4
4
0
https://www.npr.org/2022/12/07/ [login to see] /the-20-best-r-b-albums-of-2022
In Washington, D.C., locals convene at Songbyrd Music House to discuss the merits of Tevin Campbell and Raphael Saadiq during R&B club, a monthly gathering for some of the genre's devotees, taking deep dives into its rich history. The event was created by a few enthusiastic music people to wrangle and rally the supporters for a thing often wrongly presumed barren. "I was really tired of people saying R&B is dead, nonexistent or fading away," Ashley-Dior Thomas, one of the hosts, told the Washington Post in November. "I do not understand where this is coming from." It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that R&B's influence prevails. As Aretha put it, in her 1999 autobiography, "Soul music is cultural, [...] it is a people, a nation and it is the rhythm of our lives and loves and losses and wins, our hopes and dreams and passions on parade," before dropping the mic: "R&B isn't a fad; it's the truth."
In Washington, D.C., locals convene at Songbyrd Music House to discuss the merits of Tevin Campbell and Raphael Saadiq during R&B club, a monthly gathering for some of the genre's devotees, taking deep dives into its rich history. The event was created by a few enthusiastic music people to wrangle and rally the supporters for a thing often wrongly presumed barren. "I was really tired of people saying R&B is dead, nonexistent or fading away," Ashley-Dior Thomas, one of the hosts, told the Washington Post in November. "I do not understand where this is coming from." It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that R&B's influence prevails. As Aretha put it, in her 1999 autobiography, "Soul music is cultural, [...] it is a people, a nation and it is the rhythm of our lives and loves and losses and wins, our hopes and dreams and passions on parade," before dropping the mic: "R&B isn't a fad; it's the truth."
The 20 Best R&B Albums of 2022
Posted from npr.org
Music
R&B
Blues music
Washington
Culture
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 3
3
3
0
2
2
0
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Beyoncé, RENAISSANCE
Beyoncé's seventh album is masterful, funneling decades of Black dance culture into an hourlong set of sweaty house music and self-empowerment anthems. The latter isn't surprising if you've followed her career: She's become something of a Pied Piper, nudging single ladies to the dance floor, telling no-good dudes to come get that box to the left. But this is a more literal celebration of emancipation through dance, of the club as a refuge, one so impactful that, months after its release, it is still being danced to in full. Of all her records, Renaissance might be the first one universally regarded by Hivers and non-Hivers as a magnum opus of any era and genre, so focused in its mission. That it centered Black women and Black queer culture was its greatest achievement, especially in an industry and a world that would rather ignore both.
In that way, Renaissance is in direct conversation with those communities, a safe space to be free and seen. A for us, by us record, it surveys the contours of Southern dance on songs like "Church Girl" and "Move," and realizes the late-'70s hybrid of disco and R&B on "Plastic Off The Sofa." It wouldn't be a Beyoncé album without chest-thumping trash talk, and some flex rapping, just in case you forgot she runs the world. That's to be celebrated, too, though: Far too often, Black women are expected to make themselves small so others can feel comfortable. Not only did Renaissance eschew that inequity, it decimated such foolishness. That's true power and, well, that's Beyoncé. Let the haters hate, you're one-of-one, go eff up the night. — Marcus J. Moore"
..."Beyoncé, RENAISSANCE
Beyoncé's seventh album is masterful, funneling decades of Black dance culture into an hourlong set of sweaty house music and self-empowerment anthems. The latter isn't surprising if you've followed her career: She's become something of a Pied Piper, nudging single ladies to the dance floor, telling no-good dudes to come get that box to the left. But this is a more literal celebration of emancipation through dance, of the club as a refuge, one so impactful that, months after its release, it is still being danced to in full. Of all her records, Renaissance might be the first one universally regarded by Hivers and non-Hivers as a magnum opus of any era and genre, so focused in its mission. That it centered Black women and Black queer culture was its greatest achievement, especially in an industry and a world that would rather ignore both.
In that way, Renaissance is in direct conversation with those communities, a safe space to be free and seen. A for us, by us record, it surveys the contours of Southern dance on songs like "Church Girl" and "Move," and realizes the late-'70s hybrid of disco and R&B on "Plastic Off The Sofa." It wouldn't be a Beyoncé album without chest-thumping trash talk, and some flex rapping, just in case you forgot she runs the world. That's to be celebrated, too, though: Far too often, Black women are expected to make themselves small so others can feel comfortable. Not only did Renaissance eschew that inequity, it decimated such foolishness. That's true power and, well, that's Beyoncé. Let the haters hate, you're one-of-one, go eff up the night. — Marcus J. Moore"
(2)
(0)
0
0
0
Check these tunes out as they see being the best of 2022! Take a listen!
(0)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google