Jacquees Says "4275" Opened Up The Door For "The Real R&B Sound"

BYAron A.2.8K Views
Link Copied to Clipboard!
Paras Griffin/Getty Images
Jacquees performs onstage during the 2018 Soul Train Awards, presented by BET, at the Orleans Arena on November 17, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The self-proclaimed king of R&B opens up about the impact of his debut album.

Jacquees caught flack last week after he claimed to be the king of R&B -- a claim he seems to still stand by. In a year filled with great R&B, it's hard to ignore the fact that Jacquees delivered one of the best R&B albums of the year with 4275. In a recent profile with Billboard, the singer explained why he felt that 4275 "opened up the whole door for the real R&B sound."

Jacquees explained why he felt that he had one of the best albums among male R&B artists of this generation. Although there's been an influx of male R&B acts to emerge in recent times, Jacquees explained that he feels that his album brought back the traditional R&B sound back.

"Like from the intro all the way to the end. Even the R&B artists that I put on it...I feel like I kind of opened the door for R&B, for real, because everybody was kind of playing around with it," he explained. "Like, there's Trap R&B -- and no disrespect to none of that, 'cause I like all that shit, I'm a fan of it and I do some of that shit -- but for my album, I didn't. This was strictly R&B."

He explained that when he searches for the "real R&B sound," he mainly listens to artists like H.E.R and Ella Mai and other female artists, but the male R&B acts aren't bringing that same feeling.

"I thought about who was dropping, because when I listen to R&B right now, I listen to a lot of females like H.E.R., Ella Mai and shit like that. When I listen to dudes, I listen to a lot of old cats," he said. "I still fuck with 6LACK and everybody like that in my generation, but [there's] nothing that's like the real feeling."

Check out the full piece here. 


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
...