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Guides

Singers Painting R&B in the Colors of Heart-Flutters
After “So Sick” conquered the charts, a wave of melodic R&B singers found their audience in Tokyo. These Ne-Yo disciples built careers on falsetto and…
 • Shatter the Standards, Brandon O'Sullivan, and Phil
The Handguide to J. Cole
From Fayetteville dorm rooms to platinum plaques. The mixtapes that built his name. The albums that tested his audience. A complete guide to J. Cole’s…
 • Shatter the Standards and Kamarion
The Lineage of Michael Jackson (Mellow / Sensitive)
Each guide is based on this run of albums, believed to be part of Michael Jackson’s roots. It then branches out into post-1995, drawn from that tree…
 • Shatter the Standards, Brandon O'Sullivan, and Phil
The Lineage of Michael Jackson (Dance / Boogie)
Each guide is based on this run of albums, believed to be part of Michael Jackson’s roots. It then branches out into post-1995, drawn from that tree…
 • Shatter the Standards, Brandon O'Sullivan, and Phil
The Handguide to Michael Jackson
As we’re approaching three months to the biopic, what better way to go down memory lane to the King of Pop, whose resume speaks for itself. From Jackson…
 • Shatter the Standards, Brandon O'Sullivan, and Phil
R&B Songs That Aren’t Gospel But Easily Could Be
Cue any of these songs in sequence, and the distinction between sanctuary and nightclub blurs. Modulation becomes exaltation, and secular longing turns…
The Handguide to Sean Price
Sean Price built songs from clean rhyme strings, blunt humor, and a voice that refused theatrics. Across solo and crew work, he leans on bar count…
 • Brandon O'Sullivan and Phil
The Ten Songs That Joe Thomas Wrote for Other Artists
Joe Thomas’ résumé behind the microphone is well-known, yet his pen is just as formidable. A close read to show what makes his writing persuasive, and…
 • Imani Raven
The Best R&B Mixtapes You Might’ve Missed In the 2010s
The 2010s produced a quiet flood of R&B tapes that redirected the genre through bedrooms, label boardrooms, and avant-garde club basements. Let’s see if…
 • Jill Wannasa
R&B Groups That Never Came to Fruition
The list outlined an alternative timeline of R&B, one where everything remained central even as the business world around them kept changing the rules.
 • Jill Wannasa
The Handguide to ‘70s Funk Albums (Beginners Edition)
These selected albums significantly influenced the history of funk, conveying its breadth and diversity.
 • Brandon O'Sullivan and Murffey Zavier
The Handguide to Backwoodz Studioz
These releases chart the moment when Backwoodz Studioz forged its signature alloy of literary street rap, deconstructed samplecraft, and…
 • Brandon O'Sullivan and Phil
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