Love") is quite nice -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lighfnq-1SM

sounds like there's an album coming in June

ftr, I was wrong about this… turns out it’s her debut novel.

enjoying the new alex isley ep

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45MHkFcyvBY

this one ("mic on") is a more of a groove than a vocal showcase but her vocals on some other tracks are compellingly subtle and intricate

Yes!! I added that track to my own running playlist last week.

Summer's new single is lush, excellent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8QkDQZpD5I

jenevieve back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFGdRiUozD4
"haiku"

So Summer Walker has 2 alternate versions of "Spend it"

the latest from mariah is a really pretty slow linn drum thing―

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx9h3iWudTU

mariah the scientist ― "burning blue"

yeah, very ciara "promise," which i'm not mad at, although i'm surprised at how quickly it's become far bigger than anything she's ever released

the power of celebrity gossip is very real!

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/20/arts/music/boots-on-the-ground-line-dance.html?unlocked_article_code=1.QU8.CFll.zp-fxqwnOPP5&smid=url-share

803 Fresh song and line dance "Boots on the Ground" makes the NY Times

have been feeling the new Q project 10 Songs, here's the single "Bad Man"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oFaaDNQ5tc

"Today" from his 2023 album Soul,Present is one of my favorite R&B singles of the last few years:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk1U847h2MI

I get the sense that he's still finding his footing as an artistic, but I'm excited to see where he goes. Obvious comparisons here would be Miguel, Frank Ocean... Terence Trent D'Arby also comes to mind

where them faaaaans at

i like q a lot but he really hamstrung himself by picking the worst, most ungoogleable artist name of all-time

new nicole wray single is really good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1LfAZF3abQ

she's actually released a couple more songs since that one! (namely, "Time", and "You're Gonna Win" just the other day). New album Cover Girl is out in September, really looking forward to it.

the latest from mariah is a really pretty slow linn drum thing―

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx9h3iWudTU

mariah the scientist ― "burning blue"

― Constance Mischievous (Austin), Tuesday, May 13, 2025 9:36 PM (one month ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah, very ciara "promise," which i'm not mad at, although i'm surprised at how quickly it's become far bigger than anything she's ever released

― some dude, Wednesday, May 14, 2025 7:29 AM (one month ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is ok, I can see the “promise” comparisons a bit with the percussion but it’s so much more staid. really anonymous vocal performance too

i think she sounds identifiable + appealing on it (tho not on everything i've heard from her). perhaps a little indistinctive, yeah

the jenevieve album is out today . it's exceeding expectations and i'm currently on my second listen in a row.

like i was going to post my pick for the highlight in here but i'm having a hard time choosing. idk, here's "iron lung (breathe in)" which i think is probably one of my favorite things i've heard all year?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcqIIvvPlGs-
the album is basically her improving everything. the track sequence is great; a clear effort was made there. the last three or four tracks are especially heavy, and only enhanced by the running order. the ballads rule. "haiku" (still good) was an odd first preview in hindsight imo. "head over heels" is way better, and a much cooler 90s hiphop throwback than erykah's:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VqnRZinmRE-

anyway, the album is great and definitely fulfills on the potential hinted at on her previous ep. very recommended, solid 4 mics initially. riyl 90s revival, aaliyah, polite attitude, future retro ideas

first impression on the latest from mariah the scientist is that it's the prettiest music she's made thus far. heavy on the ballads, dunno if i like more than the last one, but it's good.👍🏻👍🏻

new Rochelle Jordan album is glorious

it's really good!

This already feels like an album grown in some secret ILM lab somewhere.

i'm kinda enjoying the new khalid album (his first post-coming out!), although whether it fits in an r&b thread i'm not sure. if anything it sounds like troye sivan singing tate mcrae songs.

separately, natanya (who i nominated and voted for in last year's eoy poll) has released two new EPs this year, the latest one a week ago, and they've been spliced together on streaming services to make a pretty solid 11 track "album" of sorts. she's got some support slots for ravyn lenae coming up i think which is a good pairing, although there's a distinct britishness to what she's doing (i get early sugababes from her vocally at times)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8LBQF0B0js

Been hearing Leon Thomas "Mutt" on r& b radio and I like it. He's mentioned upthread and just got a Grammy nomination. Just noticed "Mutt" first came out about a year ago, and then there was a remix with Chris Brown 7 months ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejEzHE5ZMT8-

Pholks is the newer Leon Thomas release

r&b stations have been playing it all year, it's the top 40 stations that have caught on just recently, predictably late -- same thing they're going to do with soty "folded".

i like-don't-love the song but figure it has a good chance to get him grammys aplenty as he has the kind of backstory those folks seemingly can't resist. given how glacial the churn is in the american music biz rn the song will likely still be near peak exposure when the ceremony airs *cries*

since i sorta mentioned kehlani here is their latest single "out the window", prolly not a future classic like "folded" but still pleasing to my ears

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVyULS2aPmQ

the title phrase is actually maybe the weakest part for me? but the vocal performance is what makes it in the end

i like the guitar-heavy stuff on Leon Thomas's new EP more than "Mutt," i feel like the chorus for a hit that big should be more than one dumb couplet.

just got hip to Jenevieve, really like the new Amber Mark album too.

male r&b arists have been killing it this year. i'm really feeling the debut ep from gabriel jacoby, gutta child. shades of d'angelo, van hunt, anthony hamilton, organized noise. here's "baby"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOlzbrt7hUw

also into this lekan single "make it right"--beautiful voice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHxzuTkD5IE

and odeal has been on a very nice run, the new EP the fall that saved us is excellent. "pretty girls" feels like something b2k would've recorded lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jUNo-z2lHw

gabriel jacoby is great. odeal too, i mentioned him in the afropop thread, he’s like a naija version of brent faiyaz (tho i think he’s from germany?)

yeah odeal does sound uncannily like brent faiyaz. i found that kind of offputting initially but the songs are good

yeah i have no idea what to do with odeal. sort of a self evidently good early r&b project that also has a special sort of hallucinatory aspect to it that doesn’t really sit right. “cold world” is my fav

jorja smith has AI replicating her vocals, brent faiyaz has odeal

I keep meaning to talk abotu D’Leesa in this thread. She’s probably put out more music this year than is advisable, and her lyrics can be a little “adolescent whose humanities teachers describe her as ‘a joy to have in class’ decides to write poetry in her spare time”, but it’s extremely difficult for me to maintain any kind of skepticism towards lesbian R&B that seems to wrap together Me’Shell Ndgeocello, Abra and Nourished by Time.

where should one start?

Try the album ‘Ethereal’ and in particular “Highway”, “Flowers”, “Mine” and the title track

Caramanica at NY Times has Sailorr on his best of album list. Voodoo C wasn't crazy about a track of hers back in February here. I'm just listening now for first time

the new Masego single "unhinged" is dope--he's consistently great, feels slept on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaRaF3nBrXg

“Boots on the Ground “ 803Fresh’s Southern soul linedance song went #1 Adult R&B Airplay/#20 R&B-Hip-Hop Songs/#10 Bubbling Under Hot 100, per Chuck Eddy comment in his Substack