Great R&B Albums/EPs That You Might’ve Missed in 2022
Here are the R&B albums from 2022 we believe deserve more love.
We are music fans, and we value our rare finds. Now is the time of year to unveil your shining achievements to the public.
The ten great projects we think got lost in the shuffle in 2022 are listed below. Have fun with the collection and listen to music you may have missed.
These albums are well worth your time, we assure you.
Maverick Sabre — Don’t Forget to Look Up
Maverick Sabre's fourth studio album is Don't Forget to Look Up. The 31-year-old's love of the soul is the backbone, while gorgeous harmonies are the album’s skeleton. The album's tracks are beyond unique, compared to one another musically, and give listeners an entire emotional spectrum from Maverick Sabre. As the album progresses, we hear a good mixture of colder and warmer sounds, transitioning from one to another. However, the heart of the soul genre lies in these tracks, and most of the difference lies in their moods. The aforementioned uplifting feel of the album is not detracted from whatsoever. — Ameenah Laquita
Samm Henshaw — Untidy Soul
Samm Henshaw came to the scene in 2018 with several EP singles. He aspires to be a future soul talent and proves the extent of his abilities on his debut album, Untidy Soul. This project is rich in flavor, addressing almost every facet of the soul. You are transported to various sound landscapes with each song, from the traditional ballad to the funky, jazzy, and bluesy. Henshaw's love of music goes beyond simply enjoying tunes, and it’s also a way for him to express his personality — which is messy. The stages we go through in life affect us and help us evolve, which is indirectly shown by Untidy Soul being driven by the impulses and emotions of its author. — Philemon Hayes
A. Billi Free & The Lasso — Holy Body Roll
Holy Body Roll is a rhythmic healing manual, the music that will get your whole body moving. The first collaboration album of Michigan multi-instrumentalist/producer The Lasso and New Mexico singer/rapper A. Billi Free is also a quest for self-realization and self-preservation. Tri Magi assists The Lasso in imbuing '80s boogie, guitar-wailing funk borrowed from Midwest titans, heart-pumping dance and techno straight from Detroit, heavenly and spiritual jazz, and krautrock slices with Hip-Hop sensibilities. A. Billi Free's warm, calming melodies and real raps challenges us to reconnect with our bodies in the present moment while embracing the unknown. However, The Lasso was still going through a divorce when the team started working remotely on the album. Understanding Free's aural visions helped him translate his unhappiness into danceable, joyous instrumentals. — Brandon O’Sullivan
Siergio — Before It’s Too Late
R&B is flourishing. And if you still need persuading, you can download the latest album by Siergio. Before It's Too Late has entered the debate surrounding "Male R&B" and is undoubtedly one of the R&B Albums of the Year. R&B accompanies moments of nostalgia from the 1990s and early 2000s. Siergio has researched and implemented the necessary aspects to develop this project in a manner that deserves a place at the table. Before It's Too Late is a worthy contender for the top slots. Take note anytime an album can bring you back to that old R&B vibe that many have felt is lacking. When the project is unified, it is easier to choose standouts since any option might be a standout, and preferences can change often. — Jamila Wamuiru
Mahalia — Letter to Ur Ex - EP
Mahalia is gifted with a smooth voice and an ear for groovy production. Her latest EP, Letter to Ur Ex, builds on her strengths while challenging her to explore the unfamiliar musical territory. The album's title track is a passive-aggressive groove, with the song's seeming smoothness belying the lyrical viciousness. Mahalia revisits this theme in the EP's hushed closer, Letter to Ur N(ex)t, a song that deftly juggles empathy with pretension. — LeMarcus Dontrell
The Della Kit — Moonbeams & Frequencies
Born Erica Dee Landsberg, she began her career in music at the young age of 16. Erica grew up in an ethnically diverse family of Jewish and Italian artists. She realized her destiny was in nature and music after considerable thinking. Citing notable performers as important influences — Joni Mitchell, Ella Fitzgerald, and India Arie — The Della Kit's lyrical contents are essential and lively with evocative storylines of self-love and healing. Erica drew the attention of ArtHaus in 2021 with her intriguing voice tones. Erica delves into her soulful side on her Moonbeams & Frequencies project to present slinky stories of love, desire, and laugh-filled joy. Over ten tracks of groovy Neo-Soul that any India Arie fan would recognize that she exhibits powerful sentiments of strength and maintaining your ground, such as 10.5 and Clarity. Check out this great new act! — Harry Percy Brown
Stimulator Jones — Round Spiritual Ring
Compared to his first album, Exotic Worlds and Masterful Treasures, Stimulator Jones’s songs on Round Spiritual Ring reveal a more sensitive and intimate side as they touch on his battles with depression and chronic pain. Sam Lunsford's third album for Stones Throw is titled after the blunder he made as a kid when he heard the chorus of Raspberry Beret by Prince and the Revolution. Stimulator, an eternal optimist, believes that love and connection are the powers that will eventually rescue humankind, and this is the album's overall theme. Round Spiritual Ring is the next full-length from a studio wizard with a natural ability to recreate R&B from pre-house to hip-hop soul, so it won't surprise anyone familiar with the native Virginian's prior work that its contents are similarly nostalgically flavored. — Reginald Marcel
Jacob Banks — Lies About the War
His exit from Interscope Records demonstrates that Jacob Banks has never been only motivated by fame. Though his 2018 debut Village was refined, cleanly produced, and full of color, it felt as if his ambitions were thwarted by the fact that his music had to fit at least partially within the boundaries of big label R&B - bombastic beats, dramatic vocal performances, and massive choruses; even its quietest moments, such as Unknown (To You), barely had room to breathe. As a result, he left the realm of major label music, concluding his tenure on Interscope with a beautiful eight-song EP and launching his label, Nobody Records, exploring places he couldn't before, the subsequent album being his best to date and an excellent example of what leaning into your creative tendencies and simplifying your music can achieve. Lies About the War has the cinematic grandeur of Village, yet its pacing is inconsistent. Nonetheless, it has some of the year’s most dynamic and heartbreaking vocal performances. Lies About the War is a short, stunning breakthrough for Banks as an artist. His ambition to do something new and unexpected provides fertile ground for natural and energizing songs. — Brandon O’Sullivan
Mikhala Jené — The Missing Piece
Newly signed to Def Jam Recordings, singer and songwriter Mikhala Jené has recently released her label debut EP, The Missing Piece, a follow-up to her highly praised 7-song EP, Carolina Blues. Mikhala Jené, who grew up in Jacksonville, North Carolina, expressed herself via different artistic mediums, including sketching and dancing, but music finally captivated her spirit. Mikhala’s dynamic tone is frequently characterized as heavenly but forceful, which is a natural description given that she sang in a church choir. She ultimately got Deputy's attention, and he created the bulk of the project, which highlighted their chemistry. — LeMarcus Dontrell
Alex Vaughn — The Hurtbook
Alex Vaughn, the LVRN/Interscope singer-songwriter, is back with her other project, The Hurtbook. Throughout the eight-track EP, Vaughn shares her perspective on the emotional toll relationships can take on a person while reassuring her audience that they have the fortitude and the capacity to move on. When R&B and its musicians are sometimes ridiculed, Vaughn's inclusion demonstrates that this generation is full of outstanding performers. Her voices are evocative of the pioneering powerhouses but with a contemporary touch. — Imani Raven