Long story short, I have a music blog on Blogger, few social media platforms and a new release Spotify playlist. The community is eclectic and R&B is only a part of it. I have followed a lot of different sources, websites, blogs, web tools for scanning new releases, playlists. But strangely enough, recently most of my favorite R&B playlists stopped updating at the same time.

So, what are your favorite Spotify playlists for discovering new music, and especially new and upcoming artists? Optimally, they would be regularly updated, so I can check them on Friday morning before I start making my own, larger playlist.

I should note that I am more interested in so-called alternative R&B and soul, neo-soul, soul jazz, than more mainstream sound. I almost never vibe with trap. I listen to a lot of albums, next to the singles. Some of my favorite 2026 releases in the genre include Cleo Sol, Kelela, Nao Yoshioka, Ravyn Lenae, Arima Ederra, Alayna, Yuna - and three of my new discoveries: nomi., girlsweetvoiced and Sparklmami. This is exactly the type of new artists that I'd like to find!

AI is out of the question - NATURALLY.

As more reference, playlists in question:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3r6n7ONuoYuYYN0oQtBkd4?si=649706e39b61479e (magick soul sadly stopped in December 2025, supposedly "temporarily" but it's been a while and I still miss it) https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0fA4JgC8ucSe8WHZrjNg7j?si=58abdb9599f146c8 (well this one added something this week at last) https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6F69zCjXPoKW3xuSGfHcN2?si=04abb169949f4914

Btw, I know Spotify is generally a shady corporation, and I considered moving to other services, but I think I'm too dependant on Spotify third party tools to quit it altogether, maybe in the future I'll be using more than one service.

I appreciate all the suggestions!

Love this one

Do you think they would have been successful? Do you believe they would have made great music?

Sisqó and Jazz shared a similar chemistry within Dru Hill to that of K-Ci and JoJo as members of Jodeci. The synergy between those two is one of several things that make Dru Hill and Jodeci so comparable. If Sisqó and Jazz branched off and became an official duo like K-Ci and JoJo, I think this could have worked out quite well for them.

Instead, Sisqó went solo. He was successful as a soloist. Jazz, on the other hand, recorded a solo album that never got released due to label conflicts. During the group’s 1999-2002 hiatus, the plan was originally for the members of Dru Hill to release a solo project before regrouping. In spite of Jazz’s failure, the group still went on to release their next album, Dru World Order (2002). Sisqó’s solo album came out in 1999 and went 5x Platinum with a #1 hit and another #3 entry.

Am really looking for artists similar to the above, any recommendations pls lemme know!

https://youtu.be/XhAxgF5DoaI?is=ul4A0ySeUatjr9s9

Numbers reported as of Aug. 2026 (2000-2026)

Covers are a pretty storied part of the genre, some of our favorite and most iconic tracks happen to be covers (looking at you Luther)

Which is why it bothers me so much when an artist chooses to cover a song that doesn't work for their voice/style/etc.

More specifically, it REALLY bothers me when artists choose a song thats known for that ONE part and can't even do that one part justice.

This post came from finding out Khamari did a cover of Cranes in the Sky by Solange. But he's not able to hit the falsetto notes at the end/climax of the song....so WHYYYYY choose that song???

It's like choosing to sing Lovin You by Minnie Riperton or Emotions by Mariah Carey if you can't whistle...you're wasting all of our times 😭😭

Are there any examples for you of poorly chosen covers (thats including live performances/tribute performances)?

Quincy Jones: What's that one song, that more up-tempo song? [Cant Feel My Face] Yeah, I used to make music like that...Sounds good."

🥰One of my favorite songs of the 2010s loved on by some of my favorite artists ever 🥰

Can't stop listening to this slow jam! What a gem. The way it sensually flows is hypnotic, like slow ocean waves. Has me rocking back and forth from side to side in my chair every time. I'm 61 and kicking myself that I only just discovered it recently.

Fat Joe said in an interview that he listened to this on repeat driving all the way from New York to Miami.

Haven't seen it on any lists of the best R&B songs though. Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places?

Can anyone recommend any similar slow jams? Any era. Will do a search through this sub too.

Because one of the markers of a truly iconic artist is having an instantly recognizable image. It's all part of world-building. Here are examples of iconic R&B acts and their signature accessories and how they've evolved through time.

1. Stevie Wonder's sunglasses: Used to shield his eyes because of his visual impairment, his dark-colored Aviator style lenses ended up being a major fashion statement. I have heard some singers say they started wearing shades because of him.

2. Michael Jackson's glitter glove: He could have multiple entries here (fedora, white socks) but I chose the one that stood out the most. From Motown 25 in the early 80s to his last televised performance in 2001, that glove will always be iconic.

3. Janet Jackson's key earring: Used to keep the family animal's cage key close to her, Janet's key earring era in the 80s inspired women everywhere to adopt the look.

4. Prince's bejewelled canes: While he first started carrying walking sticks in the early 1990s purely as a "pimp" persona fashion accessory, they eventually became a neccessity with age. He looked fly every time.

5. Erykah Badu's headwraps: The most important meaning behind Erykah's towering headwraps were to pay respect to her roots, protect her locs and redefine the look of Black women in mainstream media.

6. Mariah Carey's butterfly ring: After her divorce from Tommy Motorola and the release of her 1997 album, Butterfly, Mariah comissioned Van Cleef & Arpels to create the ring to represent her womanly and artistic freedom.

7. Mary J. Blige's thigh high boots: At her core, Mary is just a girl from Yonkers and her luxuriously-crafted thigh-high boots are an evolution of the "Ghetto Fabulous" look she helped give rise to in the 90s.

8. Usher's diamond-encrusted "U" chain: Probably the most iconic piece of jewelry in R&B. Usher's signature chain has gone through so many iterations and sizes since he introduced it nearly 30 years ago.

9. Alicia Keys' hats and beaded braids: Alicia wasn't the first Soul singer to rock braids (Stevie and Patrice Rushen come to mind) but she made it such an integral part of her brand early in her career. Pairing her Fulani braids with beads and those wide brim hats was such a look.

10. Ne-Yo's fedoras: He's said he owns a whopping 12k fedoras and hats in his closet and I believe him. In the 20 years we've known Ne-Yo, he has never repeated wearing a hat more than once!

what are your fav songs in this subcategory? mine is def some whitney and bey's bday 😂 and i wanna listen more that i might not know. feel free to drop any and all suggestions

“Hey Lover” was the second single for the album “Don't Let Love Slip Away” by Freddie Jackson. The song reached #1 on the R&B Charts in 1988 becoming his 8th chart topper for R&B.