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RnB Pop

Nita Katushabe abstracts from self-flagellation to salvation in her soul-pop sermon, Forgive Yourself

Posted on 8 July 2026

Nita Katushabe delivered the epitome of a self-empowering sermon through her hymnally resolving ballad, Forgive Yourself. In recognition of how much we collectively punish ourselves for taking the wrong path, making mistakes, or simply being human, the Ugandan singer-songwriter saw the opportunity to extend resolution through compassionate soul pop.

Each new verse finds a new way to strip the weight off your conscience and guide you to the light within. With such a powerful message at the core of this healing release, the aural atmosphere could have been wholly inconsequential, but Katushabe pairs her presence as the ultimate confidant with the lush, classical framing of 00s RnB pop.

Her foundation in classical voice training gives the performance warmth, control and a devotional steadiness, while her songwriting carries the same emotional candour that made artists such as Leona Lewis and Alexandra Burke take over the cultural zeitgeist. You can also hear how her creative compass has been shaped by Emeli Sandé, John Legend and Alicia Keys, through the way Forgive Yourself sparks with sincerity.

After her debut EP, Love Hustle, explored the tension between ambition and intimacy, this single feels like a necessary act of release. It is tender without becoming fragile, graceful without losing its force, and generous enough to meet listeners exactly where their guilt still lives.

Forgive Yourself is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

NOBU – Maria Kalashik: Contemporary RnB Brought into a Smouldering Euro Pop Fever

Posted on 4 July 2026

It was about time world music saw a contemporary reinvention; Maria Kalashik stands at the forefront of the monocultural mould-smashing vanguard with her latest single, NOBU. The London-based recording artist and songwriter works at the intersection of contemporary RnB and European pop, and this release makes that creative position feel like an intoxicating provocation.

Eastern flavour and Latin heat create an almost too-hot-to-handle RnB Euro pop hit, with Kalashik’s harmonies simmering through a smouldering summer anthem. Even when the lyrical details dissolve into the fervour of the mix, the soul-sustained volition stays intact through tone, texture and rhythmic pressure. NOBU possesses the kind of vitality that makes you shake off any sense of inhibition as you surrender to the lush complexity of the kinetic production.

Kalashik describes her work through the lens of conscious RnB, centred on self-determination, personal boundaries and inner resilience. That ethos sits beneath the surface of NOBU, where there’s space for confidence to speak through cadence rather than exposition. With over 146,000 combined streams in the past year, listeners across more than 30 countries, and collaborations connected to London studios, Stockholm writing camps and major international producers, Maria Kalashik is refusing to be a fixed point on the RnB map; she’s already global.

NOBU is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Hibernation by Carol Corns Is the Ultimate Introvert Pop Anthem for Anyone Romanticising the Drive Home

Posted on 10 June 2026

Every songwriter who has earned their stripes knows to move with the times, but few truly tap into cultural shifts as they’re still taking root. Carol Corns, the songwriter behind Hibernation, penned a track that carries the euphoria of an extroverted pop anthem while tapping into the growing desire to create your own sanctuary and escape within it instead of grabbing your passport or heels.

If Hibernation came on the radio during your daily commute, your drive home would feel sweeter than ever. The single effervesces with the zeal of being sated by simple pleasures, refusing to fall in line with hits that glamourise consumerism. It hooks you in like a Rihanna Grammy-winning hit, while tinges of RnB and country in the pop contours give the single crossover commercial appeal that practically guarantees it will become a viral hit once introverts catch on.

Corns’ decade of songwriting experience rises through the track. Since studying with The Songwriting Academy, writing with Rob Wells, toplining for international pianist Jeff Franzel, and working with Nashville publisher-linked collaborators including Sandy Ramos, she has built a catalogue shaped by versatility, stage awareness, and melodic purpose. Hibernation proves she can write across genres while keeping the performing voice in clear focus.

The demo of Hibernation is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Luka Sol’s Killin’ It Floods the Soul with Neon Strobes and Synth-Heavy Self-Belief

Posted on 27 May 2026

Luka Sol’s second single, Killin’ It, from his sophomore LP, Mirrors, paints him as an unreckonable alt-pop force who will never be caught bringing a knife to a gunfight. As a master of bridging the gaps between new wave synth pop, RnB, and dream pop with pure, iridescent emotion, he has gone beyond attempting to stay ahead of the curve; his synth-heavy sonic signature sits in a whole other stratosphere from the nostalgia-clingers.

Like a synthesis of all the most affecting aspects of The Midnight, The Human League, Kraftwerk, and The Weeknd, Killin’ It is an earworm that endears its way into your soul and floods your rhythmic circuitry with neon-lit strobes of interstellar kinetic energy. Co-produced with Courtney Ballard and Jared Poythress, the single carries the raw force of drowning out external noise and internal doubt, turning defiance into an atmospheric anthem for late-night reckoning.

Behind Luka Sol is Shawn Day, an artist, DJ, and producer shaped between Los Angeles and Sheridan, Wyoming. After Stargaze charted on Spotify and reached 120,000 streams within its first two weeks, Killin’ It affirms his ability to build cinematic alt-pop around isolation, ambition, and hard-won self-belief.

Killin’ It is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mosquito by Toria Rainey Lets Sepia-Hued Soul and Y2K Pop Bite Back

Posted on 21 May 2026

Toria Rainey possesses the kind of hypnotic magnetism that instantly transfixes. In her latest single, Mosquito, the saturated and indie nostalgia-slicked bassline pulls you right into the atmosphere of the slow-burning sepia-hued soul. Even if she was singing acapella, her voice would leave no void to fill in a production; the honeyed warmth swarms through the groove-driven alt-indie RnB pop synthesis, which carries Rainey’s resolving harmonies and bursts of fiery conviction.

There are echoes of Y2K pop in the vein of Natasha Bedingfield reverberating through the smoky production, which uses moody nuances to balance the style with substance. Using mosquitoes as the perfect parable for how some relationships suck you dry, Rainey turns the average redemption RnB pop single that scathes in the rubble of a relationship into a cathartically empowering revolution, serving as the ultimate reminder that martyrdom has no place in relationships.

The Brooklyn-based artist writes through identity, trauma, desire, blurred boundaries, and self-reinvention without sanding down the sharp edges. As part of her forthcoming EP, Muscle Memories, Mosquito sits inside a wider exploration of autonomy, the body’s memory, and the daily decision to choose yourself after damage has tried to define you. She should be an icon in everyone’s book.

Mosquito is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nicola Høie Pushed Disjointed Desire into the Echoes of Her Polished Alt-Pop Production, ‘Painkiller’

Posted on 26 March 2026

Nicola Høie hits all the right raw nerves in Painkiller, opening on staccato notes and hesitant chords that land like a nervous breath caught in the throat before a soul-deep confession. From there, the single slips straight into the disjointed dynamics of a relationship where feeling runs deeper than emotional synchronicity, framing love as the ultimate drug while exposing the comedown waiting beneath the rush. It’s a sharp premise, delivered through an alt-pop lens that lets vulnerability take centre stage without dulling the cinematic immensity of the production.

Whether your playlist leans towards indie, pop, or RnB, Painkiller has the reach to land in heavy rotation. The moody stylistic aesthetic, soul-heightened harmonies, and polished pop production leave a lasting echo, while Nicola’s vocal delivery gives the track its emotional voltage. There’s candour in the writing that gives the song real weight, and that sense of self-possession fits where Nicola is headed next.

After building serious momentum through streaming numbers, press attention, and a growing catalogue set to unfold across 2026, this release feels like a line in the sand. Painkiller carries the sound of an artist backing her own voice fully, and that certainty pushes Nicola Høie further towards the front rank of pop in 2026.

Painkiller is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Anthuhny stripped his armour to stand at the vanguard of emotive pop in the hypnotic earworm, ‘don’t come home late’

Posted on 5 March 2026

Emotive pop rarely reaches its pinnacle in this decade, yet Anthuhny’s don’t come home late reminds listeners how powerful pop can be when feeling sits at the centre of the songwriting. After stepping away for years, the producer, songwriter and vocalist has returned with a track that draws you straight into its evocative gravity rather than relying on empty hooks. The single proves that Anthuhny has mastered the art of sharpening vocal refrains with soul. Each reprise of the chorus lands harder than the last, turning the short-and-sweet arrangement into a persistent earworm.

The instrumentals simmer with summery afro-beat RnB textures, creating a groove that carries equal parts warmth and temptation. As the rhythm rolls forward, the track settles into a seductive sway that feels tailor-made for late-night radio rotations and sun-drenched playlists. Pop fans will recognise the balance immediately: lust-laden tension tempered by an undercurrent of emotional possession, the kind that pulls you further into the song every time the hook circles back around. That equilibrium pulses the heart of don’t come home late, where atmosphere and melody move together with natural ease.

Anthuhny’s return holds extra weight considering the path that led him here. His early releases gathered momentum during the MySpace era, climbing online charts and catching the ear of Lil Eazy-E, which opened the door to a deal with High Powered Productions. Club performances, radio airplay and collaborations followed, cementing his reputation as a multifaceted talent. After more than a decade away from the spotlight, he re-enters the pop landscape with renewed purpose and a clear understanding of how to make listeners feel something real.

don’t come home late is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Kamal Maroon – Black x White: A Screening of Dark Y2k RnB Pop Cinema You Won’t Want to Miss

Posted on 22 February 2026

Kamal Maroon’s latest single, Black x White, wastes no time pulling you into its emotional crossfire. The track lands as a cinematic RnB-pop confession, one sharp enough to feel like a covert strike. From the first coil of eerie etherealism around the solid backbeat and the modulated low-frequency motifs, the atmosphere shifts into something instantly intoxicating.

It’s the kind of sonic chiaroscuro that nods to the landmark intensity of 00s pop while carrying its own contemporary bite. Maroon channels the hot-and-heavy tempo into a charged relay of feeling as the lyricism drags you through the full spectrum of emotional volatility. Adoration flicks to resentment, tenderness charges headfirst into frustration, and the whole composition becomes a high-tension study of what it means to put yourself at the vanguard of the battleground of lust.

Once you’re held in the grip of the chorus, the volition behind the performance becomes unmistakable. Maroon’s delivery holds nothing back; the conviction in his voice shapes the narrative as much as the production does. The orchestral flourishes woven into the RnB-pop fabric bring a filmic sweep to the track, giving the emotional turbulence more than enough space to strike.

Raised in Beirut and now based in Los Angeles, Maroon carries a musical lineage shaped by classical training, early songwriting, and a global ear tuned to both pop polish and emotional rawness. Black x White marks his most unguarded release yet, pairing the ache of conflict with the addictive familiarity of RnB-pop’s golden era, all while forging one of the most unique earworms you’ll hear this year.

Black x White is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Yash Kapoor flooded retro‑futurist RnB pop with hyper 8‑bit intimacy in ‘Secrets In Your Eyes’

Posted on 5 January 2026

The retro-futurist sonic architect, Yash Kapoor, blazed beyond the RnB synth pop artists on cruise control as they meander through neon hues and bruises with his latest single, Secrets In Your Eyes, which injects a rush of hyper 8-bit euphoria into new wave synth lines.

There’s a ferocity to the euphonic rhythm section that takes a piece of Kapoor’s impassioned soul and kicks a cadence of visceralism into it as synaesthesia-inducing synths and phasers oscillate around the dreamy distortion-laden vocals, which dig deeper than lust, capturing an intimacy that’s enough to give you your own cosmic fix of oxytocin.

Accompanied by a visualiser, which enables the middle-eight reach a climax of experimental cinematography as the synth lines are stripped right back to expose a frenetic heartbeat, and the video captures Kapoor as he glitches through derealisation before the melody swings back into full force for the outro, it’s clear that Kapoor is intent on breaking through the alt RnB kaleidoscope with unparalleled authenticity.

As a Los Angeles-based producer, composer, and multidisciplinary artist, Kapoor doesn’t just bring a sound—he brings a world. Shaped by time in studios with major players like DaHeala and forged through his own cinematic instincts, Kapoor’s approach is one of precision and vulnerability. His solo material pulls you into that tension, where emotional exposure meets the full force of electronic depth.

Secrets In Your Eyes is now available on all major streaming platforms via this link. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Hannah Lacava exposed the vulnerability behind independence in her Y2K RnB Pop release, All Out of Pretend

Posted on 24 November 2025

Hannah Lacava tore off the façade in All Out of Pretend, a seminal single that illuminates the darker side of the increasingly lauded strong-single-and-independent archetype. Built on sax-lit lustre and aesthetics that flick memories back to chart-ruling early-2000s glamour, the track becomes far more than a nod to Y2K pop. Tinges of RnB restore the era when each lyric landed like an affirmation, while Lacava’s dynamically expansive delivery makes it clear that her volition as a powerhouse singer-songwriter resists any pastiche. She spins through a whirlwind of emotion, leaving ear-hooking motifs, sky-skimming vocals, and lines that spike the soul as she voices what many leave unspoken. It is nostalgia-kissed euphoria with a conscience, with the cabaret-esque sparkle and the vocal command converging into a searing statement of intent.

The single was a precursor to the Chicago native’s LP, False Love Identity, which was released on the 14th of November and explores love, lust, and self-empowerment through a pop lens sharpened by years of graft, collaborations, and radio momentum. Across her catalogue, she moves from flirtatious to defiant to bare-souled, yet keeps melody-magnet choruses front and centre. If All Out of Pretend  is your first introduction to Lacava, it will be an unforgettable one.

All Out of Pretend is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast