Over recent years, R&B artists have steered away from only releasing music on certain days of the week. Since there’s always something new coming out, we know it’s sometimes difficult to stay updated on all things R&B — even on your days off.
Although we’re always here to give you day-by-day updates, we figured giving you a recap of some of the best R&B tracks and moments from weekend’s past (and sometimes a little before) at the top of each week is a great way for you to hear all the good stuff in one place. And with some of the top R&B artists releasing new songs, doing interviews and tv performances, announcing plans for upcoming albums and tours, 2020 is really off to an amazing start for our beloved genre.
So, if you happened to miss out on what’s been going down on the R&B front, here’s a short list of what you may have missed.
Donald Glover surprises fans with an album.
.@ArianaGrande appears to feature on @DonaldGlover’s new album that was live-streamed today.
— Pop Crave (@PopCraveMusic) March 15, 2020
On Sunday, Donald Glover released a surprise album via his website (Donald Glover Presents). Although the site contains no information about the album, listeners got to listen to some new tunes from the singer. The 12-track album features 21 Savage, Ariana Grande, and SZA. It also includes some old tunes like “Feels Like Summer,” “Warlord” and “Algorythm.” Sadly, the album has been deleted from the website, but screen recorded clips have been in circulation on social media.
Smino drops “Tempo” on SoundCloud and YouTube.
St. Louis wordsmith, Smino shows how effortless it is for him to create a rhythm. There’s arguably no doubt that Smino makes music, but this time he’s amazed by his own creation and invites fans to have a listen. He hops on VZN’s eerie trap beat and lyrically hits a dunk. In the song, he’s aware of his rhythmic prowess and makes it known as he sings “Damn, I caught my tempo.” The track was released on SoundCloud and YouTube over the weekend. Smino is reportedly set to release his third studio album later this year. In a tweet, he hinted that the track will have 14 songs.
Lion Babe release the music video for “Different Planet.”
American R&B duo Lion Babe have released the video for “Different Planet”—a song off their critically acclaimed album, “Cosmic Wind.” The colorful video features the artists in a self-created planet. Viewers can experience elements like the sun, moon, ocean, earth and how Jillian Hervey and Lucas Goodman used them in bringing the groovy tune to life.
Ayelle sings about loneliness on “Effort.”
Swedish-Iranian singer, Ayelle recently released a song about staying in a relationship with someone who’s addicted to social media. In the song, she plays the role of a patient partner who only wants some “Effort” in return. Her unique voice sways from clear to smoky as she flaunts her vocal dexterity and creates an entertaining tune. Effort comes ahead of her upcoming mixtape, NOMAD which will be released on May 15.
