As I grew up, before I gained a sense of autonomy, it seemed that I could only listen to two music genres: old-school R&B and gospel. Sometimes there were other genres sprinkled in there, such as rock and some pop music, when I wanted to get away from it all. But one thing I knew was that R&B is timeless, specifically R&B made before the year 2000. And as someone who has listened to R&B as I grew up and still to this day across many different decades and subgenres, it’s only appropriate to share some of my favorites.
It’d only be appropriate to start with the album that made me really fall in love with music, and start to actually dissect it as a genre. Beyoncé’s surprise-released self-titled album “Beyoncé”. If this were several years ago, I would put “4” on this list instead of “Beyoncé” as “4” is more of a traditional R&B album, but “Beyoncé” is here instead due to the fact that it isn’t traditional. It’s an album that breaks the rules, from its content to how it was actually released.
I like storytelling, and Beyoncé has made it clear that there is a story behind the album. Even though “Lemonade” is more of a concept album, the themes of “Beyoncé” range from topics of Black feminism, beauty standards, postnatal depression, monogamy, love, etc. But what really makes this album is the electro-R&B production. It’s darker, which complements the lyrics of a lot of the songs perfectly.
Similarly, another album that has a few of these motifs is Aaliyah’s third and final studio album, “Aaliyah.” Aaliyah’s final two albums are among the best ever made due to Timbaland’s electronic and staccato production style. And I’ll be honest, the main reason why I prefer this album over “One in a Million” is due to the fact that the song “I Care 4 U” is one of my favorite songs ever recorded.
Moving away from the self-titled albums, I can’t mention my favorite R&B albums without mentioning “The Velvet Rope” by Janet Jackson. This album is mainly about introspection, something I think that everyone should try to do at some point in their lives. “The Velvet Rope” is one of the few albums where I think there is something for everyone on it. The range across this album is massive, as there are a plethora of themes explored, such as depression, self-esteem, domestic violence, and even songs and interludes with more explicit themes.
But my favorite things about this album and Jackson as a musician are that she didn’t let the media and society derail her from making the music that she wanted. If she did, there wouldn’t be songs such as “What About,” which encompasses her experiences with domestic violence.
Another album that I can’t help but mention is actually one I listened to in full quite recently, Sade’s fourth album, “Love Deluxe.” I’ve heard the song “Kiss of Life” before growing up, yet I just never took the initiative to listen to the full album. But thankfully, I fixed that eventually, as it quickly became one of my favorite albums ever. The lush production is perfect for when you are in on a rainy day or extremely cold day, and has inadvertently become the album I listen to when I wind down in the evening due to the smooth R&B and jazz influences, having that calming effect.
The album “Songs in the Key of Life” by Stevie Wonder has a similar effect on me. It’s definitely one of the albums my mom played the most when I was growing up, considering that she mostly played R&B and gospel music, and Wonder is an artist she grew up listening to. And all things considered, I have to thank her for religiously playing his music, as he is what I consider to be one of the few musical geniuses.
“Songs in the Key of Life” is the quintessential Black nostalgia album to me, and even though it was released in 1976, none of it sounds dated. That just goes to show how far ahead of his time that Wonder was. And even though Wonder was far into his adult years while putting the album together, it still feels like a Black coming-of-age album. Specifying on the Black aspects of it, as he doesn’t shy away from the problems that have been in the community from the beginning, self-inflicted or not.
The final album that I will mention is one that I also deem as a coming-of-age staple, but that catered towards young Black girls. SZA’s “Ctrl” is an album that I honestly shouldn’t have been listening to when it first came out, considering I didn’t have the full scope of what she was talking about on a lot of the songs. But over time, I realized that this album dives heavily into insecurities, and you can apply that to any subject, not just in the context of a relationship. The song “Normal Girl” is proof of that, especially in the context of Black femininity.
As I mentioned before, R&B is a timeless genre. It’s constantly evolving, and even if I may not like everything that gets put out due to personal preferences, I always find that there is still something for me and anyone else to enjoy.
For comments/questions about this story, DM us on Instagram @thewhitatrowan or email [email protected]
