Though 2023 was under no circumstances a clean 12 months globally, there was no scarcity of soothing R&B albums to offer a dose of therapeutic to listeners. Some new stars made their mark, whereas quite a few distinguished artists within the style dropped tasks for the primary time in years.
SZA‘s SOS might have dropped in late December of 2022, however its affect dictated the entire style for the 12 months, whereas Victoria Monét got here again to the limelight along with her breakthrough challenge Jaguar II, lifting her to turn into a frontrunner within the style.
Elsewhere, Brent Faiyaz capped off his banner 2022 with a follow-up challenge and loads of options that cemented his place among the many high gamers within the style, and followers had been handled to an unbelievable reward when Sampha ended his six-year layoff with the gorgeous Lahai.
Past our high 5 nominees, there have been so many different nice R&B albums launched this 12 months deserving of your ears.
Assessment all of our Hip Hop Award classes and nominees and take a look at our nominations for Finest R&B Albums of 2023 beneath.
Editors Word: Finest R&B albums of 2023 choices had been restricted to between December 1, 2022 to December 1, 2023. Nominees and honorable mentions are in alphabetical order.
Finest R&B ALBUM Of 2023 NOMINATIONS
Brent Faiyaz — Bigger Than Life
A departure from WASTELAND’s bleak moodiness and melodramatic skits, Bigger Than Life is a flight straight again to the DMV. Bringing collectively everybody from the town, whether or not that be Landover, Maryland riser Lil Grey, Woodbridge, VA punk newcomer Tommy Richman, the legendary Missy Elliott from Portsmouth, VA, or D.C.’s personal Cruddy Murda, Brent Faiyaz’s newest is a information on the right way to seduce the higher East Coast.
“Tim’s Intro” slides into the seductive guitar chords of TLC‘s “No Scrubs,” “Finest Time” samples Kelis to stipulate how “all the gorgeous ladies come from VA,” and interludes like “Large Mad Skit” mirrors the skits on earlier Faiyaz efforts, A.M. Paradox and Misplaced, bringing us in shut sufficient to giggle at Flee and Princess Cro’s loveless lust. Phrases: Yousef Srour
Kelela — Raven
Brimming with synth undercurrents, translucid melodies, and delightfully jarring manufacturing shifts, Raven is a transfixing ode to human connection, interpersonal communication and Black femininity. This sophomore effort finds the L.A.-based, Ethiopian-American singer at a distinct place mentally than she was when crafting her 2017 debut LP Tear Me Aside.
Musically, it’s the identical atmospheric electronica grinding towards progressive R&B – in different phrases, dance music that’s as applicable for the bed room as it’s the membership. At its root, Raven is a response to anybody who made the error of pondering that Kelela’s hiatus was an ill-omen with regard to her profession.
In search of an emblem of rebirth, she got here throughout the raven. Some contemplate it forbidding – an emblem of loss – nevertheless it’s additionally the speaking fowl, and a connection between spirit realms. Few storytellers can land that type of nuance, and Kelela is one in every of them. Phrases: Nina Hernandez
Sampha — Lahai
Time is one in every of humankind’s commonest enemies. Along with being indiscriminate, it is going to lower the perfect moments painfully brief and make the worst moments drag out for what looks as if eternity. Sampha understands this. He wrestled with the passing of his mom on his debut album Course of, and reluctantly accepted by the top that she would now not be with him. 5 years later, the UK singer returns with Lahai, a decidedly brighter album that places Sampha in a extra hopeful and self-accepting mild.
The place Course of captured Sampha within the warmth of his mourning, Lahai is a extra rehabilitative expertise. He facilities the challenge round household, very like on his debut, although this time, the 34-year-old is penchant on his emotional restoration and discovering himself in a spot optimistic sufficient to be a guiding mild for his younger daughter.
Backed by glitchy instrumental palettes, Lahai is a serene look into the longer term the place Sampha will be at peace along with his recollections, permitting him to give attention to his household with out trying again. With a lot time misplaced to grief and mourning, he makes use of his newest album to persuade himself that he has an excessive amount of of it left to waste. Phrases: Louis Pavlakos
SZA — SOS
It’s been 5 years since SZA’s debut album CTRL, and although she hasn’t gone utterly lacking in motion since then — she’s appeared on tasks by Summer time Walker, DJ Khaled, and Doja Cat — it’s the primary time we get to listen to her perspective on her absence and the whole lot that’s been occurring in her world.
All through her profession SZA has operated within the area of experimental R&B, foregoing conventional music constructions, energy vocals, and one dimensional writing for different strategies. Although SOS finds itself experimenting with new sounds, there’s a transparent shift to a extra pop-focused sound.
In her decade-long profession SZA has confirmed that her energy as an artist lies in her sharp writing and the mixing of genres to construct her personal distinctive sound world. This mingled with the stream of acutely aware movement, a lot of her songs emote shapes that mildew SOS right into a deeply private – generally an excessive amount of – physique of labor. Phrases: Valuable Fondren
Victoria Monét — JAGUAR II
Victoria Monét emerges from the foliage with the generationally incandescent Jaguar II. The 34-year-old former behind-the-scenes hit songwriter steps into the highlight, placing her personal spin on motherhood, femininity and sexuality. Merging neo-soul with jazz and funk, Monét establishes herself within the style highlight with a file that bridges many years and genres.
With appearances from dancehall large Buju Banton and Earth, Wind & Fireplace legends Philip Bailey and Verdine White, Monét reveals she will pay homage to the previous whereas remaining unabashedly within the current. The weather all mesh collectively completely on viral hit “On My Mama,” which not solely captured consideration with a choreographically bold visible but additionally the perfect hook of Monét’s already storied profession.
On Jaguar II, Monét doubles down on her instincts and it pays off with simply the correct mixture of imaginative and prescient and reversion appreciation. Phrases: Nina Hernandez
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Amaarae — Fountain Child
Fountain Child feels just like the end result of Amaarae’s musical odyssey and want to play with the tropes of genres that hadn’t absolutely grown but. Very like how Hip Hop and R&B have been pushed and mangled right into a bevy of sounds that make the genres bleed into all types of music, Amaarae bends Afrobeats to her will, morphing the music of her heritage and the excellence of what it means to be a Ghanaian feminine artist.
She’s unafraid of uncharted territory and keen to step exterior the traditional field People place on Afrobeats, all whereas broadening the umbrella of dance music. Whether or not she’s experimenting with rock ensembles, (“Come House to God”) or staying true to Shekeres and goblet drums (“Large Steppa”) that are the spine of Afro sounds, every music expounds on the following to carry a heat, natural feeling again into mainstream fashionable dance music. Phrases: Lauren Floyd
Coco Jones — What I Didn’t Inform You (Deluxe)
Coco Jones was already on her manner up earlier than her viral, rain-soaked efficiency at Broccoli Metropolis Competition again in July. However the breathtaking show of turning an occasion that many artists would resolve to decide out of right into a star-making efficiency was a testomony to her resilience and expertise.
The previous Disney star proved herself with a significant replace to her 2022 EP, morphing the unique brief providing right into a seductive and soothing full-length album. Her versatility shines on tracks just like the assured, kick-that-man-to-the-curb anthem “Plan B,” the place her soulful belts rework into breathy assured mantras, match for a late evening when you need to resolve if answering the “you up?” textual content is the correct alternative. She switches between strained wails of heartbreak, to silky requires reconciliation on the gospel ballad “ICU.”
With a starring position on Bel-Air, Jones might not want music as a lot as some artists, but when What I Didn’t Inform You is any indication of what’s to come back, she simply positions herself as one of many brightest new stars in R&B. Phrases: Josh Svetz
Daniel Caesar — By no means Sufficient
By no means Sufficient features as a break-up album, nevertheless it additionally offers a redemption arc for a flawed man with equally flawed views to make a case at proving he’s matured. Daniel Caesar apologized for the YesJulz feedback and took the time to come back to phrases with hurting folks each in his fandom and in his private life. The expansion reveals, particularly on “Purchaser’s Regret” and “Ache Is Inevitable.”
Subversion is what distinguishes By no means Sufficient from his earlier efforts. As an alternative of sprinkling feminine voices throughout the album as he did on Freudian, this file solely focuses on the male perspective — save for a handful of background harmonies from ladies and a Summer time Walker remix on the deluxe.
This introspective effort finally ends up a sprawling challenge protecting 4 years of absence, with no stone left unturned, permitting Caesar to do one thing his music hasn’t earlier than — take accountability for his actions. Phrases: Louis Pavlakos
Janelle Monáe — The Age Of Pleasure
These listening to Janelle Monáe’s profession trajectory shouldn’t have been stunned when she introduced the route of her new album, The Age of Pleasure. Sure, Monáe hardly ever confirmed pores and skin originally of her profession, however she started to discover her sexuality as soon as Soiled Laptop got here round.
As she started to simply accept herself by a extra historically female lens, she maintained her curiosity in exploring totally different types of freedom throughout a number of aesthetic backdrops. Each The ArchAndroid and The Electrical Woman adopted a time-traveling android despatched to an period the place a secret society actively suppressed freedom and love. With these albums setting the muse for a bigger exploration of Monáe’s sexual liberation, The Age of Pleasure sees her absolutely embracing it.
In simply half-hour, Monáe spends her time ingesting an excessive amount of champagne, musing over herself, and setting her sights on a possible long-term companion. A lot of the subject material ditches the depth that permeated her previous efforts in trade for lighter, extra sensual materials geared toward self-acceptance and private freedom. Phrases: Louis Pavlakos
Jorja Smith — Flying Or Falling
The primary few years of Jorja Smith’s profession have been a whirlwind. At simply 20-years-old, off the energy of a few sensible singles, the British singer discovered herself delivering a show-stopping efficiency on “Get It Collectively” from Drake’s Extra Life challenge. With rumors that the 2 briefly dated — which Drizzy appeared to deal with on Scorpion a 12 months later — Smith entered a hellish information cycle that she couldn’t escape.
Simply earlier than that, Smith launched her debut album, Misplaced & Discovered, which showcased her mature songwriting and her supple vocals as she simply made her manner by piercing ballads and jazzy experiments. She had discovered her forte, however with such little life expertise and a lot thrown at her abruptly, it’s comprehensible that her follow-up album Falling Or Flying took over 5 years to reach.
Half a decade can result in a whole lot of modifications in an individual’s life, which Smith ponders on the lead single “Attempt Me.” Her anger combusts on the hook the place she sings that “Nothing is ever sufficient” as she denies having ever switched up on anyone. The music fiercely permits Smith to let her feelings pour out, hinting that she’s received lots on her chest she must set free all through the album. Phrases: Louis Pavlakos
Return to our Hip Hop Awards nominations web page for extra classes or try the nominees for Finest R&B Songs, Largest Comebacks and Finest Rookies.
Try our earlier R&B Album of the Yr award winners.
Art work and Graphic Design by JR Martinez.
