Tag Archives: rb

Two weeks ago, Anthony Hamilton’s phone rang with a call from an old friend. D’Angelo, the visionary soul artist who died Oct. 14, was reaching out for one last conversation with the singer whom he lovingly called Ant-eezy. “By the time I got to the phone and realized it was …

Eric Benét and I might be cousins. In any case, there’s a possibility our ancestors once walked on the same plantation — at least, that’s what the star, full name Eric Benét Jordan, half-jokingly tells me when we meet in the lounge of a New York hotel in late April. …

Laila! has flourished more in the year leading up to her 19th birthday than some artists do in decades. The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and producer first broke through on TikTok with spacey viral ditties “Like That” and “Not My Problem,” showing her intrinsic ear for R&B’s current wave and its off-center …

L ast year, Durand Bernarr was hitting a new career peak — and a case of burnout. The Cleveland-born R&B artist had won a wide new audience in the spring with his En Route EP, which would go on to nab a 2025 Grammy nomination. But now he had just …

Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR have released the track list for their $ome $exy $ongs 4 U album before its Valentine’s Day release. The OVO labelmates shared the graphic on Instagram, describing the 21-track project as “74 personal minutes by PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake.” No feature artists appear on the tracklist, though their …

E veryone in the band knew there was a problem, even if they didn’t know exactly how to fix it. It was 1978, and nearly a decade into their recording career, Kool & the Gang — the once-dominant jazz and funk group whose biggest hits propelled clubs all over the …

Five years ago, Joseph Nevels received some advice that stuck with him. It came from a businessman, who told him to look at the full picture when it came to his career as an artist. “When you look at the front cover [of your album],’” the businessman said, “you want …

“I was a victim of my foolish thinking/Carelessly, I’ve risked my love and my life/There’s no self-pity; I admit, I obliged/Overpowered by love, I pretended to be blind/Faith has survived all the doubts I’ve summoned/My heart has stood all the failure and loss/Helpless I cannot further be driven/I’ve learned to …

When Tink named her latest album Thanks 4 Nothing, she meant it a few different ways. “Thanks 4 Nothing can mean so much,” says the Chicago singer. “It can mean thanks for not giving me a gift on Valentine’s, or thanks for not giving me enough energy, enough effort. Thanks …

Language can be intuitive, starting somewhere in your gut before transfiguring into speech. Effective communication, however, is more complex. Feelings sometimes encompass more than words can offer, making for crossed wires and missed connections. Kelela Mizanekristos, the R&B visionary who performs under the name Kelela, is aware of her gifts …