RnB

For the most spectacular comeback of my lifetime, Tina Turner copped not an inch to the Madonna market. She sang Terry Britten and Graham Lyle’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It” from the point of view of a middle aged woman who has seen enough bullshit from young songwriters and producers, many of whom are more desperate than lovers; she has learned to live on reflex. So few popular songs take this point of view that thirty-three years later the triumph feels more earned than ever. Fortunately, Tina Turner kept going. Her best material embodies wanderlust, intrinsically and conceptually: she travels from producer to producer, like her women do for kicks, often ending up burned but with a je ne regrette rien attitude.Visit our affiliate/partner site Humanizing the Vacuum for great lists, commentary, and more.

Beyonce is a national treasure. She’s not someone who requires a critical or commercial reappraisal. She’s had her missteps here and there, but we’ve all known since near the beginning that she possesses a gift that’s nearly unparalleled in modern R&B. So it makes sense that her b-sides and deep album cuts are going to be great. Al Shipley, from the blog Narrowcast, provides a really great overview of the highpoints. It’s a fun playlist that takes a reveals special moments from a very known commodity.

The history of black experimental music is made up of musicians who were and are unapologetically proud of their African descent. They not only used their skills to create profoundly unique music — they also leveraged their connection to their heritage to uplift black American communities, as well as convey their personal frustrations with the oppressions of the pre- and post-civil right eras. This mixtape is filled with artists like Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane, Betty Davis, and Funkadelic, who pushed, pulled, and broke the boundaries of what black music in America should be, yanking themselves from the mold of Motown to explore new musical territory. A small army of gifted artists followed in their footsteps, from Afrika Bambaataa to DJ Spooky, Flying Lotus to Azealia Banks.

Justin Peroff is the drummer for Toronto indie-rockestra Broken Social Scene. Hes also the manager for Harrison and McCallaman, two artists at the forefront of the citys avant-R&B/future-funk movement. For his Dowsers playlist, Peroff shines a light on the beatmakers, MCs, and art-pop savants who comprise the citys current musical vanguard.

"I love Toronto. Lately, the source of my citys inspiration comes from the young music communities whose members average birth year is 1995. That also happens to be the year I left the burbs for the city and officially called Toronto my home. This playlist is an example of that inspiration." — Justin Peroff

Clap clap clap clap: one of the dominant sounds of hip-hop and R&B in the 2010s is a synthesized handclap, hitting hard on straight 8th notes for every measure of the beat. This deceptively simple formula, which was foreshadowed in the previous decade in beats by Soulja Boy and Swizz Beatz, is compatible with any number of rhythms and production styles, from New Orleans Bounce and D.C. Go-Go to Atlanta crunk and stomping EDM. Stars like Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, and Nicki Minaj all have their share of clappers, slowing down a soul clap for a relaxed groove or picking up the BPM to a frenzied pace that no pair of human hands would be able to keep up with.

Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat. This is not “neo soul.” At least it’s not what’s been commonly described that way ever since R&B acts started channeling ‘70s influences in the ‘90s. “Neo classic” is a more apt term, when we’re talking about the likes of Sharon Jones, Eli “Paperboy” Reed, Raphael Saadiq, and James Hunter, who may toss in some ‘70s shadings here and there but keep their musical template firmly rooted in the ‘60s. You can hear the influence of everything from the sweet Chicago soul of The Impressions to the emotion-wracked moan of James Carr. While Brooklyn’s Daptone label leads the pack, with artists like Jones, Charles Bradley, and Naomi Shelton, neo-classic soul can pop anyplace where there’s a band with a sense of history and a singer willing to lay it all on the line.

There’s a tragic feeling of incompleteness to Sharon Jones’ career, and it’s best be summed up with the phrase "discovered too late and gone way too soon." The soul and funk vocalist’s story is a well-told one: a criminally overlooked session powerhouse—who clearly possessed the chops and sheer life-force to be a star when she first turned professional in the ’70s—finally achieves fame in her late-’40s only to have pancreatic cancer claim her life in 2016 at the age of 60. Fortunately for the world, the Grammy-nominated Jones and her band, the Dap-Kings, made the most of her all-too-brief stardom, dropping seven stellar studio albums, including the posthumously released Soul of a Woman, recorded as the singer underwent debilitating chemotherapy treatments.What makes the group so unique is their ability to feel unapologetically old-school, yet without any residue of weepy nostalgia. Anchored not just by Jones’ attention-seizing voice, but the group’s agilely stabbing horns and preternaturally metronomic rhythm section as well, their music pops, sizzles, and jumps with a sweaty, determined modernism. (Especially relevant in this context is their funk-spiked reworking of Janet Jackson’s “What Have You Done for Me Lately?”) It’s a sound that has exerted a huge impact on 21st-century pop, pushing retro-soul into the mainstream while also making the Dap-Kings, as well as their sister outfit the Dap Kings Horn Section, in-demand session musicians in the same vein as the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section or the Wrecking Crew.Arguably the first artist to take notice was the late Amy Winehouse, who employed the Dap-Kings when crafting her own fusion of retro and contemporary R&B for 2006’s game-changing Back to Black. The album’s co-producer, Mark Ronson, then used the ensemble’s crack horn section on his massive retro-pop hit “Uptown Funk,” featuring dynamo singer Bruno Mars. More recently, the digitally minded Kesha used those soul-piercing horns on her crushing, feminist anthem “Woman,” from her emotional tour de force Rainbow.But not every session/appearance fits snugly between the poles of R&B and pop—there’s a slew of leftfield examples, too. On her self-titled full-length from 2014, avant-garde singer-songwriter St. Vincent leans heavily on the unswerving pulse of Dap-Kings drummer Homer Steinweiss (who also plays skins for the Dan Auerbach-led Arcs), while her collaborative effort with David Byrne, Love This Giant, weaves their horns into the duo’s art-rock pointillism. Other standouts include The Black Lips, whose garage-punk rave-up Underneath the Rainbow utilizes the services of baritone guitarist Thomas Brenneck and trumpeter David Guy, and country outlaw Sturgill Simpson, who worked with the the Dap-Kings horns on A Sailor’s Guide to Earth and then brought them onstage for his 2017 Grammy performance.On top of featuring cuts from each of the artists already mentioned, our playlists dips into the Dap-Kings many related projects (including The Budos Band and Menahan Street Band), as well as veteran soul and funk singers Charles Bradley, Lee Fields, and Rickey Calloway who, like Jones, found a welcoming home on Daptone, easily retro-soul’s most important record label. Of course, the absence left by Jones’ death will forever be felt; she was, after all, a once-in a-generation talent. But it becomes all too clear when exploring this diverse array of songs that her vision and style will continue to echo throughout modern music for a long time to come.

L.A. singer and genuine son-of-a-preacher-man DAVIE has lent his golden voice to recordings by Childish Gambino and CeeLo Green, among others. But he’s recently stepped out on his own with his debut EP, Black Gospel Vol. 1, a modern update of church-schooled soul and smooth ‘70s R&B epitomized by the swaggering lead single “Testify.” For The Dowsers, he’s created “a soulful playlist for your ears and your heart.”Emily King, “Distance”This song is the most beautiful rhythmic whisper. Her voice is soothing and percussive at the same time.Prince, “Darling Nikki”I remember wondering about Nikki "not feeling well" when I first heard this as a kid—and then I realized as an adult it’s about SEXXXXXXX. I love the record and Prince’s seductive delivery.James Brown, “Papas Got A Brand New Bag”Feeling overwhelmed? Dance in your underwear to this song. Problem solved!Jazmine Sullivan, “Lions, Tigers & Bears”This song is so clever and the vocal performance is unmatched! Jazmine is R&B royalty to me.Beyoncé, “Jealous” This is a Beyoncé B-side to the world, but it is such a great song of human struggle with jealousy. The bridge is so simple, but takes the song into a different direction and the song becomes about being insecure.Stevie Wonder, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)”This the classic for every celebratory moment in my existence.N.E.R.D., “Provider”This song was my introduction to my hero Pharrell. He was like “we are punk, hip-hop, and rock all at once.” It was unapologetic and I watched TRL because I wanted to be like him in this video, riding the bike with the homies.”Tyler, the Creator, “911 / Mr. Lonely” The Frank and Tyler combo forever!Daniel Caesar, “We Find Love” Issa vibe.Sabrina Claudio, “Confidently Lost”Her voice is sexy, she is bae. I love the cadence in her falsetto—it’s seductive but angelic at the same time. Weird eh?The Clark Sisters, “You Brought the Sunshine” First song these ears ever heard. I learned how to sing and do every riff in the back of my parents’ car.Lauryn Hill, “Ex-Factor”Best song about false expectations towards an ex. Why didn’t they? Why don’t they still care? Also: Lauryn is the GOAT.Frank Ocean, “Bad Religion” Frank’s Channel Orange is the closest thing we have gotten to full body of work like The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. “Bad Religion” is layered with so much heaviness. Each line could mean four things to the listener.Chris Stapleton, “I Was Wrong”I challenge any contemporary R&B singer to sing as good Chris Stapleton. They cant! Soul is blind to color—this is country, but soooo soulful. His runs are straight-up from the school of Aretha.OutKast, “Rosa Parks”First OutKast song I ever heard. I wanted to learn all the words to it, and I would sneak and watch TRL and write down the words so I could impress my friends at school.Kamasi Washington, “Henrietta Our Hero”This song is heavenly.Aaliyah, “At Your Best (You Are Love)” This song is so pure and beautiful. I love Aaliyah—this is her best song in my opinion. It lives on and still sounds so fresh and relevant.Missy Elliott, “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)”This video is everything! Missy is the ultimate hip-hop entertainer. This song introduced me to Timbaland’s production and I was hooked.Kanye West, “Cant Tell Me Nothing” This is Kanye at his best, being honest. My favorite line is “and what I do/ act more stupidly."DAngelo, “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” Sexxxxy time song.

Almost everything about Frank Ocean is shrouded in mystery and contradiction. He’s brash and outspoken, yet a virtual recluse; he’s a modern media star, yet he rarely engages with the modern media; he’s one of music’s most distinct voices, but he’s also a cypher. If you’re looking to his new album, Endless, for clues to who the man is, you’ll be disappointed. For one thing, this may not actually be his new album — maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. All we know is that the music here is baffling and beautiful. The spare, ominous acoustic balladry of “Rushes To” recalls the gothic folk of British experimentalists Current 93, while the album’s skittering narrative threads, dark gospel underpinnings, and political nods recall everything from Erykah Badu’s masterwork New Amerykah Part One to the latest Kanye West. There’s a refracted funk that channels ‘00s underground R&B group Sa-Ra Creative Partners, which makes sense considering that Om’mas Keith from Sa-Ra provides piano on the album. The moody electronic ambience of producer Arca, who has previously worked with everyone from Kanye to Bjork, is all over this album. This playlist looks at some of the albums collaborators and influences, as well as sample sources. It’s a companion piece — a helpful set of footnotes to this strange, gorgeous record.

On August 20, Frank Ocean released his first full-length work in four years (two if you count the soundtrack for the Endless visual album). As Blonde (alternately spelled as Blond) reached Apple Music, Ocean organized giveaways of a limited-edition magazine, Boys Don’t Cry, at four pop-up shops around the globe. A page in the magazine lists Blonde contributors, inspirations, and sample sources; as of this writing, it’s the only evidence of official album credits he’s given us so far.As a result, half of this playlist references Blonde guests such as Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar, Andre 3000, and Tyler, the Creator, and session players like Om’mas Keith of Sa-Ra Creative Partners. However, the other half of the list attempts to deduce how Ocean created his new album’s dense computer washes and hazy, amniotic sound. Thanks to the aforementioned Boys Don’t Cry tip sheet, we know that Brian Eno’s ambient explorations, Jonny Greenwood’s moody soundtracks, and Jamie xx’s melancholy club tracks make up his sources. There are parallels to Bradford Cox of Deerhunter’s fluid sexuality and adolescent anomie, Raury’s blend of airy indie-rock and conscious rap, Julee Cruise’s ethereal “Falling” theme for Twin Peaks, and Mazzy Star’s essential ode to long California drives with nothing to think about, “Fade Into You.” In total, this collection of gospel, electronic, rap, pop and rock numbers are a varied contrast to Blonde’s washed-out haze. Think of Ocean as a good chef who reduced dozens of ingredients into a tonally consistent and thought-provoking work.