Welcome back to our R&B Season playlist update, where we have a brief but beautiful set of new releases to highlight this week. The first one on our list comes with some controversy, but that's just par the course for Internet discussion and promotion these days.
We're talking about the new Erykah Badu and The Alchemist collaboration "Next To You," which is the first single from their upcoming album Abi & Alan. The warm bass and hanging organ chords in the sample are very intoxicating, and you can imagine how much that feeling escalates once Badu's gorgeous vocal runs hit the mic.
Some wailing synthesizers give the song some dynamism amid a relatively steady progression, but that's before the producer switches up the sample and introduces some darker bass and flanges. It's hypnotizing for sure, and it makes us look forward to the creative fusions of their styles that will come out soon.
As far as the controversy, the use of artificial intelligence for the song's visualizer and cover art led to a lot of disappointment from fans. But as Al suggested on Twitter, they are more peeved with how people aren't talking about the music because they're busy criticizing this decision.
HNHH R&B Season Playlist
Nevertheless, R&B Season has another big release to talk about this week. Following various singles and a lot of acclaim, Samara Cyn released her new EP backroads, and it's a short and sweet effort.
Specifically, we would point you to the song "hardheaded" if you're looking for a solid taste of the project. The languid drum pattern eventually gets more peppy, and the swing holds itself together thanks to a quaint guitar performance. Samara's vocals are very sugary on the cut, but she also lets herself get lost in the dreamy string arrangements that flick the lights off until the percussion's swing returns.
