While we wait for certain projects to get the cobwebs dusted off, R&B is still at the forefront of today’s musical landscape.
Elijah Blake, Khalid, and Samm Henshaw are open, honest, and in rare form with their new albums. FLO gushes about the perfect partner for lovergirls everywhere. We may be late to the party with Lola Moxom, but we’ve arrived and are putting you on.
Meanwhile, Khamari and Maxwell are paying homage to two of their influences. Kehlani teams up with Jordan Adetunji, Jhené Aiko becomes a guiding light, and Tank and The Bangas share the second part of their poetic trilogy.
We can’t lie—this was a refreshingly stacked week in R&B. Enjoy our top new picks below.
Elijah Blake – elijah.
Elijah Blake’s most vulnerable undertaking is here. elijah. is his rawest and most intricate exploration into his inner psyche. He opted for the self-titled route this time because for the first time, he felt he was ingrained within the DNA of these records.
This time around, the singer-songwriter’s new project has no features. “I just didn’t want anyone interrupting my conversation with the listener,” Blake teased to VIBE exclusively. “It’s really the story first on this project.”
Blake also shared that he hopes to have Jazmine Sullivan on the “Sugarwater & Lime” remix, and the deluxe edition will have more features.
Khalid – Sincere
Khalid described his third album, Sincere, as a “re-debut.” Over the 16-track LP led by singles, “Please Don’t Fall In Love With Me” and “Adore U,” the crooner displays his growth as both a person and an artist through unabashed storytelling and irresistible melodies.
“This album is a combination of my life experiences and the conversations that I’ve had with my fans, supporters, and loved ones,” he explained in a statement. “I was inspired by real-life experiences and dealing with the obstacles that come with growth and adulthood. When I listen to this album, I hear a sound that is unique to me. Sincere is me at 26, and I believe it truly solidifies myself as an artist and is me at my best.“
FLO – “Check”
FLO’s “Check” is finally here! On the certified anthem for lover girls everywhere, the trio boasts about checking all the boxes on their criteria for the ideal partner. It’s dreamy, vibrant, and fun—exactly what love should feel like.
“It’s a refreshing take on relationships for us and is different from anything we’ve released in the past,” they note about the new tune. “It comes from a softer, happier, and more loving place. It feels great to all be in relationships, so it only felt right to drop a lovergirl anthem for the summer.”
“Checks” follows “Caught Up” and “Walk Like This,” the two singles to precede their highly-anticipated debut album.
Maxwell – “Simply Beautiful”
Until Maxwell completes his blacksummersnight trilogy, he’s given fans something new. This time, it’s a soothing cover of Al Green’s “Simply Beautiful.” With his first single in nearly three years, the crooner returns to honor one of his formative influences.
“The first time I heard Al Green’s music, I was amazed,” Maxwell said. “It’s been an honor to get in the studio and record one of his songs. We had the best of the best come out to be a part of the recording, from the horns to the strings to the vocalists. They sound amazing. This is really magical.”
There’s no word on when blacksummersNIGHT will be released, but his next tour kicks off next month.
Samm Henshaw – For Someone Somewhere Who Isn’t Us
Samm Henshaw is back for the time being. After releasing his debut album, Untidy Soul in 2022, the crooner found himself at odds. Now, he’s reignited his love and passion for music with his mini-album, For Someone Somewhere Who Isn’t Us. The six-track EP is more for his listeners than it is for himself though.
“I think just for us as people, we sometimes feel this level of lack inadequacy and I want to push and encourage this idea of not giving up—even when that seems like an easy out— because you never know what might happen when it comes and who it might inspire,” said Henshaw. “Anything that comes, I’m grateful for it, I’m excited for it. But ultimately I think it needed to happen just for me to be able to prove to myself that I could still do it. It was just almost like this project to me feels more like a lesson.”
Although it features one sole collab, “Fade” with KIRBY, and the single, “Troubled Ones,” we find ourselves repeating the soul-stirring “Water” and the disruptingly authentic “Under God.”
Khamari – “Cranes In The Sky”
While we wait for new music from Khamari, he’s released his own, self-produced cover of one of his favorite songs, Solange’s “Cranes In The Sky,” for Spotify.
Khamari detailed, “Cranes In The Sky was always one of my favorite songs. I really connected with the meaning and the analogy. Solange said in an interview she wrote it when she found a place of ‘peace’ and ‘refuge’ in Miami from things she was dealing with at that time, but cranes were building condos left and right in the neighborhood, which created an eyesore. It reminded me of the things that cloud my mind in life while trying to learn to be more present.”
The cover follows the release of his debut album, A Brief Nirvana, which includes singles like “Doctor, My Eyes” and “These Four Walls.” Per his home record label RCA, “This cover will lead into new music and a sophomore album, where he’ll continue the hunt for the intersection of timeless musicality and contemporary style, all without losing the honest accessibility which made him relatable from the start.”
Tank and The Bangas – The Mind
Tank and The Bangas are releasing a spoken-word trilogy and today, they unveiled the second installment, The Mind. Joined by aja monet, Yaya Bey, and produced by Iman Omari, fans get to experience a more “vibey” side of the band’s lead singer, Tarriona “Tank” Ball.
“I want for poetry to get that much more respect and for even more young people to get into the expression of poetry,” Tank expressed in a statement detailing why she released a poetry album as opposed to a music-led one. “I want it to be seen as even more cool again. Poetry has always been my first love because it loved me back, it loved me before music even. now I get to share more of that part of myself with the world, in hopes that you love it to. Everything in this world has its place, the HEART deals with matters of my heart, my relationships with men and the one with myself. The MIND lends itself to the things I think about living as a woman in this world, and the relationships I’ve gone back and forth in my mind about. And the SOUL is a form of subconscious and conscious free flowing poems about myself and the city that raised me.”
The Heart arrived last month and the full project, The Heart, The Mind, The Soul, will be out on Aug. 30. The third part, The Soul, will be in collaboration with Robert Glasper. Fans can expect a deluxe version on Oct. 11.
Jordan Adetunji feat. Kehlani – “KEHLANI (Remix)”
It’s pretty iconic to write about and name a song after someone, have it become a hit, and then you get your muse to hop on the remix. That’s exactly what happened with Jordan Adetunji’s “KEHLANI.” The record debuted No. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 and amassed over 100 million streams, so it was only right that the singer join the budding phenom for the long-awaited official remix.
Of the collaboration, Adetunji noted in a statement, “Working with Kehlani has been a great experience because I’ve been able to see her process, and how she sings, how she places things, and how she says her words. Even her just translating what I said on my song to her verse was just amazing, it was seamless.”
When speaking about why he chose to pay tribute to Baelani in this way, he shared, “Making a song about Kehlani was a no brainer to me, her confidence and huge cultural impact is something I love! I love confidence. Especially when people do things that put themselves out there, doing things out of the norm and showing huge ambition.”
Jhené Aiko – “guidance”
Jhené Aiko just embarked on the second leg of her Magic Hour tour, and new music trailed right behind. With “guidance,” listeners are met with a rhythmic melody as Aiko sings about being in true love with herself.
“I got a light inside of me/ I got a light that’s guiding me/ I got a lot of God in me/ And I can stand alone,” she sings in the post-chorus. The song was first teased in March when she announced the tour.
Lola Moxom – “Cool With It”
Lola Moxom’s debut single is lush, soulful, and captivating. “Cool With It” puts her in the lane of Jon B and Aiyana-Lee, but with inspiration from the likes of Tori Kelly, Brandy, and Musiq Soulchild, Lola’s approach is quite timeless and familiar.
“I never thought this song would ever see the light of day,” Lola explained in a statement. “I wrote it about three years ago, which feels like a lifetime at [19]. It’s one of the very first songs I created in the studio when I started collaborating with producers. This song means the world to me because it’s about dealing with disrespect and thinking the only way to make them understand their mistake is to give them a taste of their own medicine. I was stuck in a toxic relationship back then, so this song really hits close to home for me. I’m super proud of the vocal arrangement, and James Berkeley’s production added so much soul to it. I feel like this track is the perfect introduction of my music to the world, blending all the influences that have shaped me.”
We advise you to keep your eye on this one.
