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It Is the R Kid Again

Photograph Courtesy: @JanelleMonae/Twitter

Music has always been a sign of the times. Its development demonstrates collective cultural shifts of importance, but its fundamental purpose to inspire, entertain and challenge is ever present. Take R&B, for example. The shiny veneer of the perfectly chiseled contemporary R&B stars who sang near love in the 90s and 2000s has worn off — and it makes sense.

Identity politics, social media and globalization at big are challenging our interpretations of relationships and individuality. With R&B, you could always discover comfort when yous're caught up in your feelings, and its contemporaries keep that tradition going. The new generation of R&B talent uniquely explores themselves through narrative-driven music that combines influences from other genres. We all have the power to find ourselves, simply just similar each of these trailblazers, we take to examine the world and the people around us first.

Solange

Identity dominates Solange Knowles' piece of work —but of course it does. She grew up in the public middle as the talented kid sis of Beyoncé. Information technology didn't take long for her to not only establish herself equally a talented musician in her ain right, only as an artist who could speak to today's black experience in America.

Photograph Courtesy: @thefader/Twitter

In 2016, she released her third album A Seat at the Tabular array, describing it every bit "a project on identity, empowerment, independence, grief and healing." It was a compelling album that combined influences of neo-soul and funk with R&B. For her follow up, 2019'south When I Get Home, she looked inward to her Houston roots and combined jazz with new-historic period trap.

Key Tracks: "Cranes in the Heaven," "Stay Flo," "Don't Touch My Hair"

serpentwithfeet

The drama that can devour a passionate love affair has long been a foundational element of R&B music. Like, can't someone unbreak my middle and say you'll love me once again? Baltimore-born Josiah Wise a.k.a. serpentwithfeet takes that carnal chemical element and amps upwardly the drama tenfold.

Photograph Courtesy: @serpentwithfeet/Twitter

Growing up in a religious family, Wise sang in the church choir while his parents played classical and gospel music. For his own music, he combines his classical and gospel roots with the neo-soul and electronic music he explored after being rejected from graduate-level classical conservatories.

The effect is an R&B sound all his own — deep, emotional, but with an all-consuming, melodramatic intensity. It'south the kind of music that makes you want to fall in love and so you lot can understand the emotional power that he and so brilliantly expresses in his music.

Key Tracks: "bless ur middle," "iv ethers," "messy"

Aqueduct Tres

Sheldon Young a.1000.a. Aqueduct Tres is keeping R&B on the dance floor with a musical equation made for the new generation. He mixes his SoCal sensuality with Barry-White-on-Xanax vocals to a blend of R&B and Chicago/Detroit house.

Photo Courtesy: @channel_tres/Twitter

But Channel Tres doesn't croon about how he "Can't get plenty of your honey, infant." His rugged catcalls are declarations of unavailability and confidence, an age old twist in the playbook of love. He keeps himself at arm'due south length, challenge to be the controller, the swami or the sexy black Timberlake. It's a playful move that addresses stereotypes about sexual activity and behavior oft attributed to black people.

As he continues to combine all the cultural trends of today's music, he may earn his own honorific title as the "Controller."

Primal Tracks: "Controller," "Sexy Black Timberlake," "Topdown"

Toro y Moi

In the last decade, Toro y Moi a.thou.a. Chaz Bundick has gone through countless musical evolutions. In the get-go, he was one of the defining artists of Chillwave, a hybrid of Internet culture, retro nostalgia and soft synthesizers. So he helped define the brusk lived "Basement R&B," which took those soft melodies and production tools to make glitchy-sounding classic R&B jams on your basement calculator.

Photo Courtesy: FilmMagic/Getty Images

But as Toro y Moi continued to experiment with his sound, he evolved into a dominant force defining the next wave of R&B music. Combining R&B with disco and electronica, he has blossomed into a more than modern sound that still appeals with indie music fans.

In 2019 alone, he has released 2 albums that are each totally different just completely refreshing on their ain. Jan'due south Outer Peace composite R&B with a danceable, hereafter-pop sound, while November's Soul Trash mixtape was a blend of R&B with hip-hop and chillwave. Soul Trash also came with its ain brusque film and invitee rapper collaborations, which is some other sign that the multi-talented musician is looking to take his music to the adjacent level.

Key Tracks: "Minors," "Mirage," "Baby Drive It Down"

FKA Twigs

When FKA twigs released "Water Me" in 2013, music fans weren't sure where to identify her. FKA Twigs a.chiliad.a. Tahliah Barnett puts an avant-garde, electronic twist on R&B music. As she pushes the boundaries musically, she releases music videos that comprise bizarre aesthetics with modern trip the light fantastic toe, resulting in a modernistic still timeless experience.

Photo Courtesy: @FKAtwigs/Twitter

Pushing boundaries through honest storytelling has been the main constant throughout her music, but everything else seems to surprise her fans. When she revealed her temporary absenteeism from performing was due to having fibroid tumors removed from her uterus, fans idea she would never return, but she came back with a vengeance.

In April 2019, Twigs released "Cellophane" off her latest album Magdalene. Her blatant, frail falsetto combined with a video that focused on her new pole dancing prowess created a triumphant render for the avant-pop R&B affections. She may have seemed broken from her medical challenges and public breakdown of her three-year relationship, simply she rose from the ashes, stronger and more powerful than ever before.

Key Tracks: "Two Weeks," "Pendulum," "Cellophane"

Janelle Monáe

Sharing your personal narrative was, quite frankly, the full opposite of Janelle Monáe'southward early work. She hid backside "Cindi Mayweather," an android persona from a hip, Metropolis-inspired hereafter. Her sound had funk and electronic elements from early Gimmicky R&B artists similar Prince and Janet Jackson.

Photograph Courtesy: FilmMagic/Getty Images

She likewise only sang near the dear that exists between androids, or "the others" as she put it. Fortunately, artists (and culture) evolve. In 2017, after years of public inquiry about her personal life, Monae released Dirty Computer, her biggest commercial success. She had always made enjoyable music about self-expression, simply at present she was following her own instructions.

Some argue she used her sexuality as a marketing tool to promote Dirty Computer, announcing she was pansexual in promotional interviews. Others celebrated her courageousness for unplugging her robotic persona and embracing her inner-cocky. With an ever-growing fanbase, she has the power to encourage R&B fans effectually the world to celebrate a new generation of "others."

Key Tracks: "Tightrope," "Make Me Feel," "Electric Lady"

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