Christmas is nearly upon us, and we hope you’re enjoying the treats we’ve delivered you in our first annual advent calendar so far. Today, we have a look at some of the year’s most memorable R&B releases, following our mid-year overview back in July. On that, we showed love to names like Janelle Monae (her promiscuous The Age of Pleasure rollout practically broke the internet) and Masego, whose self-titled LP makes a return on our end-of-year round-up.
It was a big year for both male and female talent, though one of our favourite Canadians came out on top. Elsewhere, we heard new releases from old favourites like Tinashe, Chris Brown, and Jorja Smith to keep us warm as the weather cooled off into the fall. Keep scrolling to read our top 10 favourite R&B albums of the year, and leave a comment letting us know if there are any you think we missed in the comments below.
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10. Chris Brown – 11:11
Coming in at number 10 is none other than Chris Brown, who cut down the number of features significantly on 11:11 from 2022’s Breezy. This time around he impressed us with 22 titles (17 of them featureless), including fan favourites like “Angel Numbers / Ten Toes” and “Summer Too Hot.” He and Future made magic on “That’s On You,” and Maeta’s vocals shine on “Best Ever.”
Our recommendation from the Virginia native’s album is “No One Else” with Fridayy, which is a perfect weekend workout jam. Brown teased the collaborative effort before unleashing 11:11, helping to generate buzz for the project, which peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 after selling over 45K album-equivalent units in the first week. This was his lowest since 2017’s Heartbreak on a Full Moon, but at this point in his career, the father of three seems more worried about impressing himself than critics.
9. Sampha – Lahai
On his sophomore effort, Sampha continues to prove that Scorpios are among the deepest signs of the zodiac. He explores the emotional rollercoaster of being human on October’s Lahai, his first LP since 2017. On Process, the UK-based vocalist made his presence felt after blowing up for his work with Drake on “Too Much” in 2013. R&B lovers were eagerly waiting to hear what he’s been cooking up and tracks like “Spirit 2.0” undeniably deliver.
Sampha produced the song with help from El Guincho and Riccardo Damian. “I hope people can enjoy that feeling of someone being there for you, even if that person doesn’t have the answers,” he told Rolling Stone of the song’s creation. “Just calling someone up without overthinking… Letting go and just dancing… Wanting to see past the mundanity of things and appreciating the magic of it all, from bird nests to spaceships.”
8. Kelela – Raven
Yet another noteworthy sophomore effort to make waves in R&B this year is Kelela’s Raven – a 15-track effort with just one feature from Rahrah Gabor on “Closure.” Otherwise, the ethereal artist carries herself through titles like “Enough for Love,” “Happy Ending,” and “On the Run” with ease. Simply listening to the LP will take you on a rollercoaster ride of red-hot dance beats infused with “ambient comedowns,” as Pitchfork eloquently describes them.
Just past the midway point of the tracklist comes Kelela’s title track, followed by “Bruises.” The two songs are beautiful separately, but when listened back to back, they help perfectly bring the 40-year-old’s vision to life. “Through all the labour / A raven is reborn,” her voice rings out over production by Asma Maroof, AceMo, Fauzia, and the Washington D.C.-born vocalist. “They tried to break her / There’s nothing here to mourn,” Kelela sweetly sings.
7. Tinashe – BB/ANG3L
Since making her debut in 2014 with Aquarius, Tinashe has been one to watch in the music industry. She’s collaborated with the likes of ScHoolboy Q, ASAP Rocky, Future, Offset, 6LACK, and many more over the years. On September’s BB/ANG3L, the blonde beauty unleashed seven featureless songs, with “Needs” and “Talk To Me Nice” preceding the short-and-sweet album as singles. The latter is our listening recommendation if you want a taste of what the multi-talent has been cooking up.
“[It] explores the feeling of being on the edge of a relationship and looking at it with skepticism, self-preservation, and self-confidence,” Tinashe previously said of the infectious song. She may not have had the help of other artists, but the Kentucky native did connect with an impressive crew of sound engineers such as Scoop Deville, Kurzweil, Royce David, and Machinedrum on her latest musical endeavour, which follows 2021’s 333.
6. Kali Uchis – Red Moon in Venus
Kali Uchis’ Red Moon in Venus earned a shoutout on our R&B round-up in the first half of 2023. She and her beau Don Toliver continued their impressive streak of collaborations on “Fantasy,” after linking up on “4 Me,” which arrived just weeks before on his Love Sick album. Of course, “Moonlight” is Kali’s most popular single from this era of her career, but other cuts show her talent at its best.
On the closing song, “Happy Now,” Uchis ends on an optimistic note. “Cosmic conditions conspired against us / ‘Cause you and me got chemistry / But what’s with our timing?” she asks a lover whom she can’t seem to fall into alignment with. “Don’t think about the pain or the heartaches / Just wanna remember all the good things,” the fashionista expresses on the outro, doing her best to remain in a positive frame of mind amid all the chaos. Her next project, Orquídeas, is due out in 2024 and will include even more of her stunning Spanish singing.
5. Victoria Monet – JAGUAR II
At this point in our list, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that, much like in hip-hop, the women of R&B deserve their flowers for seriously holding it down this year. The genre is best known for its emotional ballads, but we still need upbeat anthems to help inspire confidence among the masses. Thankfully, Victoria Monet came through to deliver one of the best we heard all 2023 in the form of “On My Mama.” As Genius notes, it interpolates Charlie Boy’s “I Look Good” from 2009, and also went on to become the singer’s second-ever entry on Billboard‘s Hot 100 Chart.
On top of those accolades, “On My Mama” additionally earned Monet a Grammy nod for Best R&B Song and Record Of The Year. Despite her sweeping success with that and other JAGUAR II titles like “Smoke” featuring Lucky Daye and “Alright,” the 34-year-old was still told it’s “too early” in her career to perform at the MTV VMAs a few months back, but she’s not letting that stop her from celebrating all her achievements so far.
4. Masego – Masego
Masego’s self-titled effort is another that you may remember from our mid-year list, and it seems to have somehow only grown better with age. The Jamaican creative is best known for hits like “Tadow,” “Navajo,” and “Mystery Lady” with Don Toliver, but this year, it’s “What You Wanna Try” that we haven’t been able to take off repeat. The short, catchy tune comes third on the Masego tracklist, followed by “Afraid of Water” and “Down In The Dumps,” both of which we also highly recommend.
Overall, the March-released album was just what we needed while transitioning into spring. Masego’s flirtatious persona perfectly translates through his music, especially on “Two Sides (I’m So Gemini),” on which he plays into the notoriously fickle nature of the air sign. Like Tinashe, he also opted to go the featureless route, though we’re certainly curious to see who he’ll spend time with at the studio come 2024.
3. Jorja Smith – falling or flying
Since they wore out playing her 2018 project, Lost & Found on repeat, R&B lovers have been burning up with a fever for more Jorja Smith music. The UK-based songstress captivated the world with her voice on emotional cuts like “Don’t Watch Me Cry” and “Blue Lights,” and has connected with both rappers and vocalists during her hiatus to keep us satisfied with singles. When she finally confirmed that falling or flying would land in 2023, buzz quickly began to build, and once we heard her first single, “Try Me,” it only grew from there.
“Little Things” is the album’s most popular track by a landslide, but listening to the 16-track release from start to finish will help you better understand Smith’s endless emotions throughout her rise to fame. On our favourite, “Broken Is The Man,” the 26-year-old reflects on an unrequited love who couldn’t quite deliver the world he had promised her. “Can you believe I put myself through that all? / Just to realize you mean nothing to me,” she candidly reflects over P2J’s music.
2. Amaarae – Fountain Baby
Sliding into the second spot is an artist on the rise who’s relatively new to HNHH. Amaarae’s Fountain Baby album is easily one of the most sonically delightful music releases in recent memory, especially the astrology-filled “Co-Star” song, for which she tapped the Clermont Twins to star alongside her in her visual. The 29-year-old is a Ghanaian-American singer-songwriter who primarily operates in genres like Pop, Afrobeats, and R&B, blending them to create a unique sound that’s refreshing to hear in our current culture of remakes and redundant samples.
Amaarae has been sliding under the radar for years now, previously dropping off THE ANGEL YOU DON’T KNOW in 2020. That helped her amass some loyal fans, but with Fountain Baby, she’s been able to rise to new heights. “Angels in Tibet,” “Reckless & Sweet,” and “Big Steppa” are among the most-streamed songs on her early June LP, which only continues to turn more heads her way.
1. Daniel Caesar – NEVER ENOUGH
Last, but certainly not least on our best R&B albums of 2023 list is Canada’s own Daniel Caesar. After being cancelled for making controversial comments about race at the peak of his career, the Freudian artist hasn’t quite managed to restore himself to his former glory. Still, his third studio effort, NEVER ENOUGH did enough to get the industry taking Caesar more seriously again after his sophomore CASE STUDY 01 was slept on due to the scandal surrounding him.
He wove in joint tracks with Mustafa, serpentwithfeet, Omar Apollo, and Ty Dolla Sign throughout the tracklist, but what music lovers are streaming the most is Caesar’s solo tracks. On “Do You Like Me?” and “Always” he lets his lyrics and singing skills tug at our heartstrings, while “Let Me Go” finds the 28-year-old pleading with someone to release their grip on his energy so they can both find freedom.
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