Rolling R&B Thread 2012

Alright, so 2011 is over. Looking forward, 2012 could end up being a great year. There are albums scheduled to drop from: Ciara, Monica, The-Dream, R. Kelly (Black Panties!), Brandy, Mariah Carey, Melanie Fiona, K. Michelle, Alicia Keys, Keyshia Cole, Ameriie, Tank, Algebra, Trey Songz, Mario, Ryan Leslie, Tamia, Tiffany Evans, Chris Brown, SWV, Mary J. Blige, Estelle, Maxwell, D'Angelo, and Cassie (this will happen).

Notable Debuts:

Jhene Aiko
Dawn Richard
Elle Varner
Frank Ocean
Luke James
Timothy Bloom
Stacy Barthe
Kalenna
Mindless Behavior
Shanell
Ester Dean

I'm excited! What are you guys looking forward to? What did you think of 2011?

to start with, I'm really feeling this Teyana Taylor track (produced by Hit-Boy):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKWcMplz6KA
clearly she's grown a lot as an artist since "Google Me" (which was dope imo)

also, don't remember if this was covered in the sandbox but BROOKE VALENTINE IS BACK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PNzpAOzIOc

...Ameriie...
Still can't get over how funny inserting an i in your name is going to get you out of perpetual flopdom

dodgy brooke valentine screengrab

haaaa

well, that brooke valentine song is ok but how is it, in any way, an "R&B" track? it sounds like an indie rock song with a good singer. i'm not trying to troll here - just confused.

i'm most looking forward to the Melanie Fiona album, although i'm also getting REALLY impatient for that Maxwell to drop, last one was so incredible and he was acting like the next couple albums were already pretty much done but it's going on 3 years now and no sign of the follow-up.

what did we think of dawn richard's first official single?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgaEfg0M9b0

it didn't blow me away immediately like the mixtape songs did, but i went back to it a lot over december.

she's on a terrible chris brown-led posse cut version of "marvins room" that's been charting and getting radio play lately :(

The opening posts on these threads seem immediately sad to me now. It's like when a mid-tier character in a film or tv show suddenly gets a lot of screen time in preparation for their impending, sudden killing-off.

love that dawn track

There's tons of good stuff on Jade Alston's mixtape. Well worth the download.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32tIQ3EbQXQ

that teyana taylor track BW posted is incred btw

mariahhhhhhh

that Jade Alson track is pretty good, nice find Evan.

the teyana taylor song is very good

first thing to ever justify her baffling existence

shes also wearing a bulls hat in the cover shot

So yeah, this Jade Alston mixtape is very good! I love her voice, it has a smoky, smoldering quality to it that kind of recalls Toni Braxton a bit. This is gorgeous:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_737w0emkZo
Like a depressive Teedra Moses lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B793cUI0ZhQ
!!!

I really appreciate how she undersells each song, even a banger like "Bill Gates" (which is really great, too). Last year a lot of singers in this mold went BIG AND LOUD so much of the time, this is a nice break

Yeah definitely, she's very understated. I prefer her in mid-tempo/slow jam smoldering mode over the "Bill Gates"-type stuff though.

I would really love a new Solange album this year, Sol-Angel is one of my favourite records of the last five years.

Her voice reminds me of Naomi Allen's a bit xpost

yeah I can hear that

btw here's Dawn's new single from Golden Heart:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9JXm-csjQg
wouldn't sound out of place on Brandy's Human album.

no more hashtags in song titles. besides, the time already took that to its logical extreme

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APsNgDUTYE8

the teyana taylor song is very good

first thing to ever justify her baffling existence

― J0rdan S., Wednesday, January 4, 2012 7:18 PM Bookmark

"google me" was a banger, fuiud

hellloooo jade alston

really like "searching"

not a fan of the new drum loop or synth part of SFMU

toooo excited about brandy's album right now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4nCj1vVNp0&fmt=18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nu6-C60dcQ&fmt=18

These are pretty cool but I hope she isn't rapping on her new album >_<

http://www.drudgesiren.com/siren.gif*BREAKING NEWS*http://www.drudgesiren.com/siren.gif

JAZMINE SULLIVAN IS WORKING ON HER THIRD ALBUM

New Tiffany Evans is excellent!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRBHgb7aTJI

how has it taken me until now to hear melanie fiona's "4am"? this is fucking epic

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

I posted that on the sandbox r&b thread - it's doing well on the radio here

That new Tiffany Evans song is seriously great, maybe even better than Won't Find Me from last year. Is there a new album due soon?

Like the Fiona track quite a bit. Would it be too controversial to note that I get a real Weeknd/"Marvin's Room" vibe off of this one?

nah it's definitely there, it's kinda like "marvin's room" x "try sleeping with a broken heart". i mean, jojo already showed us that the problem with the drake aesthetic isn't necessarily the nothingy atmospheres or mood or whatever, those only become inadequate when the artist/song is also inadequate - the problem is all HIM

putting someone like melanie fiona on top and letting her sing the HELL out of a strong song is obv a good move

i listened to it walking home drunk at 4am last night btw! it was a moment

yeah when "4 AM" first came out i thought it was probably from the Noah Shebib Submarine Sound Factory and kinda resisted it because of that and because it's SO different from what i liked hearing Fiona do on "Gone And Never Coming Back" and "Fool For You," but it grew on me anyway.

The new Melanie Fiona single is even more stunning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdwF4R9i0q4

Elle Varner released a mixtape, btw. I've just skimmed through out but it sounds cool so far:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYXWFr68bMs

Really feeling this, I was hoping the Dawn single would be more like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1i_2vvbprM

And the new Teairra Mari single is a banger, though rooting for her to actually have a hit single again and release an album is a lost cause of Cassie-esque proportions at this point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeJtdHHOjw4

really like that elle varner track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21wO14g9714
R.I.P. RichGirl :(

Yikes; the pacing on that song is excruciating. It just runs in place for three minutes that feel like eight.

Two great ones right here. This Yuna track is the best Pharrell production I've heard it way too long:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fITyU9KM3CU

And this Jahah is an awesome surprise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVWp0ineOf0

It's like Glenn Lewis, if Glenn Lewis loved huge breakbeats.

whoa, this jahah is sweet.

been p into the omarion ep tape thing, the song w/ joe buddens, him aside, makes me nostalgic for peak era the-dream somehow. he'd give it better hooks but it's still p nice

JoJo mixtape is so good, love the control in her voice and the jazzy touches and the California feel

we fucking with ratchet&b? i love this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02JMBhxufJw

hate that song, although it can't help that out here they only play the version with French Montana

yeah i chose not to listen to that version... seems totally unnecessary

taking iamsu! off a snappy LA hit is just so wrong... same thing with "up"

only version of "up" i was into was the one w/ whoever the singer dude was (skipper?) doing a more melodic take of the chorus -- heard that one first and when radio seemed to prefer playing the version w/o him i lost all interest in the song

i fux with "who booty"

r&b game travis porter

also reminds me of something else from ages ago in r&b that i'm too holiday mode to bother trying to remember, it'll come to me

i thought it was bobby valentino the first few times i heard it

hmm never heard of 'who booty', look fwd to checking it out

'rock body' by bobby v was kind of a grower this year imo

also reminds me of something else from ages ago in r&b that i'm too holiday mode to bother trying to remember, it'll come to me

― lex pretend, Friday, 28 December 2012 14:36 (32 minutes ago) Bookmark

pretty ricky?

no that's not who i was thinking of (but yes)

i thought you posted "who booty" initially!

http://i.imgur.com/VXT99.gif

re that jojo tape, the deeply unfortunate conclusion i found myself making was "cool but hopefully some big label will sort her out cos um she is kind of a weirdo"

oopsy

she is kind of a weirdo, and not in the way i expected, i enjoyed that! she is in such an unfortunate contract it seems, all signed when she was a kid :/

oh yeah sure it's fun generally that she's a one but the tape didnt suggest it would be particularly fruitful musically is what i'm saying

aaaaand El Deano finally reviews Kaleidoscope Dream...and All I Want is You.

lol "Afro-Chicano" is such a baby boomer 'i can't keep up with what the preferred term is anymore' way of describing Miguel's ethnicity

coast to coast
Afro-Chicano
western male

xp yeah, that did strike me as kind of weird

oh yeah sure it's fun generally that she's a one but the tape didnt suggest it would be particularly fruitful musically is what i'm saying

i think the tape was a lot stronger musically than i was expecting - dunno how much of that is the surprise factor of it not being what i was expecting generally though

Who Booty is awesome.

it took me a while to figure out what the phrase that sounded like "hoop of the year" was supposed to be

xgau pretty otm about miguel

yup, he's definitely right about the 2nd album being better than the 1st

well like most of the ppl reviewing his album this year he was probably late to the game ;)

so you're saying he...wasn't otm? i'm confused

grades schmades man what's the difference between a B+ and an A-, he seems to 'get' miguel

he's so spot-on about "teach me" too

yeah def a standout

Never heard that John Hart song before. Is that getting radio play? Haven't heard it at all on my rap station

yeah it's just started to blow up the last few weeks

As much as I cheer for regional differences in radio play, there are times when I feel cheated by them. My rap station is playing "Wicked Games" about three times an hour now, and it feels like a violation every time

and here i thought making people feel violated was the weeknd's whole raison d'etre

yeah that's on constantly here too (and everything i think) and i swear i will never get used to dude's awful voice or those cheeseball '90s trip hop drums

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaPm6YESMYg

i like this song

My favorites of the year -- singles, album cuts, whatever.

http://survivalthemes.tumblr.com/post/39280625219/201240
http://open.spotify.com/user/avilyn/playlist/0FbJ4QSOki8sHBEGwsLuiB

1. Miguel - “Adorn” [RCA]
2. Frank Ocean - “Pyramids” [Def Jam]
3. Jessie Ware - “Running” [Island]
4. Storm Queen - “Let’s Make Mistakes” [Environ]
5. Elle Varner - “I Don’t Care” [RCA]
6. Brandy - “Slower” [RCA]
7. Lulu James - “Rope Mirage” [Lulu James]
8. Usher - “Climax” [RCA]
9. Robert Glasper Experiment - “Move Love” [Blue Note]
10. House Shoes - “Castles” [Tres]

11. Funkineven/Fatima - “West 2 East” [Eglo]
12. THEESatisfaction - “Queens” [Sub Pop]
13. Full Crate & Jesse Boykins III - “See with Me” [Kilawatt]
14. Meshell Ndegeocello - “See Line Woman” [Naïve]
15. José James - It’s All Over Your Body” [Blue Note]
16. Kalenna - “Black Matte Truck” [Kalenna]
17. Roses Gabor - “Night Sky” [Girls]
18. AlunaGeorge - “Your Drums, Your Love” [Island]
19. Daley - “Alone Together” [Universal Republic]
20. Andrew Ashong - “Flowers” [Sound Signature]

21. Columbia Nights - “In the Glow” [Record Breakin’]
22. Mary J. Blige - “Don’t Mind” [Geffen]
23. Georgia Anne Muldrow - “Kneecap Jelly” [SomeOthaShip]
24. Dawn Richard - “Automatic” [Chartbreaker]
25. DVA - “Eye Know” [Hyperdub]
26. The Internet - “Fastlane” [Odd Future]
27. Melanie Fiona - “Bones” [SRC]
28. Khari Mateen - “Family and Friends” [The Lunchroom]
29. Dwele - “Going Leaving” [eOne]
30. Leon Ware - “Orchids for the Sun” [Quieres Chicle]

31. Hiatus Kaiyote - “Malika” [Hiatus Kaiyote]
32. R. Kelly - “Green Light” [RCA]
33. Cody Chesnutt - “Don’t Follow Me” [Vibration Vineyard]
34. SWV - “Better Than I” [eOne]
35. Keyshia Cole - “Hey Sexy” [Geffen]
36. Inc. - “5 Days” [4AD]
37. Tank - “Compliments” [Atlantic]
38. Teena Marie - “Luv Letter” [Universal]
39. BJ the Chicago Kid - “Good Luv’n” [MAFE]
40. Khari Cabral - “Get Back” [Dome]

22. Mary J. Blige - “Don’t Mind” (Geffen)

This album didn't get much love, but it had some great singles on it

15. José James - It’s All Over Your Body” [Blue Note]

YEAH, love this, probably top 5 for me. I've watched this live version like 30 times this year:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGtHvy_3W4Q

XXP I like that Avant joint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0nRtZbz0QI

lol @ xgau devoting precious words of his capsule to 'candle in the sun'

i feel like we need brainwasher to start the 2013 thread just so we can have that optimistic list of artists at the top

in the meantime the entire jojo mixtape is still giving; this is a slow burner, but her songwriting and vocal nuances are so on point in it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eet9zVqkGdM

OK, one last drop from me before Brainwasher reminds us that the K. Michelle album is coming out for real in 2013.

I've been lukewarm on AlunaGeorge, but their new track "Diver" is fantastic. No YouTube embed yet, but Stereogum has it here: http://stereogum.com/1228872/alunageorge-diver/mp3s/

This Austin Brown mixtape is like a weird mix of young Marvin and New Edition, filtered through the Elephant 6 collective. Shit is all over the place, but he has sort of a Bruno Mars star quality, so I feel like he could be a thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8bIhVmGvbc

And because we all like her:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFfyFmj0Y5Y

I used to know how to embed YouTube videos. I don't know what changed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEZ17WyV9Qs

Love that. Hate the video.

I'm not sure if we have much of a choice as to whether Michael Jacksons nephew becomes 'a thing'.

oh look, the new KING song dropped and I made a thread for them

oops wrong thread lol