Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm-and-blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B songs that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.
Since the last update of this weekly R&B column, we’ve received plenty of music and news from the genre’s artists.
Chlöe and her girls hit the road for a special retreat on her new single “Boy Bye” while Tinashe announced her second BB/ANG3L EP and began a search for someone willing to match her energy on “Nasty.” The Weeknd ruffled some features thanks to his features on Future and Metro Boomin’s We Still Don’t Trust You album and NxWorries (Anderson .Paak & Knxwledge) announced their sophomore album Why Lawd?. Elsewhere, Ciara was announced as an opener for Missy Elliott’s Out Of This World tour experience with Busta Rhymes and Timbaland.
Here is what else the music world had to offer in the past week:
PartyNextDoor — “Lose My Mind”
We’re just weeks away from PartyNextDoor’s fourth album PartyNextDoor 4 which is setting itself up to be a top release in PND’s catalog thanks to singles like “Her Old Friends” and “Real Woman.” The OVO singer’s hot streak of releases continues with “Lose My Mind,” a seductive record that accounts for the mesmerizing ways of a woman in PND’s life and how she’s left him speechless and then some.
DRAM — DRAM&B
DRAM is back on the R&B scene with his first release since 2022’s What Had Happened Was…. His new album DRAM&B is a return to the singer’s R&B roots as it tracks his growth, in life and music, as well as his recovery from a period of turmoil. “This album was made with the intention to uplift your mood and make you dance, I hope it does just that,” DRAM said about the album.
Jordan Ward — “Player Two”
Jordan Ward’s rise to stardom has brought him opportunities to contribute his music to movies. The latest is the newly-released Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead, a remake of the 1991 film. There, Ward’s “Player Two” rings as a record dedicated to that special someone in your love who’s always by your side — aka the player two to your player one.
Tink — “Charged Up”
This year is looking to be a big one for R&B singer Tink. She’ll be hitting the road with Jhené Aiko for The Magic Hour Tour with Kiana Ledé, Umi, and Coi Leray. She will also release her Winter’s Diary 5 project and she kicked off its rollout by releasing “Charged Up.” With guitar strums as the main source of production for the first half, Tink offloads the frustrations she’s experienced in an inadequate relationship. In the song’s second half, a bass arrives to breathe life into the record as Tink moves on from the previous relationship in search of something — or someone rather — better.
Baby Rose & BadBadNotGood — Slow Burn
On their new EP Slow Burn, Baby Rose and BadBadNotGood embrace the intricacies of nature by throwing their hands into the wind and enjoying the ride. The six songs on the project, which includes just one feature from Mereba, live in the sonic blend of psych rock, country, Americana, and beyond. Slow Burn is our eclectic chemistry and the captured essence of our worlds colliding,” Rose said about the project. “This record represents venturing beyond boundaries, embracing freedom, and finding comfort.”
Jean Deaux — Nowhere, Fast
For the second year in a row, Chicago singer Jean Deaux is back with a new EP. Nowhere, Fast arrives with eight songs and a feature from Destin Conrad for a project that amounts to a coming-of-age story highlighting the relationship between time and the lessons learned. “It’s about coming to the end of your 20-somethings and feeling everything has been such a blur, from childhood to young adulthood, to now just being who I am,” Deaux said about the project.
Sekou — “Let Go Of Me Slowly”
British singer Sekou continues to prove why he was honored to be the BRIT Awards’ youngest “Rising Star” nominee. His new single “Let Go Of Me Slowly” is an elegant and engulfing release that wades into the waters of heartbreak and longing before reluctantly arriving at the moment the relationship ends. “This song was inspired by a time in my life when I was going through something, and I didn’t know how to express my feelings about it,” Sekou said about the song in a press release. “It’s freeing – and it’s supposed to be about getting things off your chest and removing that heavy weight from your shoulders that can sometimes still be there after a relationship breaks down.”
Sebastian Mikael— Paradigm Shift
A year after releasing a deluxe version of his Phileo EP, Sebastian Mikael is back with another body of work in the form of his Paradigm Shift EP. Through its three songs, Mikael continues his evolution as an artist while documenting the change he’s experienced over the years. “If you change your thoughts, you change your life,” Mikael said in relation to the project. “Paradigm Shift represents a change of perspective. Your thought-life shapes your reality, so be careful what you allow to enter your mind.”
Amanda Reifer — “In And Out (Interlude)”
For her second single of the year, “In And Out (Interlude),” Barbados-born singer Amanda Reifer documents her culture, contributions, and choices to life, music, and the world around her over the 73-second release. It follows “B*tch Like Me (Intro)” which are both a part of The Reifer Files, a series that aims to guide listeners through Reifer’s roots.
Cedric Brazle — “Fly”
After concluding 2023 with his “Life Of The Party” single, Miami singer Cedric Brazle gets the ball rolling in 2024 with his new single “Fly.” The record, inspired by 2000s R&B, features fluttering guitar strings and smooth-talking Brazle who has his eyes set on a woman he hopes is willing to fall in love with him.
Thuy — “Hair Down”
For her first single of the year, Vietnamese-American singer Thuy simply wants a moment to relax and not stress about life’s unknowns. That’s what her latest single “Hair Down” is about as it’s propelled by upbeat and lively production the freeing feeling that Thuy hopes to keep present in her life going forward.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.