(Graphic made by Alanna Evans)
Hey, wassup, hello
I know. It’s been *checks notes* NINE MONTHS since I’ve checked in with y’all. Nine whole months. Between getting back into freelance music writing, still being a full-time reporter and trying to maintain my overall sanity in these stressful times, a bitch has been busy (more on that later). Busy af. That’s why I’m so happy to reconnect with y’all and share R&B Paiges’ inaugural list ranking the best R&B and Soul albums from this year.
This year featured so many great releases. As someone who listens to music for work and leisure, I feel like I’ve heard an abundance of great music, especially R&B music. If I had more time, I’d make a definitive list ranking the 30 best R&B albums because there were that many quality offerings this year. But, for this list, I’ve chosen 11 albums and projects that I heavily revisited throughout the year. I’m talking about the albums I’ve had on repeat for weeks, the EPs I sang out loud to, the projects with indelible lyrics, the artists whose voices and arrangement really moved me. Ok, I’ll stop rambling….. for now. Here are my top 11 R&B and Soul projects of 2021:
11. H.E.R.- Back of My Mind
It’s important to note that Back of My Mind isn’t H.E.R.’s best work. The collaborations on the debut album are underwhelming (and all men) and don’t really expand H.E.R.’s impeccable ear for making great songs. Some of the songs on the 21-track LP would’ve been better left off the album. But Back of My Mind shines for its few reminders of the Oscar winner’s innate ability to make quality, timeless music. Songs like “Damage,” which samples Herb Alpert’s 1987 hit “Making Love on the Rain” and “Closer to Me,” which samples Goapele’s 2002 single “Closer,” find the singer acing the art of translating music from any decade into classic R&B vocal performances that sound new for 2021 ears. With music that both honors the past and hints at H.E.R.’s future as one of the most exciting acts in music, Back of My Mind mainly serves as an inundating yet necessary primer on H.E.R.’s prodigious musical palette as a 24-year-old singer, songwriter and composer who’s on the road to becoming a legacy artist.
Recommended track(s): “We Made It”, “Exhausted,” “Damage”
10. Tems- If Orange Was a Place
From being the highlight on one of the best songs from the past year (Wizkid’s “Essence”) to being featured on Drake’s highly-anticipated Certified Lover Boy, Tems has had a triumphant year. The Nigerian singer followed up on that mainstream success with the release of If Orange Was a Place, a project that’s doused in searing vulnerability. Orange, a color that’s associated with warmth and joy, is a dominant theme throughout the album and a feeling that Tems yearns for. The EP finds the artist ruminating with thoughts of loneliness, not feeling respected in a relationship and utter hopelessness. If Orange Was a Place sounds like Tems’ cry for help. She wants someone to save her. She wants to be found. She wants to feel safe. Her soothing, cathartic croons are assuring to those who feel similarly while informing listeners of just how deeply she wants to find peace.
Recommended track(s): “Crazy Tings,” “Vibe Out”
9. Alicia Keys- Keys
On her eighth and most experimental album to date, Alicia Keys sounds freer than ever. She stretches the tone of her voice. Her songwriting is piercing and the piano takes center stage, reminiscent of the singer’s heyday roughly 20 years ago. But she also takes the future with her, playing with more upbeat tracks. KEYS is a masterclass in instrumentation. The 26-song LP is divided into two parts. The first half, titled “Originals,” evokes a laid-back, jazzy vibe that sees Alicia Keys at her lyrical and vocal best (“Is It Insane,” a bluesy track about heartbreak, finds the singer testing the depths of her mezzo-soprano range while channeling jazz legends like Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan). The album’s second half, titled “Unlocked,” is mainly filled with remixes of the “Originals” (10 tracks, to be exact), challenging listeners to sit with reinterpretation. “Billions” transforms into a surprisingly satisfying house track in the “Unlocked” version, a pleasant ending to the album. The “Unlocked” portion has a more pop-infused, upbeat production that sounds like the more recent music that Alicia Keys has released. That’s the beauty of KEYS—the legendary artist both defies and meets expectations while reminding listeners that she’s still capable of making the timeless records that defined her prime.
Recommended track(s): “Is It Insane (Originals),” “Come for Me (Unlocked)” feat. Lucky Daye and Khalid
8. Kenny Lattimore- Here to Stay
If “this is for the grown and sexy” were a playlist, it’d be Here to Stay. The latest offering from Kenny Lattimore finds the R&B veteran singing multiple iterations of why he’ll never disappoint his partner. Here to Stay has the allure of a traditional R&B album, with its lyrics about monogamy and collection of lovey-dovey tracks, but its experimental production makes the album more contemporary. Lattimore gives listeners a ten track exploration into the depths of his heart, highlighting how committed he is in his relationship. Creating music that’s both true to your original sound while adapting it to fit today’s soundscape isn’t an easy feat for the OG’s in the R&B realm, but Lattimore makes the task seem effortless on Here to Stay.
Recommended track(s): “Lose You”
7. Shelley FKA DRAM- Shelley FKA DRAM
On his first album since changing his stage name, Shelley FKA DRAM takes a deep dive into funk. The artist, who emerged during the SoundCloud era with a jolly persona and vocals that that were being misappropriated to fit hip-hop tracks, reintroduced himself with a stellar LP that can pose as the last thing you’d hear before retiring for a night of sexual pleasure. Shelley FKA DRAM encapsulates a combination of lavender silk sheets, candles and body oil. It’s that sensual. Shelley’s soulful vocals coupled with collaborators that both challenge and best fit his newfound artistry and tracks that encompass sheer intimacy make his foray into the world of neo-soul and funk a bountiful excursion.
Recommended track(s): “All Pride Aside” (with Summer Walker) “Exposure,” “The Lay Down ” (with HER and WATT)
6. Yebba- Dawn
It’s hard to believe that Yebba’s soulful voice has graced the music scene for roughly five years, given that she’s just now releasing her first full-length project. Per traditional music standards, Yebba would be considered a new artist, but with a voice that bleeds the depths of gospel and folk music, Yebba has the flair and sound of a singer who wouldn’t succumb to rookie naivete. She’s been here before. Yebba’s debut album Dawn is the sonic embodiment of that. Considering her collaborations with hitmakers like Drake, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith, it’d be easy for Dawn to follow industry trends, but isn’t an album that’s yearning for streams. It sounds exactly like an album that’s tailor made for Yebba’s retro style.
Dawn, named after Yebba’s mom who committed suicide in 2016, has a deeply somber tone. The 12-track LP explores the varying stages of grief that Yebba has endured throughout the past five years. Reflective songs like “How Many Years” and “Stand” feature the Memphis native embarking on a stream-of-consciousness style of questioning how she’s supposed to deal with her pain. It’s a question that remains unclear by the end of the album. What’s certain is that Dawn masters the unpleasant task of using immense vulnerability to fuel music that’s as beautiful as it is traumatic. Dawn was worth the wait, but, more importantly, it’s a strikingly brave project on which Yebba comfortably shares her trauma with listeners.
Recommended track(s): “Stand,” “Distance”
5. Cleo Sol- Mother
Cleo Sol’s latest album is a spiritual experience. It’s also deeply personal. The album sounds like something that listeners should have permission to hear, but the West London-based singer is gracious with giving listeners an expansive view at her innermost thoughts. As its title suggests, Mother is inspired by Cleo Sol’s experience with motherhood: “I became a mother this year, and it’s been the most transformative, uplifting, heart melting, strength giving experience thus far that led me to write this album,” she wrote in an Instagram caption prior to the album’s release. And, like any new mother, Cleo Sol yearns for support. But instead of expressing a clear cry for help, she sings about how her spirituality has saved her from dark times and encourages her newborn child to follow the same practice. “A mother’s love will protect you from only so much/People change, so put your faith in God,” she sings on “Heart Full of Love”. The song is a highlight on the album, both for its gospel-soul production that’s reminiscent of something one would hear during a church’s worship service and for encapsulating the album’s essence: finding solace and strength in motherhood. Throughout Mother, Cleo Sol reflects on times when she lost herself and ponders if she’ll pass that trauma on to her child (see “Build Me Up,” “Don’t Let Me Fall” or “We Need You”). But, through love and spirituality, she’s able to find peace. Motherhood saved her.
Recommended track(s): “Build Me Up,” “Heart Full of Love”
4. Joyce Wrice- Overgrown
Overgrown has all of the elements needed to create the quintessential progressive R&B album. It has 90’s R&B nostalgia, catchy hooks, perfectly-timed bridges and musings on being in love and unrequited love (“Let’s talk about all of the things/That women gotta endure just to get some love,” she sneers on “Chandler”). Throughout the 14-track album, Joyce Wrice details a relationship that has run its course but is hard to escape. Wrice acknowledges that she needs to leave the relationship (“Baby, you don’t deserve me/I can do better without you right here,” she sings on “Losing”) even though her emotions and the mind games involved in being with a toxic partner won’t let her. At the end of the project, with the album’s title track, Wrice comes to the appropriate conclusion of needing to rely on herself and knowing that she’s deserving of any good thing that comes her way, regardless of how broken a relationship leaves her.
Recommended track(s): “Chandler,” “Falling in Love” feat. Lucky Daye, “Overgrown”
3. rum.gold- Thicker Than Water
rum.gold has a voice that can instantly put anyone at ease. His dreamy falsetto is tranquil. His runs are calming and well-paced. His vocals have a softness that evokes intimacy. It’s immensely gentle. The collection of songs throughout Thicker Than Water, the Brooklyn-bred artist’s debut album, sound like they should be delivered in a package labeled “HANDLE WITH CARE”. rum.gold’s velvety vocals are a conduit for serenity and are a main highlight throughout the album as he tackles themes of intimacy, being vulnerable in relationships and finding inner peace. Thicker Than Water is a stunning debut on which rum.gold challenges listeners to interrogate the status of the relationships in their own lives.
Recommended track(s): “Follow the Light,” “Human,” “Lullaby”
2. Leon Bridges- Gold-Diggers Sound
On his third album, Leon Bridges distances himself away from his typical retro sound and bares his soul. The songwriting throughout the album implores listeners to examine the matters weighing deeply on the Texas singer’s mind. “Magnolias,” a blissful song that sounds like the feeling evoked when thinking about the titular flower, captures Bridges’ attempt at being so in love with someone that he doesn’t want to let them go (“But you’re all I need in the world/If you cold, just put on my shirt, girl/Baby don’t leave ‘cause I want you again”). “Why Don’t You Touch Me” is the antithesis of that feeling (“I’ve been feeling way too undesired/Before the flame went out, all around us was all on fire”). It’s that piercing, honest lyricism that makes Gold-Diggers Sound Bridges’ most vulnerable album to date and among this year’s best musical offerings.
Recommended tracks: “Born Again” feat. Robert Glasper, “Motorbike”
1. Jazmine Sullivan- Heaux Tales
“Bitch. Get it together, bitch. You don’t know who you went home with, who you went home with again” is what Jazmine Sullivan tells herself in the opening for her first project in six years. The internal scolding isn’t just a relatable critique for women who may noxiously embrace their sexual prowess, but it’s also the dialogue that illustrates the bumpy pursuit of women seeking love from men. That’s the beauty of Heaux Tales. Throughout the 14-track EP, Sullivan explores the often fruitless trajectory of women feeling secure in a heterosexual relationship, leading some women to revert to receiving that satisfaction through sex. Heaux Tales is the definitive soundtrack for contemporary dating. There’s tricking (“Price Tags,” which features Anderson .Paak). There’s sex positivity (“On It,” which features Ari Lennox). There’s the silly urge to pay for a man’s bills simply because of how well he pleases you (“Put It Down”). There’s the constant comparisons to Instagram models and feeling insufficient (“Girl Like Me,” which features HER).
On Heaux Tales, Jazmine Sullivan centers and validates a woman’s romantic and sexual desires, regardless of how nontraditional they may be. The project fully embraces the need for women to feel safe in a relationship. Because of the way patriarchy positions women to prioritize a man’s needs, Sullivan understands that women, especially Black women, feeling romantically secure is often an impossible feat, which is why the singer seems to celebrate alternative means for women to satisfy the matters of their heart. Heaux Tales is the phone conversation you have with your homegirl. It’s the group chat you have with your besties after having a one-night stand, the debate you have in the hair salon while getting a silk press, the advice you get from the cool auntie who’s “been there, done that” in regards to men, the bathroom mirror conversations you have with yourself while expressing the disappointment you feel after having sex with a man who clearly wasn’t worth it. Heaux Tales is a celebration of Black women’s sexual curiosity and attempt at romantic safety in a society that socializes us to feel undeserving of having our hearts fulfilled.
Recommended track(s): “Lost One,” “The Other Side”
Here’s a playlist to accompany the list:
What I’m Listening to
Outside of this list, I’ve been listening to A LOT of things. Too many things. A highlight among those things is Tierra Whack’s EP series on which she masters various genres (“Rap?,” “Pop?” and “R&B?”). Whack’s boundless creativity and witty lyrics shine throughout the projects.
That’s all she wrote!
Thanks for reading this edition of my newsletter and feel free to give me any feedback!
If you have the means to support me, you can do so through CashApp ($DeAsiaSutgrey)
Also…..ya girl has a book out! Feel free to purchase The College Diaries through Bookshop, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
Also, also…….remember when I said was busy af this year? Part of the reason why is because I’ve written my ass off this year. I’ve promoted my book, started a music column, made my magazine feature debut, was published in Pitchfork and built relationships with editors for different outlets while freelancing. How I was able to do all of that while still working a full-time job I will never know. But I did it. Here are some of my favorite articles that I’ve written this year:
Summer Walker- Still Over It (Pitchfork Review)
On 'Remain Calm,' Jordan Ward feels everything (St. Louis Magazine interview)
How a high school student from East St. Louis turned TikTok success into a rap career (Belleville News-Democrat feature)
Dee Gatti has only been singing for, but the industry is already taking notice (Okayplayer interview)
Black women are redefining R&B music even if the Grammys don't think so (Bitch essay)
To keep up with the rest of my writing and projects, feel free to check me out on Twitter: @deasia_paige
Talk soon,
DeAsia