Rolling R&B Thread 2011

Time for a new thread! 2010 was an interesting year, to say the least. It started off really slowly but a lot of good releases popped up in the fourth quarter. 2011 looks to be promising, with new albums scheduled for release from:

Lloyd, Maxwell, R. Kelly (Love Letter 2 & Zodiac), Beyonce, Marsha Ambrosius, Raphael Saadiq, Jennifer Hudson, JoJo, Amy Winehouse, Solange, Ryan Leslie, Robin Thicke, Chris Brown, Electrik Red, Jill Scott, Shareefa, Teairra Mari, J. Holdiday, Alice Smith, Mario, Brandy, Melanie Fiona, Tiffany Evans, Monica & Cassie (LOL).

Notable Debuts:

K. Michele
Kevin Cossom
Mindless Behavior
Shanell
RichGirl
John Brown
Willow Smith

What are you guys most looking forward to for 2011?

I wonder if The-Dream will drop that Love Affair on 06-07-2011.

what would a thread be w/o a small cheap shot at the cassie fan club

it feels so weird to suddenly be looking forward & not talking about all the R&B that literally just dropped

yeah definitely, I mean obv we'll talk about the stuff that just dropped in here too - I still haven't gotten around to hearing Jamie Foxx's album or giving Keri Hilson & Tank second listens.

lol i had no idea that foxx's album dropped? no buzz on that one huh

the Foxx album actually has 2 songs i've heard a bit on the radio and knew it existed before its release date, which is more than i can say for the Keyshia album

i liked "winner" & the song w/ soulja/t.i. but i didn't know that they actually had the release date set -- "fall for your type" is aight

ha forgot "Winner" even existed, i meant the song with Rick Ross which is kinda dope

what would a thread be w/o a small cheap shot at the cassie fan club

I don't quite get the obsession some people have with Ciara and Keri Hilson flopping. I know that Cassie's career has been in limbo since her first album but that's what she gets for being signed to Bad Boy. After all, Diddy got lazy and let Danity Kane mutate into Dirty Money.

i guess ciara and keri are in that weird position of selling better/being better known than your typical "niche" artists, but compared to beyoncé or rihanna or whoever they're seen as flops? idk i really hate that hysterical pop fan propensity to shriek "FLOP!" at anyone who misses the top 10 or whatever.

http://i55.tinypic.com/154zptw.jpg

WTF

wtf?! i hope she's just drunk and emotional

I don't quite get the obsession some people have with Ciara and Keri Hilson flopping.

According to the urban music blogs I frequent, the reason why so much focus on them flopping is due to the gossip about their (lack of)personality rather than their music. It seems like a hard time being a r&b star nowadays as you have blogs critiquing your every move and looks; record labels pressuring them to compete with the r&b turned pop stars like Usher and Rihanna; and dealing with the always impossible balance of not being too mainstream but not too hood/black/r&b (I apologize for not having a more appropriate neutral term).

This is a shame since they both put out pretty solid (not great) albums in the last quarter of 2010. I must admit they both don't have that cliched "it" factor like others but r&b singers never had to have that before.

I know that Cassie's career has been in limbo since her first album but that's what she gets for being signed to Bad Boy.

Even though this may not mean anything but a Bad Boy employee said that Cassie recorded more than 50 songs since the move to Atlantic and is working hard. It was also reported that the label would focus on her after Diddy-Dirty Money was released. Personally, I just want to hear her version of Claude Kelley's Electro Love demo and the full version of the Neptunes-produced Hide and I will be a happy Cassie fan for the rest of my life.

She just deleted all those tweets except for the latest one. I hope she doesn't quit. If she ever did comes back she might be in the r&b mixtape wasteland like Nicole Wray (another Missy Elliott associate) :(

the ciara shit is all about what age group is listening to her right? i doubt shes really as unpopular as her sales indicate

as far as the idea that Keri's album flopped, it sole more first week than her first one did.

sold

According to the urban music blogs I frequent, the reason why so much focus on them flopping is due to the gossip about their (lack of)personality rather than their music.

This has probably been covered elsewhere, but what are some of the good R&B blogs we should be checking out?

hahaha jazmine http://twitter.com/jsullivanmusic/status/22003431292018688

This has probably been covered elsewhere, but what are some of the good R&B blogs we should be checking out?

Well that depends on if you want a website devoted to commentary and/or giving you the latest songs that leak.

I personally like this one guy's blog called mixtapemaestro.net. It's kinda like a one man Stylus's Singles Jukebox. The author is reminds me of the website HYPETRAK even though he started he's first. He does cover more than r&b/hip hop and he is less about snark and more about the music itself.

Also, djbooth.net caters to more of what DJ's think of the genre. The reviews of both albums, singles, and remixes are typically fair, and they do cover the up and comers as well the established artists.

Soulbounce.com is great for the grown-up/alternative/indie r&b and hip hop. I HATE how they denounce contemporary r&b of today while lauding the genre's 90s/80s era as if the music was a sacred cow. However, their selection of their preferred music taste is expansive and more open minded to what is typically branded as "soul/r&b."

Unfortunately these websites don't analyze or have fun with r&b as much as this board does (which is the main reason why I come here). The only website I can think of who is close to that was Stylus Magazine but of course that closed down 4 years ago.

mixtapemaestro.net.

yeah i used to read this - dude has weird taste sometimes but can be enjoyable

anyone heard this? it's awesome -- kinda got an india.arie acoustic soul thing, but has more of a thump sorta like lauryn or someone who is into hip-hop -- anyway, really pretty song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU73mDKGJ1E

soulbounce is great resource for finding new stuff, I just wish it was readable

― LA CANCION MAS PRETENCIOSA DEL MUNDO... (The Reverend), Sunday, December 13, 2009 10:18 PM Bookmark

Thanks for the site recommendations. I'd never heard of Mixtapemaestro.net,but it seems to have a unique perspective. Soulbounce is great, though I wish it were maybe 50% more discerning about what it recommended. At least it offers a little commentary, though. A lot of the sites I check out, like (the non-Tapemasters affiliated) thefutureofrnb.com, just host a ton of file-share links but never tell you what you're downloading.

That K'la song is really charming, J0rdan.

All your love samples the Bob Marley/Lauryn Hill version of Turn Your Lights Down Low

i love these two songs on the new keri hilson album. i know she's boring, perennially hampered by being unable to transcend her whole "professional industry songwriter" thing, but for some reason every so often, amidst the rest of her ignorable material, she does come up with songs that really get me. they all seem to involve a wistful, low-key romanticism that's at odds with her usual businesslike persona but also totally in character too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ejbUMRY2t4

^^just love how that one sounds, the washes of synths and the yearning melody. could definitely do without nelly, and specifically the most mood-killing line ever, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj_fBAYO7w

^^just so pretty, and great lyrics too...it feels like she's accidentally found a bunch of old love letters on the eve of her wedding.

Keri Hilson is definitely at her best when she's unabashedly romantic, but she's so shrill and petty and generally unlikable for so much of No Boys Allowed. I wish the album had replaced a couple of its churlish "Rude Boy" knock-offs with more songs like the above.

i don't really hear the unlikeability - though i also like her in generic boss bitch/club banger mode too ("get your money up", "turnin' me on", "the way you love me", "buyou"). i guess she interests me partly because she's so chameleonic - a consequence of her being characterless rather than versatile - that it's hard to really pin her strengths down. i do think she's better at conveying emotion on this album than the last, though her voice isn't a strength in any way that you can really identify.

I haven't read Soulbounce with any regularity since Nova left. When I went back to it a few weeks ago, the latest post suggested that Ciara should give up and become a secretary. Odd since some of the artists they champion have day jobs.

could definitely do without nelly, and specifically the most mood-killing line ever, though.

That line is unavoidable, even during passive listening.

I'm going to try to keep up with the R&B entries on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. I attempted something similar a few years ago, but it was through my job and bigger priorities squashed it around June.

http://survivalthemes.tumblr.com/

awesome

Melba Moore and Ron Isley are up next. What year is it?

haha right

post in these threads more this year

ah andy i loved your earlier attempt at this, excited about the new one

http://survivalthemes.tumblr.com/

Oh this is a great resource thanks for the link Andy K.

Also, Marsha Ambrosius's Far Away video has been getting some buzz lately with its pro-LGBT message which is a (small)step in the right direction and a nice alternative from the electro-pop's bawdy out there message. The song is solid by itself but with the video as context it obviously has more weight. I can't wait for her album.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ofsib2eu02o

(Thanks, fellas.)

awesome

― fruit of the goon (k3vin k.), Friday, January 7, 2011 11:07 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this new ginuwine song is very nice -- feel like the chorus is underwritten but the verses & production are really kinda beautiful so it still slides by alright

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

produced by bryan-michael cox

yeah the production is incredibly lush

Really surprised by how much radio play that Ginuwine single is already getting locally; I've been hearing it on both the adult R&B and youth rap/R&B formats, and I think it's getting a lot of requests. Good song, even if the lyrics couldn't be more trite.

feat tank!

anybody heard that dude's album?

My bad, by the way: the Ginuwine song getting all the airplay is "What Could Have Been," which is a really, really fantastic single. The "You the first lady and I'm the president" line is brilliant for so many reasons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HONFmA-g_Y

not sure how i feel about "what could have been" but loving "heaven"

i'm a sucker for these songs tho as most of you know

i really like the k'la track j0rdan linked a few posts back

i figured you would!

yeah thinking of checking out her mixtape

oh yeah keke palmer has a new mixtape! she's always been a pretty interesting figure for me - she came out of teenpop (disney?) but she had a footworking song on her first album and did an awesome jerk song in 09 too - and "keep it moving" is a classic summertime jam 4eva. anyway there's a bunch of old stuff on this (inc those tracks) but have at it anyway - http://itapez.com/2011/01/10/keke-palmer-awaken/

when julianne e.s. tweeted about keke last night it jolted me into WHAT SHOW ME WHERE action so fast lol

i'm hopeful that it's a harbinger for more 2011 action, at any rate

*of

full moon >>>

I was 9 when "The Boy Is Mine" came out. No excuses!

i was never big on brandy in the 90s (i was a monica partisan lol) but i fell in love with "baby" big time recently

i was 5

i was 15 and i was SPRUNG off monica

I heard an album by some dude called B.Bravo today. It sounded really awesome on first listen. And that is all.

― Conan The Asshander (Doran), Wednesday, November 16, 2011 5:37 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

Congrats, Al!

Blige album is a chore.

B.Bravo thanks you, A.Rovi

xp Really? I mean, I wasn't expecting much but still... :(

oh was that brandy song old? lolsmh at me

spotify your brandy kids

I hope people aren't seeing Brandy/Monica as an either/or proposition! I think "What About Us" was the last truly weird sounding chart hit, I've never heard anything before or since in r&b/pop which is as glitchy and oddly-paced as it.

I also have fond memories of her TV series Moesha.

disappointed to hear that about MJB - the singles had me hopeful. well, i'll have to hear for myself.

key non-obvious brandy tracks: angel in disguise, almost doesn't count, focus, i tried, shattered heart, 1st & love, sadiddy

"WOW", people.

"silent night" is pretty amazing, whoa. are there any versions floating around w/o dj shouts all the way through?

i was of age when the boy is mine came out, just didn't care

didn't realize there was a diehard crew

*diehard Brandy crew, not of TBIM

I've liked a few songs here and there, but never really thought much of her as a singer. Will echo the "Angel in Disguise" love, though.

I always assumed the R&B/Hip Hop ilxor crew knew of Brandy and her internet cult (rivals Cassie's IMO). She has a massive wealth of unreleased/B-sides that you could make like 10 albums from.

I think her being on Moesha for God how many years really did a disservice to her as most people forgot she was a singer.

wait cassie has cult or did they just like that one song and won't let it go

She has a little (and I mean little) cult fan base due to the leaks after the first album came out. Also, some indie electronic artists seem to like her as well. I have to admit I'm sort of part of it but I've mostly given up on her releasing anything "official."

She is supposed to be releasing an album in 2012 and the single was suppose to come out last month but who knows with her and Diddy.

I also noticed that none of the artists in the first post have released an album and that bums me out.

some of them have. Beyonce, Winehouse (posthumously), Thicke's is on the way, Mindless Behavior. But yeah: R&B release dates continue to be a bad joke.

I was looking at the debut albums:

K. Michele
Kevin Cossom
Mindless Behavior
Shanell
RichGirl
John Brown
Willow Smith

I was really looking forward to RichGirl but since a majority of their studio sessions leaked last year I guess it was delayed or shelved.

RichGirl broke up.

where is dawn richard :[

RichGirl broke up.

Aww man. I just read the wiki. One of the girls joined the new Pussycat Dolls. Fucking RCA label politics.

She has a little (and I mean little) cult fan base due to the leaks after the first album came out.

ha, oh, we know about these people

oh do we ever

I miss Aaliyah...*sob*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43nz5eb3vBo

where is dawn richard :[

― dayo, Thursday, 17 November 2011 22:39 (Yesterday)

The mixtape (which is my 2nd favourite album of 2011) is so good that it's hard for me not to think of it as her debut album.

What is the remix of "Are You That Somebody?" at the end of that? Ridiculous!

sez wikipedia (sics all over the place):

The Mix-tape The Prelude to A Tell Tale Heart or alternate title: #ATellTaleHeart[9][10][11] was released February 7, 2011 on her official web-site. There are 15 tracks.[10][12] It called "the prelude to..." because there will be official debut studio album by Dawn Richard entitled A-Tell Tale Heart, which she is working on for past 3 years.[13] She is working with Trendsetter (producer) on few tracks for that album.[14][15] Celebrating the release of her mix-tape, Dawn Richard organized several club events. On February 7, 2011 at "Milan" club in Baltimore[16][17] and on February 12, 2011 at PHX – "Nightclub MIXTAPE PARTY RELEASE".[18]

Dawn has announced that her major solo debut project will be a broken up trilogy of albums entitled "GoldenHeart, "BlackHeart", and "RedemptionHeart". "GoldenHeart", the first of the trilogy is expected to be released late 2011.[19] On June 19, 2011 a buzz track entitled "Stuck On Mad" was released to the public. Followed by a release of a remix to Frank Ocean's Novacane. The remix which was co-written by songwriter Intyce, hit the net on June 21, 2011 and reached over 5000 downloads within a few hours. Intyce was enlisted as one of the writers for Richards solo debut.[20]

2011-present: Golden Heart

SMFU (SAVE ME FROM U) was released on the internet 31st October and is set to be on the first album.[21] This album is set to have an concept of a alter-ego named NEON. The concept has not yet been discussed.

i am d/lding "stuck on mad" and "smfu" now. no one mentioned them. and yeah putting together my EOY lists dawn ended up at #5, higher than i thought she would.

also she started following me on tumblr!

(probably would have been higher but the mixtape's shitty bitrate remains an annoyance)

rip richgirl too ;_;

of the other potential debutantes, shanell released a couple of pretty good buzz tracks; i guess with none of the follow-ups to "whip my hair" catching on, they're holding off on a full-blown willow smith album. k michelle is a surprise cuz it really did seem like a big launch was imminent.

Lex, you should listen to the Goapele album.

Everyone should.

okay!

(get me in the early morning before i'm stressed and i'll cheerfully download any recommendation on sight)

Right on. Its only 9 tracks long, around 30 minutes.

Posted this in the pretentious r&b thread, but whatever

Goapele - Play
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRn2DAggPEE

Video and song are lush.

brandy was a huge star. yall are making me feel old

'full moon' is one of my fav songs ever point blank period. i don't really like the songs lex picked off her newer record but i do love 'who is she 2 u' which i'm sure i've talked at length about on here before

sure she was a huge star, pretty upn etc, i've just never heard of people actively following her

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts88sNy_LGw&hd=1

had no idea One Chance were still around. cool beat anyway

that goapele is pretty dope -- feel like it maybe holds back just a bit too much but overall i dig the "cassie for classy adults" vibe

there's def a bunch of great sounds tho

agree, "break of dawn" is v. nice

the goapele is incredible

feeling goapele! first track is my immediate favourite