The hip-hop war is all the rage now, but we all need some time to cool off, relax, and get a little more in tune with some more easy-going tunes. Moreover, we have a new R&B Season playlist update to share with you rounding up the best of the best genre-adjacent releases this week. When it comes to big drops, none were more anticipated than 4batz's debut project, u made me a st4r, which represents his rapid skyrocket up the up-and-coming artist pipeline. There are highlights throughout, with a particularly catchy and smoky listen being "act v: there goes another vase."
Elsewhere, we also had Rapsody tapping into her R&B bag with the Erykah Badu-assisted cut, "3:AM." However, she lets Badu take care of the singing and melodic and harmonic prettiness over a crisp, sax-backed, and chill beat that would be fitting for a variety of the genre's hits. The North Carolina MC goes into some calm but still impactful verses and flows, along with some introspective themes of accepting insecurities and reflecting that acknowledgement and process with those closest to you.
HNHH R&B Season Playlist: Stream
Another big collaboration that dropped this week features two crooners teaming up for a sultry but still vibe-heavy and hard-hitting cut. Chris Brown and J. Valentine trade vocal runs on "UnLonely," pairing simple piano leads with a clap-based trap beat and flipping flows with ease. The contrast on this track doesn't really highlight anything unique about it, but it does provide an interesting clash between the more tender elements and the more hype ones. In other words, it's exactly the kind of balance that a lot of R&B or rap-related releases achieve these days in tandem with one another, which is always great to see.
Finally, we wanted to shout out the new Coco Jones track, "Here We Go (Uh Oh)" for its beautiful homage to older soul styles. But the only thing that outshines the lush instrumental here is Coco's gorgeous vocal performance, another guaranteed win. Let us know what your favorite R&B Season pick was this week, as well as what else we missed, down in the comments section below. Check the playlist out above and, as always, stick around on HNHH for the latest great music drops around the clock.