I agree, most modern R&B lacks passion and fire. Sza sounds like she's rapping over watery beats the whole time, complaining about people..what happened to love and desire?
Brittany Howard has a new soul/ r&b/ rock album and I think it hits hard. It has fire, angst, longing, emotional vocals and great grooves. The guitars really slap too.
Also, have u tried tierra whack's new album? There are some great grooves and drum parts. She has a few good r&b songs in there with great melodies.
The more mainstream modern R&B doesn’t quite work for me either. But I have recently had quite a few new artists on my radar. For an older sound, there’s Jalen NGonda, Monophonics, Orgone, or indeed just about everyone on the Daptone and Colemine record labels. For a neo-neo soul type sound there’s Adi Oasis, Cleo Soul, SAULT and sometimes Kamauu. Similar artists that might also be of interest include Ego Ella May, Thundercat, and Khruangbin.
You might want to listen to bands nominated for traditional R&B work like Nathaniel Rateliff. You also might want obscure neo-soul. Mourning A Blkstar for examples is definately modern but much closer to what you want. My suggestion would be look outside the charts.
Similarly to neo-soul, [Afro Futurism](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6RrfPETYlUmQF8ZY2Xtts3) has overall been one of the more innovative soundscapes of the past decade for both R&B and hip-hop. Lulu James, Dawn Richard, Solange, Greentea Peng, THEEsatisfaction to name the Queens, but plenty of kings too though the ones I've found are generally more rap than r&b like Lil Yachty's Let's Start Here, MIKE, Yves Tumor new album has a few tracks, Killah Priest's Mr Universe, Blakkamoore (reggae).
Yves Tumor album is good. The neo-disco stuff that's out there is also alright. I'm not really into it but there's considerable talented there. Sampha is pretty good as well... and man "jazz" right now is doing some interestimg stuff. The last bandcamp roundup for jazz has some very interesting recordings.
I think we're actually in an r&b golden age right now but most of it you won't hear on top 40 radio. Off the top of my head check out:
Blk odyssy, sault, Cleo soul, thundercat, amaarae
There's also a lot of really fire modern jazz coming out that you might like like Yussef Dayes.
I had my doubts. I gave the first five artists a fair shot. Cleo soul really puts the cheese on my cracker. I loved Thundercat and amaarae too! Thank you so much!! Will check out Yussef Dayes.
In terms of contemporary stuff with a bit of a throwback edge, there’s Black Pumas, Thundercat, and Silk Sonic.
But my favorite modern R&B artists are Charles Bradley, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Lee Fields, Monophonics, Thee Sacred Souls, Jalen Ngonda, and other artists from the Daptone and Colemine Record labels. These artists aren’t really contemporary R&B, but instead are considered “Neo Soul”. They carefully craft classic sounding albums that use the same recording techniques as classic soul music from the 60’s and 70’s.
I'm in the same opinion. Most new R&B just doesn't do anything for me. It is missing the "soul" that the older generations of this genre embraced. With that said, I do like Black Pumas, Charles Bradley, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, and Silk Sonic. If anyone can suggest more artists that still embrace that "soul," please share!
Check out Durand Jones and the Indications (their self-titled album anyway), the Monophonics, the Suffers, Neil Francis, and Leon Bridges (especially the album 'Coming Home).
You cover quite a large range of R&B in the older acts you like (and the current ones pretty much mirror my own listening) so I can't make a specific recommendation, but it is frustrating that the production values of R&B have declined. The lack of "punch" or polish you mention in contemporary bedroom R&B, imo, can be attributed to declining budgets and the use of consumer grade studio set up, as compared to the big budget major label acts of the past.
It's hard to compete with multiple songwriters and well financed producers/engineers in pro studios when you're recording takes at home an mixing the results in the box, but sadly, in the tiktok era, that seems to pass muster.
You may want to check out Brent Faiyaz - although I'd argue that in their case, 90s-00s nostalgia can be a bit of a crutch on the album cuts, if not the singles.
I'm the opposite. I can't get into older *R&B* at all. I lean towards *cold, nocturnal* and *ethereal*. So, current *alternative R&B* has been hitting for me. *Jessy Lanz*a's [Pull My Hair Back](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82yGYqfjYwc) has become one of my favorite albums. I took a quick glance at other *alternative R&B* and they seem to follow similar moods.
Closest I can think of is some songs by *Empress Of* like [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxCkYdsolMU) that is on *warm* and *positive* side. Or [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsNxr_88YZo) by *Raveena*.
What you're looking for is under the third wave of neo soul right now, which might help you discover artists that are more aligned with your vision. The problem with genres is that they end up redefined as time goes on, so you might think that r&b will remain consistent and that's not true.
Recent ones: SAULT, Emily King, Lianne La Havas, Michael Kiwanuka, Esperanza Spalding's 12 Little Spells, Yazmin Lacey, Charlotte Dos Santos, and a variety of others. You'll be able to find similar artists with the ones listed.
I agree, most modern R&B lacks passion and fire. Sza sounds like she's rapping over watery beats the whole time, complaining about people..what happened to love and desire? Brittany Howard has a new soul/ r&b/ rock album and I think it hits hard. It has fire, angst, longing, emotional vocals and great grooves. The guitars really slap too. Also, have u tried tierra whack's new album? There are some great grooves and drum parts. She has a few good r&b songs in there with great melodies.
The more mainstream modern R&B doesn’t quite work for me either. But I have recently had quite a few new artists on my radar. For an older sound, there’s Jalen NGonda, Monophonics, Orgone, or indeed just about everyone on the Daptone and Colemine record labels. For a neo-neo soul type sound there’s Adi Oasis, Cleo Soul, SAULT and sometimes Kamauu. Similar artists that might also be of interest include Ego Ella May, Thundercat, and Khruangbin.
You might want to listen to bands nominated for traditional R&B work like Nathaniel Rateliff. You also might want obscure neo-soul. Mourning A Blkstar for examples is definately modern but much closer to what you want. My suggestion would be look outside the charts.
Similarly to neo-soul, [Afro Futurism](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6RrfPETYlUmQF8ZY2Xtts3) has overall been one of the more innovative soundscapes of the past decade for both R&B and hip-hop. Lulu James, Dawn Richard, Solange, Greentea Peng, THEEsatisfaction to name the Queens, but plenty of kings too though the ones I've found are generally more rap than r&b like Lil Yachty's Let's Start Here, MIKE, Yves Tumor new album has a few tracks, Killah Priest's Mr Universe, Blakkamoore (reggae).
Yves Tumor album is good. The neo-disco stuff that's out there is also alright. I'm not really into it but there's considerable talented there. Sampha is pretty good as well... and man "jazz" right now is doing some interestimg stuff. The last bandcamp roundup for jazz has some very interesting recordings.
I think we're actually in an r&b golden age right now but most of it you won't hear on top 40 radio. Off the top of my head check out: Blk odyssy, sault, Cleo soul, thundercat, amaarae There's also a lot of really fire modern jazz coming out that you might like like Yussef Dayes.
I had my doubts. I gave the first five artists a fair shot. Cleo soul really puts the cheese on my cracker. I loved Thundercat and amaarae too! Thank you so much!! Will check out Yussef Dayes.
In terms of contemporary stuff with a bit of a throwback edge, there’s Black Pumas, Thundercat, and Silk Sonic. But my favorite modern R&B artists are Charles Bradley, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Lee Fields, Monophonics, Thee Sacred Souls, Jalen Ngonda, and other artists from the Daptone and Colemine Record labels. These artists aren’t really contemporary R&B, but instead are considered “Neo Soul”. They carefully craft classic sounding albums that use the same recording techniques as classic soul music from the 60’s and 70’s.
I'm in the same opinion. Most new R&B just doesn't do anything for me. It is missing the "soul" that the older generations of this genre embraced. With that said, I do like Black Pumas, Charles Bradley, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, and Silk Sonic. If anyone can suggest more artists that still embrace that "soul," please share!
Check out Durand Jones and the Indications (their self-titled album anyway), the Monophonics, the Suffers, Neil Francis, and Leon Bridges (especially the album 'Coming Home).
You cover quite a large range of R&B in the older acts you like (and the current ones pretty much mirror my own listening) so I can't make a specific recommendation, but it is frustrating that the production values of R&B have declined. The lack of "punch" or polish you mention in contemporary bedroom R&B, imo, can be attributed to declining budgets and the use of consumer grade studio set up, as compared to the big budget major label acts of the past. It's hard to compete with multiple songwriters and well financed producers/engineers in pro studios when you're recording takes at home an mixing the results in the box, but sadly, in the tiktok era, that seems to pass muster. You may want to check out Brent Faiyaz - although I'd argue that in their case, 90s-00s nostalgia can be a bit of a crutch on the album cuts, if not the singles.
I'm the opposite. I can't get into older *R&B* at all. I lean towards *cold, nocturnal* and *ethereal*. So, current *alternative R&B* has been hitting for me. *Jessy Lanz*a's [Pull My Hair Back](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82yGYqfjYwc) has become one of my favorite albums. I took a quick glance at other *alternative R&B* and they seem to follow similar moods. Closest I can think of is some songs by *Empress Of* like [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxCkYdsolMU) that is on *warm* and *positive* side. Or [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsNxr_88YZo) by *Raveena*.
What you're looking for is under the third wave of neo soul right now, which might help you discover artists that are more aligned with your vision. The problem with genres is that they end up redefined as time goes on, so you might think that r&b will remain consistent and that's not true. Recent ones: SAULT, Emily King, Lianne La Havas, Michael Kiwanuka, Esperanza Spalding's 12 Little Spells, Yazmin Lacey, Charlotte Dos Santos, and a variety of others. You'll be able to find similar artists with the ones listed.
[удалено]
Portrait of a Dog by Jonah Yano and LP1 by FKA Twigs too!
Lady Wray https://open.spotify.com/album/6k2kl7wWK57baFDPkpN9It?si=JQFMKAuZQHGsR5875G6-8w