Browsing Tag

2022 RnB

LA’s Sani Knight is ‘BADASF’ in his latest slice of seductively self-aware RnB Hip Hop

At 19 years old, the LA-residing artist Sani Knight has conquered the music industry with over a million streams on his collective discography, which kicked off in 2020. Marrying RnB and new wave hip-hop, his latest single, BADASF, allows wavy RnB melodies to seductively flow to the solid trappy beats.

If that wasn’t enough to get you in the mood, the pop-pinched effect-laden vocals that flow as mellifluously as the instrumental melodies in the short and sweet hit are hypnotic in their salacious vibe. Lyrical gold runs through the entire duration, but no line hits harder than “even if we don’t feel the same tomorrow, even if the love we made is hollow”.

Few artists are more self-aware of the inclination of wanting to ride slow as a means to a dopamine-fixing end. Undoubtedly, that is a vital key to the success the artist inspired by The Weeknd, 6LACK, and Che Ecru has unlocked.

BADASF was officially released on December 16th. Check it out on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Janockeil showed us ‘The Way’ in his latest RnB single and official music video

The up-and-coming RnB artist, Janockeil smoothed out the airwaves with the release of his sensuously fervid single, The Way, which dropped with the official music video that packs in plenty of hot under-the-collar flavour.

The Charleston-born Newark-residing singer-songwriter and musician transcended to the RnB, pop and soul genres after refining his incandescent vocal timbre by singing gospel in church from a young age. But clearly, there was no outgrowing the uplifting style of gospel, which resonates within the passionate vocal performance as Janockeil shows us the way to sated satisfaction through the lyrics that enlighten the soft touch of the contemporary RnB instrumentals.

The Way was officially released on November 4th. Check it out on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

C Note91 calls for an end to ambiguity in his old school RnB single, How Deep ft. SIR Linho

After the success of his 2022 debut single, Hear No Lies, C Notes91 harmonically laid his love down on the line in his sophomore single, How Deep, featuring the rap artist SIR Linho.

The authentically 90s RnB single keeps the focus on the sweet and smooth vocal lines while the piano keys amorously intersect with the drum pads. SIR Linho’s rap verses which come mid-way through the track with soaring guitar notes add an incredible dynamic to the release that drags you deep into the impassioned outpour of emotion which calls for an end to romantic ambiguity.

It is almost impossible to believe C Notes91’s bio which covers the start of his journey when he had the passion but none of the vocal talent. He’s living and breathing proof that if you endeavour, you’ll get to where you want to be.

How Deep is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jimmy G. $hi takes it slow in his RnB single, Drown Tonight

Give your RnB playlists a fresh soul fix by introducing it to the lead single, Drown Tonight, from Jimmy G. $hi’s 2022 album, P.T.H.B.

After warm saturated tones have eased you into the smooth contemporary track that unfurls around hip hop percussion and spacey electronica synthetics, Jimmy G. $hi goes in heavy with the sultry romanticism. The affectionately demure energy resonates through the lyrics as much as the steady vocals that affirm the message of the single; pace is the trick.

With the stellar production, the mellifluous soul that spills from the vocals and the evocative heights that Drown Tonight takes you to, the up-and-coming artist can definitively be seen as a triple threat.

The official music video for Drown Tonight was released on July 22nd. Check it out for yourselves via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Get secondary highs from Cedric B’s latest contemporary kick of RnB. Love=DRUG

The evolution of RnB may have been fairly stunted since the 90s, but one artist taking the genre into the sonic future with his distinctive hard-kicking spin on contemporary RnB is the Dallas-based crooner Cedric B.

His latest single, Love=DRUG, taken from his sixth independent album by the same name, is a stridently evocative work with melodies that seduce as much as the high-range vocals around the hip hop elements. Even if you’re not getting your own love fix, you will easily get high on the vibes in Love=DRUG.

Love=DRUG will officially release on June 14th. You can check it out for yourselves via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lamar Creation soulfully hates the player and the game in his RnB pop hit, Feeling Me

Chicago born and raised artist, Lamar Creation, has dropped the ultimate 2022 RnB pop summer anthem with his latest hip hop influenced single, Feeling Me, which gives all the luxe grooves as Jay Z, the fiery passion of Frank Ocean and all of the contemporary funk of Daft Punk.

The sun-bleached electronic textures, which also find enough room to throw in nuances of Afrobeat, create the perfect platform for Lamar and collaborator, RichDaPhatt’s vocals as they seemingly drift through the entire emotional spectrum to lay it all down on the line on a relationship that is as much of a mental mindfuck as spending an hour watching the news.

The old adage may tell us to hate the game and not the player, but Feeling Me stands as a testament to the dissonance that playing games can cause in a way that may (hopefully) make people think twice about dealing with that kind of hand.

We scarcely needed his bio to tell us that Lamar is as much of a poet as he is a lyricist. It is all too perceptible through the jarring lines that keep on delivering the evocative hammering blows.

Feeling Me is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Orlando Rocco Music & Justis Chanell delved beyond superficiality in their indie RnB single, Way You See Me

https://soundcloud.com/user-532179988/way-you-see-me-ft-justis-chanell

Orlando Rocco Music & Justis Chanell became the ultimate RnB collaborative power couple with the release of the East Coast hip hop-influenced single, Way You See Me, which captures that intoxicatingly euphoric feeling of knowing that someone sees you, with their field of vision extending far beyond surface level.

Justis Chanell’s smoothly sultry yet understatedly charismatic vocals resonate against the slick indie RnB grooves that are swathed in layers of shimmering reverb. Way You See Me stands as a contemporary testament to both of their talent. We can only hope that there’s more collab content in the pipeline. Way You See Me was nothing short of alchemically cathartic for the way the sophisticated style runs on a par with the level of soul.

Way You See Me will be officially released on May 13th; you can check it out for yourselves via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

CRVS Serrano – all of a sudden you know whats best: darkly era-defining RnB

‘all of a sudden you know whats best’ is the darkly era-defining latest single from the Philadelphia-born, Florida-based songwriter, artist and songwriter, CRVS Serrano. The 90s and 00s influences are easily legible around Serrano’s dark signature, which is signed through the trippy yet melodic flow and the beats that melt against the lush modernist RnB production.

Lyrically and vocally, Serrano doesn’t fail to bring you into the plaintive frustration the single transpired from. But there’s enough urban alchemy in the mix to guarantee you’ll have more oxytocin than you did before you hit play.

After signing to the label, Bounce House in 2020, he’s taken his career to new heights alongside artists such as Karol G, G Herbo, and IV4. With an EP in the pipeline, he’s undoubtedly one to watch.

CRVS Serrano’s latest single is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Elocin Cole brought contemporary style to classic soul with her artfully aware single, There You Are

https://soundcloud.com/locinole/there-you-are/s-FiOeguaCz2P?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Elocin Cole brought swathes of contemporary style to her classic soul meets RnB single, There You Are, which explores the adage “wherever you go, there you are”. Elocin Cole artfully intellectualised the idiom by running it through a prism of self-awareness and translating it as a signifier that the past will always catch up to you unless you turn and face it.

The single has the capacity to move you emotionally through the honeyed vocals and make you want to move through the drum beats colliding with the sticky-sweet synth lines. We can’t wait to hear what the eloquent soulstress has in the pipeline.

There You Are dropped on April 21st. You can check it out for yourselves via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jspino has released the ultimate you-will-see-me single with his latest RnB-Latin-Pop earworm, Noticing

Indie RnB artist, Jspino, laid it out all on the line in his latest Latin pop-spliced hit, Noticing. The track sinks its teeth into the frustration that manifests when there is that soul-obliterating feeling of knowing that the person you want to see you the most have their blinkers on to your autonomy.

As the perfect contrast to the fiery RnB pop vocals, there’s a deep sense of melodicism that cushions the blow of the hard-hitting beats which match the progressively intense vocal momentum. It is hardly a stretch to say that Noticing is easily one of the rawest RnB tracks we’ve heard this year. We hope Jspino follows his own trend.

Noticing officially dropped on April 15th; you can check it out via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast