Top 10 Best R&B Singers To Stream Right Now
1. Doja Cat
Doja Cat is enjoying her best week ever yet on the Hot 100. She’s got multiple charting hits and has stayed relevant throughout the pandemic with a mix of fun features and innovative performances. Fans of the artist were hoping her new album Planet Her would debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, but nonetheless, it debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
On one of her latest singles “You Right“, Doja and The Weeknd sing a steamy duet about their fantasies for one another, feeling mutually tempted out of their loyalties toward their respective partners.
Doja Cat, The Weeknd – You Right
2. Kehlani
Kehlani released her second studio studio album, It Was Good Until It Wasn’t on May 8, 2020. It debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200. She has already began work on her third album, titled Bluewater Road. This year she collaborated with rapper and singer T-Pain to release “I Like Dat”, his first solo single of 2021.
“I Like Dat” sees the duo interpolate and re-adjust the melody of T-Pain’s own 2007 “Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin’),” as the self-proclaimed “rapper turned singer” praises the qualities of his ideal woman, while Kehlani celebrates her femininity and her independence. Yes, its crazy to think that there are kids watching this song right now not knowing T-Pain sampled his own classic.
3. Kiana Ledé
Her highly anticipated 17-track debut album, titled Kiki was released on April 3, 2020, which debuted at number 30 on the Billboard 200. The album features guest appearances from R&B stars Ari Lennox, 6LACK and more. The lead single “Mad at Me” interpolates Outkast’s 2000 hit song “So Fresh, So Clean”.
Now in 2021, the R&B singer has dropped “Ur Best Friend” her first collaborative single of the year with none other than Kehlani. The music video of their track directed by the Grammy Award-winning artist herself and produced by Honey Shot Productions.
Kiana Ledé – Ur Best Friend (feat. Kehlani)
4. Normani
In July 2021, Normani released the lead single from her upcoming untitled debut solo album, “Wild Side”, featuring Cardi B. This comes after two years since 2019’s “Motivation” single. In August 2020, she made a cameo in Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s music video for “WAP”, alongside Kylie Jenner and Rosalía.
“Wild Side” is expected to be the lead single from her upcoming debut studio album. It debuted at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 4 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. According to Pitchfork, its an “Aaliyah-esque R&B track that swaps her earlier exuberance for slow-burning desire.”
Normani – Wild Side ft. Cardi B
5. H.E.R.
In 2021, H.E.R. was awarded the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for “I Can’t Breathe”, and the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Fight for You” from the film Judas and the Black Messiah (2021). Her debut full-length album Back of My Mind was released in June 2021.
It includes “Paradise” ft. Yung Bleu, which serves as the 13th track on the album with 22 songs.
H.E.R. – Paradise ft. Yung Bleu
6. Tinashe
Tinashe independently released her fourth studio album, Songs for You in November 2019. On November 25, 2020, she released a Christmas EP titled Comfort & Joy. In 2021, Tinashe posted a cryptic teaser for her upcoming fifth studio album on her social. Later, she announced the release date of 333 as August 8, 2021 and released a new song “I Can See The Future”.
In July 9 2021, she released “Bouncin” a breezy track about her stepping out and having a good time. The choreography-heavy video takes the song’s title quite literally. The singer and her troupe of six dancers get things bouncing and moving throughout the three-minute clip. She sings about sweating out her edges in the club and sending dirty pics, ascending into an airy falsetto while vocoder-bots answer her back.
7. SZA
In 2021, SZA’s single “Good Days” became popular on streaming platforms and became her first solo top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. She was also was featured on Doja Cat’s single “Kiss Me More“.
She also teamed up with SAINt JHN for a new track, “Just For Me,” off the upcoming soundtrack for Space Jam: A New Legacy. The smooth-talking love song follows the soundtrack’s first single “We Win” from Kirk Franklin and Lil Baby. The downtempo track finds both artists yearning for a distant love and choosing their favorite vices instead.
In “Good Days”, a dreaming SZA envisions she is a magic mushroom growing in the forest, dancing among the other fungi and spraying spores; that footage is juxtaposed with SZA pole-dancing in a library stacked high with books.
8. Amaal
Amaal is a Somali-Canadian singer from Toronto who crafts soulful R&B tunes. But her soft touch with her fans belies the tough work ethic of a daughter of immigrants, an ethic she says she still applies to everything she does. She is, admittedly, kind of an ideal “Toronto” story: a former refugee of Somali-Muslim extraction defies the deeply embedded socio-cultural codes against women making music in her home country by flirting with mainstream R&B success at the international level.
Her early singles by Amaal include “With You”, “Mufasa” and “Words Revealed”. The latter alone achieved over 200,000 YouTube hits within its first four months of release. Now she’s released her top-charting single “Honey“. She dives head first into her alter ego: a more unapologetic version of herself that champions the power of women, from their intimacy to autonomy, without any ounce of shame. The subtle transformation allowing the singer to shed her inhibitions and embrace her own sexual liberation in the dark, moody video.
9. Destiny Rogers
On February 28, 2019, Rogers released her debut single “Tomboy,”. Lyrically, the song is about “defying expectations”; Rogers accepts herself as a tomboy, as she doesn’t wear makeup, has baggy clothes, and is into skateboarding.
But this is quite the opposite to her latest single “What I Like“. It was produced by multi-Grammy Award winning and Producer of the Year nominated producers/songwriters The Stereotypes (Bruno Mars, Cardi B., Justin Bieber) who also co-wrote the song with Destiny.
10. Queen Naija
On October 30, 2020 Queen Naija released her debut album, Missunderstood. The album is 18 tracks long and features artists such as Jacquees, Toosii, Mulatto, Pretty Vee, Russ, Lucky Daye, Kiana Ledé, and more. The deluxe edition of the album titled “Missunderstood…Still” featuring J.I the Prince of N.Y & Ari Lennox was released on April 16, 2021.
One of her singles on the album “Lie To Me” featuring Lil Durk sees the artist take her vocal prowess to the next level.
Queen Naija – Lie To Me Feat. Lil Durk
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