Contemporary R&B

R&B Songs

The 8 Best R&B Songs of All Time

R&B is an evergreen part of music genres that comes from mixing hip hop with the blues. Every year we get to listen to some brand new inventions in R&B. However, there are a few classics that never get old. No Diggity, Blackstreet This classic from 1996 is still a jam that people will not […]

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The 8 Best R&B Songs of All Time

R&B is an evergreen part of music genres that comes from mixing hip hop with the blues. Every year we get to listen to some brand new inventions in R&B. However, there are a few classics that never get old.

No Diggity, Blackstreet

This classic from 1996 is still a jam that people will not mind playing inside a bar or a restaurant. Featuring Dr Dre and Queen Pen, this track from Blackstreet is something your ears need today to feel good.

Jacquees and Future

What They Gone Do With Me, Jacquees and Future

Future and Jacquees have really treated us with a new yet classic R&B. A combination of autotuned yet emotional rawness by Future and dramatic singing prowess by Jacquees is what we least expected from any new R&B song.

Fantasy. Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey may have been in the limelight recently for all the things wrong with her voice or for being the queen of Christmas, but when it comes to songwriting, she is still underrated. This 90’s song is an example of her creative side, while sampling Genius of Love by Tom Tom Clubs is a boss move in itself.

Montell Jordan

This is How We Do It, Montell Jordan

Montell Jordan knew how to bring out his people, and he used that in his debut single This is How We Do It. This song crossed the billboard charts to become the top debut single in 1995. Even if you listen to it now, you will know why.

Freak Like Me, Adina Howard

This debut single by Adina Howard became popular for its slow groovy beats and gospel-style chorus. This song was so good that Adina could now top it up in the means of seduction and lyricism. Even Adina herself failed to get better than Freak Like Me, but she tried doing it with Buttnaked and Sexual Needs.

What’s My Name? Rihanna

After the success of Umbrella, Rihanna was already on top of people’s playlist. And then she dropped What’s My Name and people knew that there is nothing else they would be singing than the catchy ‘oh na na’ in that song. Rihanna is the badass singer who anyone would like to listen to when they are in a mood for some R&B.

Climax, Usher

Usher has his own collection of R&B, but one song that definitely deserves a place in this is Climax. This song from Usher proved that R&B is always open for experimentation. ‘Climax’ is one song that had a lot of experimentation fro string arrangement from Nico Muhly, a falsetto, and a thick stream of high-pitch emoting.

Climax, Usher

Bump n Grind, R Kelly

Bump n Grind is one track that likes to keep it simple while grooving to some classic blues. The heart-piercing synth and R Kelly’s unapologetic lyrics made this track from his debut solo 12 Play something you can still listen to without getting bored.

Musical Industry

How the Incredible Weeknd Reforms the Musical Industry?

A sensational artist, famous among the Millenials, Abel Tesfaye, The Weeknd, is redefining the music industry. His rare original and eccentric style has attracted many fans around the globe. This 27-year-old singer has won several awards. He is also a reason why Spotify and Billboard get jammed! The single of his third album named Starboy has achieved a crazy fan media all around the world. The song was also known to be the most released weekend streams. The Canadian born artist with his vocal style has started to attract his tribe. He is known for his individuality and daring song lyrics. The artist also uses a variety of techniques to transport you the exact meaning of the verses he simply put in. This is precisely the reason why Starboy became a true spirit among the Millenials. In the following paragraphs, we will see why the music industry must embrace The Weeknd to change the facet of the music industry.

Intense lyrics

One of the specialities of the artist’s songs is the way he writes and composes the lyrics. These lyrics are profound and intense that it can easily reach the core of you, giving the exact meaning he wants you to know. Not only is that his choice of lyrics is very easy to grasp that he can easily make you understand the complicated subject matter within no time. From the time he began his music, he always used heavy metaphors and meaning, which hid behind the lyrics. He plays with his choice of words making is unique in every manner.

Intense lyrics

Fluidity

The fluidity in his voice! Yes, the Weeknd is known for his fantastic voice. We cannot restrict him to any particular music genre. He can easily cope up with the voice of other famous singers like Ariana Grande. Due to his fantastic fluidity in the vocals, he was also nominated for the Oscar for the single lead for the movie soundtrack, Fifty Shades of Grey.

Tribute to the classic singers

Often his voice is compared to that of Michael Jackson. He got also influenced by David Bowie and Prince when he was preparing for Starboy. The artist incorporates various classic musicians who influenced his music career.

Ethiopian love

The Weeknd is a man who loves his culture. In various occasions, he has stated that Ethiopian culture has greatly influenced and impacted his sound. He often listens to the great artists and musicians emerging from the country. He is also a person like mentioned before, who keeps his culture close to his heart and has also donated $50,000 to the University of Toronto to begin teaching the Ethiopian Studies Program.

Vulnerability

He changes the social constriction of defining masculinity in his voice and songs. His songs are standard, and nothing in the entire album feels like attracting, gimmicky, and also contrived. He gives more attention to the lyrics where he finds room for the loneliness and insecurity, which can be portrayed to the society.

Alicia Keys

A Peep into the Life of Alicia Keys

Titled as several Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter, born in 1981, the gifted musician, Alicia Keys is a profound artist in the music industry. Her debut song is named as ‘Songs in A Minor’, which crossed the platinum five times all over. Other significant songs include The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003), As I Am (2007) and Girl on Fire (2009). All these fantastic songs also won Grammys.

Early Years

Born in Augello Cook on January 25, 1981, in New York, New York, Keys found a particular interest in music while growing up. She was raised by her mother named Nikki Augello, who was an art time actress. Only at the age of 7, she started taking piano lessons. Later, she joined the prestigious Professional Performance Arts School, Manhattan. Due to her excellence in music and as an artist, she graduated early at the age of 16. From there she started joining various recording institutions and companies like Arista Records in 1998, and from there, her journey began to become a full-time musician.

Albums

Keys is famous for all the work she has done. The most discussed is the ‘Songs in A Minor” which was published in the year 2001. Humans praised it all over the world. The album was famous for its musical polish and lyric maturity. The debuted album also holds a lot of awards like Song of the Year, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best New Artist. Other than this, Keys is also famous for a different set of songs and an album like ‘The Element of Freedom,’ which was launched in the year 2009. Also, ‘Girl on Fire’ was launched in the year 2012. In 2016, she launched another album named ‘Here’.

Alicia Keys

Television and Movie

She also appeared in the movies and televisions from the young age itself. It was in 1985; Keys appeared in The Cosby Show. Later the year she also appeared in various other shows like Charmed, American Dreams and The Backyardigans. She moved to the big screen in the year 2006 and debuted in one of the action film named as Smokin’ Aces. She also has a history of acting in The Nanny Diaries (2007) and The Secret Life of Bees (2008). Apart from that, she also appeared in the Empire in the year 2015. As a Grammy award winner herself, she has also hosted the Grammy award function in the year 2019.

Personal Record

It was in the year 2010; she married Swizz Beatz. He was a hip-hop star and a producer himself. Later the year in October 2010, Egypt Daoud Dean, their first son was born and on December 2014, their second son named Genesis Ali Dean was welcomed to earth. Lately this year, in March she launched a memoir titled More Myself: A Journey.

John Legend

All-time Legendary tracks by Grammy Award Winner John Legend

“Cause all of me love all of you, love your curves and all your edges, all your perfect imperfections…” The legendary icon, the sensational spirit if a person of all ages, John Roger Stephens, also known as John Legend, is a person having a lot of mesmerizing talent. Those who don’t know him, he is an American singer, songwriter, actor, philanthropist, and the list goes on and on. Having 18 years of music experience, this artist, John Legend, rose to fame to achieve ten times Grammys. People love him for his soothing music, his simple lifestyle and also for his beautiful voice. The following subsections will talk about some of the greatest hits of John Legend.

‘All of Me’

Yes, the opening line of introduction about the legendary artist is from the track All of Me! Dedicated to his beautiful wife, Chrissy Teigen, is a love song. Even though his 2013 debut album named Love in the Future is known for its highest ranking on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2014, All of Me became a piece of dramatic music and rose over 12.3 million units and titled the third best selling songs ever!

Chrissy Teigen

‘Start a Fire’

Have you seen the Oscar-winning musical film, La La Land? Well, if the answer is yes, then you must have heard this beautiful song! John Legend co-wrote and performed Start a fire for the movie La La Land in the year 2016. It not only won the 6 Oscars but also gained success in the 74th Golden Awards in the year 2017 as well.

‘Hallelujah’

This song is the first duet between Grammy Award winners Carrie Underwood and John Legend. Hallelujah appears on Carries’s first and only Christmas album “My Gift”. Carrie Underwood is a well-known American country music performer who also often engages in performances at the Grand Ole Opry.

‘Beauty and the Beast’

Ariana Grande and John Legend covered the Titanic’s all-time favorite Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson’s title track for the exotic and legendary live-action Beauty and the Beast! Hermione Granger, Emma Watson, and these artists came together, making the movie beautiful than ever. It was observed that the song video crossed over 174 million views on YouTube.

Celine Dion

‘Ordinary People’

‘Ordinary People’ is from the artist’s debut album named Get Lifted which was published in the year 2004. this track was known to be the top 40 hits! It attained a position of no 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well. Not only that, but the debut ‘Ordinary People’ track was also the ever first track by John Legend to win a Grammy at the 48th Grammy Award function in the year 2006.

‘Like I’m Gonna Lose You’

This track where John Legend’s vocals mesmerized his fan ranked a no eight on the Billboard Hot 100. Meghan Trainor featured the song, and the song was also RIAA certified. ‘Like I’m Gonna Lose You’ is only one of the much collaboration with amazing artists like David Guetta, Black Eyed Peas, and of course Alicia Keys!

Boyz II Men

Top 4 Greatest Hits by “Boyz II Men” One Must Never Forget to Listen!

Boyz II Men is a band all the way from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The actual pronunciation of the band name is boys to men. They are very famous for their emotional ballads and Cappella harmonies. Their debut album was named as CooleyhigHarmony was released in the year 1991. It was a crazy success story for the band. The members of the crew comprised of Nathan Morris, Shawn Stockman, Wanya Morris, and Michael McCary. In 2003, Michael McCary left the band due to medical issues. From the beginning to date, the band has sold over 64 million of awesome albums. Apart from being a sensational icon to the globe, they have achieved plenty of honors and awards from three Grammys, six American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, ten Soul Train Music Awards, and last but not least three NAACP Image Awards. The below given are some of the greatest hits in history by Boyz II Men.

Boyz II Men

“Water Runs Dry”

The band, Boyz II Men, composed Water Runs Dry n the year 1994. The famous Babyface produced it. The song-like any other hits by the band is renowned for its certified gold track. They also achieved great heights in ranking second position on Billboard Hot 100 as well as a fourth place on the R&B chart.

“It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday”

This track is considered as the second-best single by Boyz II Men. It is known as an envelope of G.C Cameron’ Cooley High movie which was produced in the year 1975. The film with “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday,” track was initially released in the year 1991. Just like bagging a lot of trophies, this track also gained the first rank Billboard R&B chart along with the Second rank on the Hot 100.

Goodbye to Yesterday

“In the Still of the Nite (I’ll Remember)”

The crew, Boyz II Men recorded a cappella based on the classic, “In The Still of The Nite” by The Five Satins. It was published in the year 1956 for the TV miniseries named The Jacksons: An American Dream. The track attained the third rank on the Billboard Hot 100 along with the fourth rank on the R&B chart.

“A Song for Mama”

Composed and produced by Babyface, Boyz II Men recorded “A Song for Mama” for a movie named Soul Food in the ear 1997. The actress was named as Vanessa L.Williams. Babyface not only produced and composed but produced the film with his wife as well. This particular track not only gained the top section on the Billboard R&B chart but achieved the most fabulous Grammy Award nomination as well.

Conclusion

There are plenty of reasons why the audience embraced the band into their heart. One of the many reasons is apart from being the best in the industry; they had a philanthropic side of life too. This distinguished group was also great for their Boyz II Men House charity. Here, they rose and funded money to increase and improve the lives of poor people.