Israel Daramola

It’s been raining all weekend. Which means, I’ve been listening to R&B all weekend. From the old to the new, I’ve been blasting the best harmonies, rhythms and just feel-good vibes into my ears through this dreary chill-fest happening everyday for the past 3 days. For the sake of this excerpt, I’ll stick to just talking about the new music:

Solange “Losing You” 

Everyone told me this was good, so naturally I went in highly skeptical—arms crossed and all. I’m currently on my 15^th listen (seriously, this song is so good). I’ve always liked Solange for the simple fact that she never tried to be her sister; she’s always tried to have her own style. Well damn it if her style isn’t mine as well, the song is just fun, infectious and makes you want to dance around while the video, despite treading the boundaries of some manic pixie dream girl-level quirk, is just so addictive to watch over and over again. This is easily my song of the moment.

Rihanna & Beyonce

I think I gained a whole new appreciation for these two over the weekend; they’ve easily made some of the best music over the years that they’ve been on top. Rihanna making the marriage between electronic/dance music and pop look better than anyone else has been able to and Queen B does what she does best: make music that lasts lifetimes—I mean between songs like “countdown”, “dance for you”, “naughty girl”, “single ladies” and “irreplaceable”, she can go from singlehandedly saving your relationship to ending it in seconds. (That’s a skill.)

Miguel “Kaleidoscope Dream”

Miguel’s sophomore album, Kaleidoscope Dream, debuted this past week and—as a fan of true R&B music—I have to hand it to the guy, he made a great record. It’s definitely one that will be in rotation for a while with me. While I found his first release to be decent, I only enjoyed it in a guilty pleasure sense. I’m happy to say that this time around I can admit to liking the album with no shame, it’s that enjoyable.

Wiz Khalifa ft. The Weeknd “Remember You”

Ok technically, this is Wiz’s song but we all know who the star was in this case. R&B crooner/drug enthusiast Abel Tesfaye—better known as the Weeknd—makes this song as infectious as it is and reminds us just how good he can be. We haven’t heard to much from the young artist since he wrapped up the trilogy earlier this year so this was a nice little present for the fans. Not to say Wiz doesn’t do his part to help the song (he does), but I mean come on man, the Weeknd steals this one.