Once a thriving genre in the music industry, R&B has really fallen between the cracks.
We are in a place where singers don’t sing, vocalists are overlooked, and a whole genre was pushed to smaller radio, unless you talk about sex. Back in the 90s and 00s, you could turn on the radio and hear Toni Braxton sing Another Sad Love Song, then hear Tupac rap California Love. Nowadays, R&B is pushed to Adult Contemporary stations, unless you are singing about sex or drugs. It’s really time for mainstream Urban Radio to give R&B the respect it deserves. And to be honest, Jazmine Sullivan and HER are leading the way.
Today Jazmine Sullivan was awarded an RIAA certification for her single, “Pick Up Your Feelings“. While I am happy for her, it upsets me that this is her first song to ever get certified. Jazmine’s only other plaque is for her first album, which should really be Platinum but it’s only Gold. Jazmine has put out 4 amazing albums, and they’ve continuously went overlooked. Before Pick Up Your Feelings, Jazmine hadn’t charted on the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 years! 10 whole years.
Meanwhile artists like Summer Walker, Kehlani, Jhene Aiko and more have had huge success on the charts. I’m not pitting them against each other nor am I comparing. But I will say a bulk of their music is about sex or “fuck niggas” vibes. But where’s that leave room for the lovers? It takes a huge name to get the love back on the radio, like a Bruno Mars with his latest single, “Leave The Door Open“. I have a feeling that real R&B is on it’s way back, and Vibe&B is about to take a little break. At least I’m hoping.
I told y’all this was one of the standout tracks from the album. It was a smart move to release the video, but the way Khaled is just dropping videos for this album really makes no sense. People don’t even know it’s out! Anyways, get into the video below.
J. Cole is back. After 6 #1 albums, and all of them are certified at least platinum, he is ready to take the music industry by storm. Since his last solo album, Cole has won his first Grammy as well as becoming quite the activist. He was spotted at Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.
Today he took to social media, to announce that the world can enjoy new music from him as early as next Friday.
DJ Khaled is back…again. And I must say the album is on par with what he has done before in the past. It’s jam packed with some of the most odd collabs that somehow…work.
Today DJ Khaled dropped his latest album, “Khaled Khaled“, and it proves that he still has a couple favors in the industry. Some of today’s biggest urban stars were featured on the album, and it also features some of music’s legends.
Earlier this week, Khaled announced that the album was dropping today, and followed that announcement up 2 days ago with the tracklist. From the names on the tracklist, I wasn’t really sure what I should expect. Then yesterday, the tracklist was updated, and Cardi B was added.
So needless say, the album has not peaked my interests, and today, as soon as I woke up, I had to put the album on. I would say that I give the album about a 7/10. Where it was good, it was real good. But where it was “bad”, it was really just ok.
My standout tracks from this album are Big Paper, We Going Crazy, I Did It, Body In Motion, and I Can Have It All.
Big Paper – Cardi really showed that she’s been working in her “downtime”. The energy and the lyrics matched and it made a song that was very pleasing to the ear! She got on live last night, and explained how she had to write the song a couple days ago in order for it to make it on the album. And I’m glad she did it, because if this is a taste of what I can expect from her sophomore album, I’m already interested.
We Going Crazy – So like most people, lately I’ve been on a H.E.R. addiction. I like this different vibe for her. It shows her range in what she can do, and how her music isn’t limited to the R&B bangers that she’s known for. Migos for me was fun, but not required. I will say, however, it sounds way better than I envisioned it would when I seen the tracklist.
I Did It – So let me get the shade out the way. I am so proud of making a song that doesn’t mention her sex, or liquor. If she can’t ride a POP beat, I’m gonna want her to explore of the hardcore Hip Hop sound. Post Malone was… acceptable. I have no idea how people ever confused this POP singer as a rapper. Lil Baby had the strongest verse on the song in my opinion. It’s captivating and you can’t help but to get sucked into the verse and bob your head to it. DaBaby was surprisingly good as well. This is probably a better lane for him to explore as well. Hands down top 5 verses for him, and it sounds as if he stepped out of his comfort zone.
Body In Motion – Bryson Tiller on the chorus. It’s….a chorus. Nothing spectacular, nothing special. Lil Baby hops on the track, and he’s back in his regular bag, which is more fitting for this song. Some smooth bars bout fuckin, but it’s something about his delivery that always seems to demand my attention. Roddy Ricch got on track and he delivered a really smooth but fun vibe. I didn’t know what to expect from this track either, but I should’ve known I would love it, as both of them have proven to be great collaborators. Bryson Tiller didn’t really require a verse.
I Can Have It All – Bryson Tiller was doing a lot, and H.E.R. starts to sing and you kinda forget Bryson was ever there. But I’m biased when it comes to H.E.R. these days lol. It’s a beautiful song about coming from something to nothing. Meek left his heart on that track. He spit some of the realest shit I’ve heard in a while, it was so much passion, and hurt in that verse. It came alive and told a story.
But overall, it was a solid attempt. The song that really caught everyone’s attention was “Sorry Not Sorry“, the Nas & Jay Z song that has Beyonce on it (Heyyy!). It’s hip hop history and something that DJ Khaled has talked about for years!
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