Sometimes good 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 really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the hottest R&B jams that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.

This week, Victoria Monét isn’t being shy about what she wants on her latest single “Dive” and Alina Baraz finally releases her long-awaited debut album, It Was Divine. For TDE Appreciation Week, Sir offers “Rapper Weed” with Boogie. Check out these and the rest below.

Victoria Monét — “Dive”

“Dive” is the second single from singer-songwriter Victoria Monét off her upcoming debut Jaguar, set for release this spring. The bright and cheery slow tune isn’t about taking a dip in a pool on a warm summer’s day, though. More like an invitation to go down below, where the sun doesn’t shine.

Alina Baraz — It Was Divine

Alina Baraz’s debut album It Was Divine is here. The musing project contains features from hip-hop luminary Nas as well as additional guest appearances from 6lack, Smino, and Khalid. Alina’s angelic voice encapsulates It Was Divine with love and passion.

Sir — “Rapper Weed” Feat. Boogie

As part of TDE Appreciation Week, the team delivers “Rapper Weed” by Inglewood crooner Sir with Compton’s own Boogie on for a verse as an ode to Mary Jane. Sir also handles the rich production on “Rapper Weed,” as he celebrates everything nature’s dankest gift to earth has to offer.

Zacari — “This Woman’s Work” Feat. Che Ecru

Coming off last years’ Run Wild Run, Zacari applies pressure with the elusive “This Woman’s Work” featuring Che Ecru as part of TDE Appreciation Week. Zacari navigates steamy thoughts about his favorite dancer with vocals that ascend to the highest point of explosion, Kate Bush would be proud.

Eric Bellinger — Optimal Music

After speaking to Uproxx about the state of R&B last month, Eric Bellinger‘s Optimal Music is finally here. “This is the optimal quality of the beat selection, from the music to the vocals,” he told us. The project includes guest appearances from Young Thug, Jeremih and Joe Moses, among others.

T-Pain — “Wake Up Dead” Feat. Chris Brown

T-Pain flexes his organic vocals, no preservatives (autotune) on his latest release “Wake Up Dead,” featuring Chris Brown for the layup. The sexually-charged song was first heard on T-Pain’s Verzuz Instagram live battle with Lil Jon earlier in the month with production by KC Supreme of the adept Internet Money crew.

Masego — “Veg Out (Wasting Thyme)”

Masego has given the world a taste of what’s to come for the rest of 2020 with his flirtatious jazzy-trap cut “Veg Out (Wasting Thyme).” The clever Virginia talent boasts different levels of his eclectic vocals over bass-heavy production with champion wordplay.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Since her 2019 debut Clarity, Kim Petras has positioned herself as a force to be reckoned with. Whether she’s giving a captivating performance on daytime television or telling off the Westboro Baptist Church for picketing outside one of her shows, Petras always brings her best. Since stuck in quarantine, the singer has been giving covers of some of her favorite songs. Petras’ latest cover of Paris Hilton’s debut single grabbed the celebrity’s attention and won over her support.

Accompanied by just an acoustic guitar, Petras performed a cover of Paris Hilton’s 2006 track “Stars Are Blind.” “This is one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite people, Paris Hilton,” Petras gushed before launching into the rendition. “Some people never get beyond their stupid pride / But you can see the real me inside,” Petras belted.

The cover caught the attention of Hilton herself, who showed her appreciation to Petras for the cover. “This was so beautiful it made me cry,” Hilton wrote on Twitter.

The cover arrives shortly after one of Petras’ Clarity tracks appeared in a lip-synch battle on this season of Ru Paul’s Drag Race. Fighting for their chance to stay on the show, two drag queens put on an epic show while singing along to Petras’ buoyant song “Heart To Break.”

Watch Petras cover Hilton’s ‘Stars Are Blind’ above.

Jessie Ware is ushering in a brand-new era. Back in November, the singer announced a pivot from her former catalog with the disco-inspired track “Mirage (Don’t Stop),” arriving on her upcoming record What’s Your Pleasure?. After February’s slow-burning “Spotlight,” Ware is back again for another preview of her album with the dance-ready track “Ooh La La.”

The euphoric track opens with a funky bassline and crashing percussion. Ware’s fun-loving vocals narrate carefree imagery of young love. “Driving fast, driving fast, technicolour street lights / Cigarettes on the dash, we can have a sweet time,” Ware sings.

In a statement about her upcoming album, Ware says she feels excited to reveal a different side of herself to the world through her music: “It feels so amazing to be back making music, so much has happened recently. Some crazy exciting things but I feel so happy to be back to my first love. Music was the first scene that truly embraced me! I feel like these last few years I’ve had to do some exploration to figure out what I wanted to write about musically again and learn new things about myself. I’ve been yearning for that escapism, groove and maybe it’s time to say goodbye to the melancholy Jessie.”

Listen to “Ooh La La” above.

What’s Your Pleasure? is out 6/19 via Virgin/Universal. Pre-order it here.

Okay, it’s come down to this. After weeks in home confinement, you’ve polished off your collection of rare whiskeys, aged rums, smoky mezcals, and you’ve even burnt through those random, dusty bottles of Italian bitter liqueur. Suddenly you find yourself staring at a spirit that you’ve never once attempted to drink straight. That’s right, all you have left is vodka.

“Vodka isn’t most people’s first choice to drink straight,” says Jake Larowe, bar manager at Birds and Bees in Los Angeles. “But there are some vodkas that have enough flavor and texture to make it an enjoyable experience.”

See how thrilled he sounds? Since we’d rather you didn’t pour yourself a glass of vodka that tastes like it was designed to power your lawnmower, we decided to ask some of our favorite bartenders to tell us the bottles of vodka they actually enjoy drinking straight. Hopefully, you have one of these on hand — if not, you can always order them. But if you’re doing that, might as well grab some mixers, too.

Tito’s

Cody Dillon, general manager at Florblanca in Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica

Although I don’t drink vodka frequently, many of our clients do. A favorite among our clients is Tito’s. It’s smooth, sweet, and highly drinkable. We like to infuse this with cucumber and mint.

Purity Vodka

Courtney Everett, bartender at O-Ku Sushi in Atlanta

Purity Vodka is my pick for a vodka to drink without a mixer. It is crisp and clean and lighter-bodied, so it’s easy to drink straight or in a martini.

Crystal Head

Cody Goldstein, founder of Muddling Memories in New York City

Let’s “face” it, Crystal Head just looks cool. Did you know it also tastes delicious and is a premium vodka? Want to know why it is so easy to drink? Probably something to do with the water that’s been distilled from Canada and then filtered seven times to give it that distinct smoothness. If that weren’t enough to convince you, it also gets filtered through layers of semi-precious crystals, aka diamonds.

Unlike some other vodkas, Crystal Head contains no additives, sugars, glycerol or other enhancements. Why should you care? All of those things lead to potential hangovers which means you can sip this vodka and know you should be in good spirits afterward.

Grey Goose

Kevin Moran, general manager at Seagar’s Prime Steaks & Seafood in South Walton, Florida

Grey Goose is certainly one of the most popular vodkas, but I feel it is also the best because it is one of the cleanest vodkas in terms of its flavor profile. Grey Goose is served best extra chilled with just a lemon twist or enjoyed “down and dirty” with a good dose of olive juice and garnished with our signature two blue cheese stuffed olives. Enjoying vodka “straight” is not such a thing in the spirits world. It’s often what you do to it that can make it really special.

Zubrowka

Josh Saphier, bartender at Eighteen36 in Houston

My favorite vodka is one not often found. I like Zubrowka. A Polish bison grass flavored vodka. Vodka is defined as flavorless, odorless, and colorless. This particular vodka has a single blade of bison grass in the bottle. Leaving subtle notes of citrus, cut grass, vanilla, and coconut.

Belvedere Black

Josh Streetman, bartender at Motor Supply Co. in Columbia, South Carolina

Here cleaner is better, but I like a little bite on the finish, so a rye base works well for me. Belvedere Black. Smooth, slightly spicy, and perfectly suited for sipping neat.

Steel Tie Vodka

Bryan Long, assistant director of food & beverages at Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Palm Beach, Florida

The best vodka would be Steel Tie Vodka. The best thing about this vodka is it’s distilled in our back yard using American grains and only distilling twice which allows you to taste the natural flavors.

Wodka

Nate Simmons, bartender at Garden & Grain in Pensacola, Florida

Wodka Vodka is a Polish vodka using Polish Rye and charcoal filtered. Clean and bright. Perfect with a cube of ice.

St. Roch Vodka

Mazzarie Parker, Bar Manager of Maypop Restaurant in New Orleans

I am not one to drink vodka straight. I much prefer gin in my martinis. If I am going to drink vodka it doesn’t need to be expensive to please. As long as it is smooth and chilled. Seven Threes Distillery Co. is a local distillery in New Orleans that did a great job with their five-times distilled St. Roch Vodka. St. Roch is a New Orleans neighborhood named for the Patron Saint of Good Health. Just as New Orleanians did in the late 1800’s when Yellow Fever hit the city, we should say a prayer to St. Roch as we sip our martinis in isolation.

Stolichnaya Elite

Zsolt Ducsai, food and beverage director at Serafina Beach Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Stolichnaya Elite. This Russian vodka was created from pure grain and very fine artesian water. They use special filtering through charcoal. And, as the Russian people say, it must be chilled. The best way is storing it in -18 degrees Celsius.

Beluga Transatlantic

Jake Larowe, bar manager at Birds and Bees in Los Angeles

My favorite brand that I would be happy to drink straight is Beluga. Specifically, their Transatlantic. It is subtle while still having flavor and a smooth viscous mouthfeel.

Carbonadi

Piero Procida, bartender at The London West Hollywood in Los Angeles

Carbonadi Italian Vodka. Yes, I said it, the Italians have surpassed the Russians here. Do not even think about mixing this is a drink with anything else. First of all, it’s expensive, but for a reason…to enjoy by itself. It’s pure heaven and you certainly do not want to alter any flavors here. Made from wheat and distilled five times using an ultra-rare filtration process that use Carbonados or “Black Diamonds,” which are incredibly absorbent and extract many impurities other processes cannot manage, making this a silky smooth and ultra-clean vodka. I think this vodka is probably the best out there right now.

Bolden

Alan Walter, spirit handler at Bar Loa in New Orleans

Bolden is my go-to sipping vodka. This vodka is distilled in New Orleans – European style. It is really the opposite of extreme filtering.

If you wondered why “Air Force 1,” “ASAP Rocky,” or “Nelly” spent the whole day trending on Twitter yesterday, the answer is simple. The same thing happened that seems to always happen: Someone unearthed an old, out-of-context quote, put it on the timeline, and sparked a controversy that caused nearly everyone with a working internet connection to weigh in on the debate. However, in this case, one voice was conspicuously absent — the person all the controversy was about.

However, The Breakfast Club — bless them — was already on the case, securing an interview with Nelly, the man of the hour, to finally settle the debate about who made Nike’s Air Force 1s more popular: Him or ASAP Rocky. He doesn’t hesitate to take credit for himself, although he does have one caveat. “At the end of the day, we have to look at the definition of famous,” he explains.

“Don’t get it twisted, we weren’t the first to start rocking Air Force 1s, we wasn’t the first ones that discovered Air Force 1s. But when you say ‘made em famous’ you gotta understand that Air Force 1s were more of a New York east coast thing. We didn’t rock Air Force 1s in the south or the midwest, they wasn’t rocking them on the west coast. Until we did what we did, Air Force 1s went from 59.99 to a hundred dollars in a year. The same year after we made our song, shot our video, and had our tour. I don’t know what A$AP is on, or whatever he’s talking about, but if he’s in any doubt all he gotta do is ask Nike. They sponsored our whole tour that year. We had a whole Air Force 1 that flew from the back of the stadium to the front of the stage during every show.”

When the hosts push back, saying that Rocky probably just meant he made them cool again — after all, about 10 years had passed between Nelly’s “Air Force Ones” single and Rocky’s rise to stardom — Nelly can’t see it. “He brought it back for the kids?” he challenges incredulously. “I don’t know, the price never changed my dude! We took em from $59.00 to $100.00! They never came back down my dude!”

At the end of the day, though, Nelly says, “I’m not doubting what A$AP feels, shout out to A$AP, to all them young bruthas, I fuck with all of them young bruthas.” However, he is adamant that credit is given where he feels it’s due. “We said who made them famous,” he reminds the hosts. “How we not make em’ famous, my dude?”

Watch Nelly’s interview with The Breakfast Club above.

In case you’ve been spending more time than usual in your fallout shelter, you may have missed one of ESPN’s most highly-anticipated television event in some time. We’re talking, of course, about the 10-part Michael Jordan documentary that premiered last Sunday, The Last Dance.

It follows the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls during their final championship run, and over the first two hours, we’ve learned so much about the team and the character involved that it’s difficult to keep track of all the moving parts. For instance, there’s already been a whole cycle in which we’ve worried about Scottie Pippen’s financial viability, learned that he’s doing just fine, then wondered again whether he might’ve been something of a villain.

It also gave us a chance to wonder aloud about Steve Kerr, a central figure of that second three-peat, who had one of the most notorious encounters with His Airness. But not only has Kerr not held a grudge toward MJ for punching him in the face one time in practice, he believes that exchange actually strengthened their relationship in the long run.

“I feel like I passed the test and he trusted me more afterwards.”@SteveKerr discusses how a practice altercation with MJ helped grow their relationship on #NBATogether pic.twitter.com/yUwghEt513

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 23, 2020

We’re not sure what type of test requires being okay with getting punched in the face, so we’ll just have to take Steve’s word on this one. He seems to be okay with it, and the results speak for themselves. Anyway, Sunday can’t get here fast enough as we eagerly await what we’ll learn next about one of the most iconic sports teams of all-time.

Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit are just about ready to unveil their upcoming record Reunions. The album’s release is just around the corner, but the group is keeping fans at bay by sharing a handful of singles. Following the most recent track “Only Children,” the group has shared the nostalgic track “Dreamsicle.”

Opening with intricate guitar picking, “Dreamsicle” arrives as both a triumphant and nostalgic effort. With his textured vocals, Isbell narrates the story of a boy coming-of-age and having a difficult time realizing he has to leave the town he grew up in. “Broken glass and broken vows / I’ll be 18 four years from now / With different friends in a different town / I’ll finally be free,” he sings. The story reflects Isbell’s journey, who left home at just 14 to join his first touring band.

Just ahead of the “Dreamsicle” release, Isbell announced that they are offering a way for fans to get ahold of Reunions early while also supporting local businesses. The band is releasing physical copies of the album to independent record stores across the country a week ahead of its scheduled release. This way, fans will be able to get their hands on the vinyl while keeping their favorite local record stores in business.

Listen to “Dreamsicle” above.

Reunions is out 5/15 via Southeastern Records. Pre-order it here

The Kansas City Chiefs, by nature of winning the Super Bowl, had the final pick in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. The Chiefs don’t have a ton of glaring holes, but one spot where they could have used a little help was running back. As such, they opted to draft former LSU ace Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

While Edwards-Helaire was not as high on the big boards of many prognosticators as guys like J.K. Dobbins, D’Andre Swift, and Jonathan Taylor, his ability as a pass catcher and as someone who can make defenders miss should be stunning in Kansas City’s relentless offense. It is a perfect mix of team and player, and as an added bonus, the move is popular in the eyes of the Chiefs’ franchise player.

According to Kansas City coach Andy Reid, the team phoned starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes and asked who he wanted with the pick. Mahomes responded with Edwards-Helaire, and soon after, the pick was made.

With how much firepower the Chiefs’ offense already possesses, giving them a player like Edwards-Helaire is almost unfair. Comparisons are oftentimes made between himself and guys like Brian Westbrook or Darren Sproles, while his performance in LSU’s win over Alabama last season showed that he’s capable of doing a little bit of everything. It makes a whole lot of sense that Mahomes would want him a player like him, and now, Edwards-Helaire is headed to the champs.

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A lot of artists are taking to platforms like Instagram Live and YouTube to put on livestream concerts for their fans, but other artists are approaching livestreaming in different ways. For example, Lizzo and SZA recently decided to team up to host a meditation session.

Lizzo guested on SZA’s live broadcast, and once the two got settled, SZA tried her hand at playing a Tibetan singing bowl, and of course, Lizzo brought out her trusty woodwind to complete the fully zen atmosphere. When the pair wasn’t setting the mood, they also chatted about how their lives have been during the pandemic.

This wasn’t Lizzo’s first rodeo with meditations: She hosted one by herself in March, for which she also had her instrument on hand, as well as crystals and incense.

Musicians are all about relaxation these days. Earlier this week, Diddy and Nick Jonas teamed up with Audible to release some stress-reducing program: Diddy offers a guided meditation, while the Jonas Brother helps you drift off to sleep by reading a bedtime story.

Let Lizzo and SZA guide you through a meditation in the video above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.