To Be Loved Loudly: Alex Vaughn and the Prayer for Gentle Black Love
There were nights I whispered her name like a psalm. Not because I knew her but because I needed someone to tell me I wasn’t foolish for wanting love to look like
R&B Touring in 2025: A Quiet Pulse Beneath the Stage Lights
There’s a hush, not absence, but a soft undercurrent. The R&B tour circuit in 2025 hums differently than it did passing through the pandemic five years ago. The roar of full arenas
When the Music Waited for Him: J.P.’s Took A Turn Finds Power in the Pause
Sometimes the best art is made in the stillness that follows collapse. For J.P. , the Milwaukee-born artist formerly known as Jody P, stillness didn’t come as a creative retreat, but as
Jon Batiste’s BIG MONEY: A Soulful Album Rich in Spirit and Sound
There is a kind of wealth that cannot be counted, only carried. The kind you don’t spend but live. The kind passed between hands at the end of a hard day, or
Mama’s Good: Badu’s Anniversary Tour Is a Ritual of Return
Erykah Badu has always made music that feels like stepping into a carefully tended room. Tea steam coils upward in invisible spirals, a soft rug cushions the soles of your feet, and
Track 7 Was Always the One: She Told Twitter “I’m Not the Only One”
We never had the breakup conversation.No “what are we?” No “it’s over.” Not even a slow fade into silence. What I got instead… was a tweet. I’m not the only one. –
Softness Ain’t Free: Daniel Caesar Sings for What Love Costs
There is a different kind of heaviness to Daniel Caesar’s voice that doesn’t always announce itself in pitch. It lingers. Even when his lyrics dance with irony or attempt to coat longing
Tori Kelly and Lucky Daye Deliver an R&B Lullaby with a Grown-Folks Title: “Make a Baby”
Tori Kelly has always had the kind of voice that could cut through marble. Raw but refined. Gospel-slick, pop-polished, R&B-bred. Lucky Daye, on the other hand, floats like incense, sultry, hypnotic, and
August’s Flower of the Month: Gladiolus
In the language of flowers, the gladiolus stands for strength, sincerity and remembrance. Its name comes from the Latin gladius, sword, a fitting origin for a flower that grows tall, vivid and impossible to overlook. For R&B Garden, the gladiolus feels like August; warm, assured and reaching toward something. It reminds us of the artists who make vulnerability feel powerful, who turn memory into melody and whose songs stay standing long after the season changes. This August, the gladiolus is our muse: bold enough to command attention, tender enough to mean something.
Somewhere Between Seen and Slept-On: Listening to Jordan Ward
There was a week where I didn’t laugh. Not even a chuckle. I sat through sitcoms, scrolled through memes, watched friends try their best. Nothing. Then I played WHITE CROCS by Jordan