R&B

Jon Vinyl extends his streak of new music with “Deflect,” his fourth offering of 2021.  In this new song, the Canadian singer-songwriter is in a serious tailspin that has caused him to be doubtful about where to place his feelings in a possibly forced romance.  Prior to “Deflect,” Vinyl released three other songs this year, including

Chaka Khan has returned with “When The Time Comes,” a new song lifted from the Everybody’s Talking About Jamie soundtrack.  This bold and spirited number is reminiscent of a Diana Ross classic, but with an inherent vocal charisma that only the Queen of Funk can effortlessly pull off. Here, she sings about knocking down all sorts of barriers

Front + Center is Rated R&B’s artist discovery series, putting new and emerging R&B singers at the center of your attention. They say you don’t make 100 percent of the shots you take. But, for Cocoa Sarai, the stats are quite favorable. In recent years, Sarai put her stamp on the music industry, working on

Chlöe did not come to play at the MTV Video Music Awards tonight. She shut down the Barclays Center stage with the first televised performance of “Have Mercy,” a new song that she co-produced with Murda Beatz.  The booming superstar’s high-energy set was filled with tons of sexy dance moves alongside a legion of rump-shaking

Aaliyah seemed always to be one step ahead of the curve sonically when it came to her music career. July 2001 brought her self-titled album, which helped take her modern sound beyond street-level R&B into the universal soul realm.  [embedded content] Musically, “I Can Be,” a deep cut from Aaliyah’s eponymous, is the parent song

Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Mykal Kilgore has returned with “The Man in the Barbershop,” his first single in two years. Over a soulful production — helmed by Jamison Ross, Cory Irvin, and John Michael Rouchell — Kilgore opens up about his experiences at the barbershop as a Black gay man. He specifically talks about crushing on an

Syd has joined the stampede of artists to release music today. The frontwoman of The Internet shared the new song “Right Track,” and it has the right juice to soundtrack any cuffing season.  Smino is featured on the catchy, ForteBowie-produced track that finds Syd’s sweet voice giving off lots of joy and happiness about finding

Emerging singer-songwriter DEVN takes us on an emotional journey with the release of his debut EP, St. Luke St.  The Charlotte, North Carolina native runs through the different emotions one can experience romantically. On the anger-filled “Never Again,” he says he’ll no longer love the song’s protagonist, while on “Ten,” he sings of wanting to be sexual with

Jennifer Hudson is on her way to EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) status, following her 2021 Daytime Emmy win in the category of Outstanding Interactive Media for a Daytime Program for Baba Yaga. She had a voice role (The Forest) in the Eric Darnell-directed film and served as one of the four executive producers.  Hudson

Call Ari Lennox supreme because she delivered a tribute to Diana Ross and other phenomenal Black women in music in the “Pressure” video.  In the Chandler Lass-directed video, Lennox assumes the role of the front singer of a trio in several throwback scenes paying homage to different music eras. She throws in love for Ross, along with

SZA makes another appearance on a film soundtrack this year. This time, the singer-songwriter recorded the song “The Anonymous Ones” for the musical drama, Dear Evan Hansen, in theaters everywhere on September 24.   SZA sings about the unhappiness some burdened humans keep tucked away from those closest to them on the soft rock track. Their “quiet pain,” as

Teyana Taylor may have slowly stepped away from music, but the RIAA accolades continue to roll in.  The multi-hyphenate seized a gold award for “Morning” featuring Kehlani, making it her fifth certification to date. She previously scored her first platinum honor for the fan-favorite “Gonna Love Me,” which started her RIAA career.  Returning to the

Skip Marley’s breakthrough single “Slow Down” featuring H.E.R. received gold acclaim from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It has sold over 500,000 in equivalent digital sales, making it his first certification from the RIAA. Marley released the Rykeyz-produced song in November 2019, and, six months later, it rose to the top position on

Leela James said her See Me lead off “Complicated” was a “banger,” and the recent results on the Billboard Adult R&B Airplay chart proved to be true. It is now the number-one R&B song in the country after a 26-week run.  The Rex Rideout-produced song marks her second leading role on this airplay chart, followed by the first “Don’t

In celebration of the sixth anniversary (released August 28, 2015) of his second proper album, Beauty Behind the Madness, The Weeknd has released an alternate video for his revered song and Hot 100 topper “Can’t Feel My Face.” Though classified as the backup version, this video was the actual cut but was tabled due to a “shift in creative

Genre-bending artist Duckwrth has released an eight-song project titled SG8*. It’s the follow-up to his 2020 album, SuperGood. The EP features appearances from Jordan Ward (“Like Up Time”), Destin Conrad (“Clueless”) and Phabo (“4K”).  On SG8*, which includes production from Loshendrix and WaveIQ, Duckwrth explores the bittersweet feelings associated with post-pandemic life. While he touches on the joys of the

Lifetime and A&E have released the first official trailer for Janet Jackson’s feature documentary titled JANET. The minute-long teaser of the Ben Hirsch-directed doc offers a look at the story behind the Queen of Pop that has been over five years in the making.  The trailer is soundtracked by Jackson’s breakout 1986 single “Control” and features

The Shindellas’ previous single, the ‘80s flashback “When You’re Lonely,” had the cultured trio avoiding contact with their ex in the wee hours of the night. On their high-powered latest, “Feeling the Pain,” they’re feeling just that: the upsetting aftermath of a breakup.  “Heard you’ve been out with your new friend / While I was

T-Pain and Kehlani‘s new collaborative effort “I Like Dat” has entered the top 10 on the urban radio chart.  As a lead artist, this recent victory marks the rapper-turnt-sanga’s first since 2011’s “5 O’Clock” featuring Wiz Khalifa and Lily Allen. It’s even better news for Kehlani, who now earns her first top 10 entry as

Chanté Moore is back. The seasoned vocalist has released a gospel track titled “Right One,” which she co-wrote with Eric Dawkins (Chris Brown, Mario, Mary J. Blige).  On the inspirational tune, produced by Jovan Dawkins, Moore sings about overcoming life’s challenges and receiving well-deserved blessings. “Who said too many mistakes? / Who said you could