The Best R&B Albums of 2023 …(so far)

2023 has featured a bevy of amazing R&B, pop, hyperpop and afro beats releases. HipHopDX will be narrowing down the year’s releases to the essentials, providing readers with a list of the must-listen projects. After starting the year slow, R&B has been slowly heating up with incredible projects from Kelela, Victoria Monet, Amaarae, Liv.E and T-Pain, along with SZA continuing to dominate with her masterful SOS from back in December. With new projects from Jamila Wood, Jorja Smith, and Corinne Bailey Rae on the horizon, there’s no limit to how great 2023 can be for R&B.

Struggling to find a list of the Hip Hop Albums that have been shifting the culture? Take a look at our lists for Hip Hop, Rap and R&B to get a complete survey of the projects that are dictating the conversation around Hip Hop culture.

• The Best Hip Hop Albums of 2023 …(so far)
• The Best Rap Albums of 2023 …(so far)

Need some new songs to throw in the rotation but Spotify and user-created playlists are way too long? We kept it simple and added only the best of the best songs from each month to make sure you get the songs you need without a hassle. Peep the lists below.

• The Best Rap Songs of 2023 …(so far)
• The Best R&B Songs of 2023 …(so far)

Looking for some up and coming rappers and underground gems? We’ve done the work for you and highlighted the short EPs, mixtapes and projects to check out if you’re tired of the mainstream album cycle.

• The Best Mixtapes & EPs of 2023 …(so far)

Editor’s note: Albums from this list were released between January 1, 2023 – September 30, 2023.

Love: The Album – Diddy

Though Diddy has been an omnipresent figure in pop music for almost 40 years, his most recent era began in 2006 when he released Press Play, a strange amalgamation of sultry R&B with features from The Pussycat Dolls and Christina Aguilera, New jack swing cuts, and vacuous rap bars. That album did little to further any public sentiment re: Diddy as a still-captivating artist. In 2010 he created Diddy — Dirty Money, assembling a group from the ground up much like K-pop groups and British boy bands were doing across the globe during that same time, leading to the cult classic Last Train To Paris. His 2015 mixtape, MMM (Money Making Mitch), was supposed to serve as an appetizer for No Way Out 2, a follow-up to his 1997 solo debut that never arrived. His new album, The Love Album: Off the Grid also comes after a false promise (it was supposed to come out last year), but this time at least he delivered. Off The Grid features a number of surprisingly entertaining moments, considering Diddy is 53-years-old and making a concept album of unrepentantly horny sex jams. Often, Diddy sounds like he’s in the studio jamming with some of his favorite artists. He spends most of the project letting his collaborators flex their unique skill sets over his productions, and the artists he picks confirms that Diddy still has one of the best ears in the rap game. Diddy hasn’t been an elite rapper for a long while, but on The Love Album he’s well aware of his limitations. Those looking to hear his voice lead the show will have to look to past albums, as The Love Album continues Diddy’s run as one of rap’s strongest connectors.

Jaguar II – Victoria Monet

Victoria Monét emerges from the foliage with the generationally incandescent Jaguar II. The 34-year-old former behind-the-scenes hit songwriter steps into the spotlight, putting her own spin on motherhood, femininity, and sexuality. Merging neo-soul with jazz and funk, Monét establishes herself in the genre spotlight with a record that bridges decades and genres. With appearances from dancehall giant Buju Banton and Earth, Wind & Fire legends Philip Bailey and Verdine White, Monét shows she can pay homage to the past while remaining unabashedly in the present. The elements all mesh together perfectly on the viral hit “On My Mama,” which not only captured attention with a choreographically ambitious visual but also the best hook of Monét’s already storied career. In Jaguar II, Monét doubles down on her instincts and it pays off with just the right combination of vision and throwback appreciation.

Fountain Baby – Amaarae

Fountain Baby feels like the culmination of her musical odyssey and desire to play with the tropes of genres that hadn’t fully grown yet. Much like how Hip Hop and R&B have been pushed and mangled into a bevy of sounds that make the genres bleed into all forms of music, Amaarae bends Afrobeats to her will, morphing the music of her heritage and the distinction of what it means to be a Ghanaian female artist. She’s unafraid of uncharted territory and willing to step outside the conventional box Americans place on Afrobeats, all while broadening the umbrella of dance music. Whether she’s experimenting with rock ensembles (“Come Home to God”) or staying true to Shekeres and goblet drums (“Big Steppa”) that are the backbone of Afro sounds, each song expounds on the next to bring a warm, organic feeling back into mainstream modern dance music.

I Thought It’d Be Different – Rory

The 13-song melting pod of Hip Hop, alt-pop and R&B (leaning more so on the latter two) is an introduction to Rory’s ear for curation, and contrary to the bulk of modern day compilations from celebrities, Rory shows he has solid taste. In other words, Rory doesn’t sing or rap, but he doesn’t make half assed compilations like Lebron James, either. The culmination of a three-year odyssey, and first teased in 2022 with the single “I Want You But You’ll Never Know” featuring Shelley FKA DRAM and Alex Isley, the project sports an incredible set of artists and producers–from legends like Bink! (who co-produces the project’s most Hip Hop moment, “Sobering Thoughts From The Mondrian” for TDE rapper Reason) to Rory himself, who wrote and co-produced throughout. Heartbreak, failed relationships, betrayal, and unrequited love are just some of the themes of the LP — and not necessarily in a linear arc. Rory initially noted early last year that most of the album was based on studio conversations about the unravelling of personal lives. While this isn’t revolutionary (“Groundbreaking, I know, no one has ever done that before,” he said himself when speaking about his approach), it’s handled with care.

The Age Of Pleasure – Janelle Monae

Those paying attention to Janelle Monáe’s career trajectory shouldn’t have been surprised when she announced the direction of her new album The Age of Pleasure. Yes, Monáe rarely showed skin at the beginning of her career, but she began to explore her sexuality once Dirty Computer came around. As she began to accept herself through a more traditionally feminine lens, she maintained her interest in exploring different forms of freedom across several aesthetic backdrops. Both The ArchAndroid and The Electric Lady followed a time-traveling android sent to an era where a secret society actively suppressed freedom and love. With those albums setting the foundation for a larger exploration of Monáe’s sexual liberation, The Age of Pleasure sees her fully embracing it. In just 30 minutes, Monáe spends her time drinking too much champagne, musing over herself, and setting her sights on a potential long-term partner. Much of the subject matter ditches the depth that permeated her past efforts in exchange for lighter, more sensual material aimed at self-acceptance and personal freedom.

 

Clear 2:Soft Lite – Summer Walker

Less than two years after releasing her sophomore album Still Over It Atlanta singer Summer Walker is back with her extended play Clear 2: Soft Life. The nine track project finds Walker wading her way through a lake of emotions to find some sense of peace and clarity in her love life. Unlike previous projects that harp on the toxicity of her romantic relationships, Soft Life finds Walker in the middle of her journey to healing. She’s not quite fulfilled, but is a lot more aware of her standing with men. Backed by live instruments, some of Walker’s most confessional lyrics, and with her soulful autotune-less vocals on full display, Soft Life proves to be a smoother listen than her other bodies of work.

Never Enough – Daniel Caesar

Never Enough functions as a break-up album, but it also marks a redemption arc for a flawed man with equally flawed views to make a case at proving he’s matured. He apologized for the YesJulz comments and took the time to come to terms with hurting people both in his fandom and in his personal life. The growth shows, especially on “Buyer’s Remorse” and “Pain Is Inevitable,” though a lengthy runtime and inconsistent themes can sometimes feel like Caesar had two different visions but combined them into one sprawling project covering four years of absence.

On Top Of The Covers – T-Pain

A few years ago, T-Pain, the godfather of autotune, found himself in a deep depression. One of the best R&B vocalists in history, Usher – and someone he considered a friend – told him quite seriously: “You kind of fucked up music.” Arguably the bedrock of the rapper, producer, and singer-songwriter’s hugely successful career had reduced him in stature in the eyes of his contemporaries. The next several years he struggled with depression and anxiety. Four years removed from his last studio effort, the 16-bit-infused 1UP, the lasting impacts of that conversation are felt heavily on On Top of the Covers. On an unvarnished and full-throated collection of cover songs, T-Pain flexes his vocal prowess completely without autotune. And the results speak for themselves.

Red Moon In Venus – Kali Uchis

Red Moon in Venus is an intergalactic exploration of love’s boundless passages. Adorned with a feminine opulence that grounds this psychedelic release, Kali Uchis guides listeners through love’s emotional highs, lows, and everything in between on her third genre-blending studio album. Kali Uchis skillfully explicates the unrestrained journey of desire and heartbreak, once allowing herself to drift in the reverie of love’s path, she now understands what it means to maintain a level-head. Red Moon in Venus is a raw display of emotional unwinding, and Kali Uchis narrates the disaster with an infinitely omniscient presence. From start to finish, it’s very clear that we as listeners are being whisked into a world of her creation, yet it is no longer a world in which she lives. It is merely a cautionary tale for a world full of indulgent lovers, beckoning us to explore love, to unravel, to heal and ultimately to learn.

Raven – Kelela

Brimming with synth undercurrents, translucid melodies, and delightfully jarring production shifts, Raven is a transfixing ode to human connection, interpersonal communication, and Black femininity. This sophomore effort finds the L.A.-based, Ethiopian American singer is at a different place mentally than she was when crafting 2017 debut LP Tear Me Apart. Musically it’s the same atmospheric electronica grinding against progressive R&B – in other words dance music that’s as appropriate for the bedroom, alone or with company, as it is over speakers in the club. At its root, Raven is a response to anyone who made the mistake of thinking that Kelela’s hiatus was an ill-omen with regard to her career. Looking for a symbol of rebirth, she came across the raven. Some consider it forbidding – a symbol of loss – but it’s also the talking bird and a connection between spirit realms. Few storytellers can land that kind of nuance, and Kelela is one of them.

Thanks 4 Nothing – Tink

It’s fitting that Tink’s stellar Thanks 4 Nothing would drop more than a week after Valentine’s Day. It’s an ode to the tired and bitter stage of a relationship, during which it feels like the entire relationship was a lie. That’s why from the jump of album opener “Fake Love,” the 28-year-old singer and rapper is at once defiant and destroyed: “These days, you can’t even trust who you’re fucking.” Over a glossy, piano-fueled beat produced by fellow Chicagoan Hitmaka, Tink unloads her angry, introspective verse interspersed with pristine R&B vocal work. And it sets the tone for the rest of the album, which is as well-produced as its content is universal. It’s further proof that Tink’s independent rebuild is paying off in spades.

Girl In The Half Pearl – Liv.E

On Girl In The Half Pearl, Liv.e clashes drum & bass with stacked harmonies, goes full techno to a fuck-haters rant, and fills bottomless voids with reverb’d screams to compile a montage of frequencies. “I’m finally in a place to talk my shit with a new mindset of being able to say what’s on my heart,” she told Matthew Ritchie for Rolling Stone. It’s not like the 25-year old L.A. native hasn’t opened her diary to the world before. But unlike on prior projects, she’s not interested in moseying around in romance…she’s tired of discussing the subject. Girl In The Half Pearl is more brash than her previous entries, exploring the dark, hidden parts of her heart to examine her inner turmoil.

Lovesick – Don Toliver

On Don Toliver’s third studio release, Lovesick, the Jackboys affiliate continues his run of curating intoxicating, sexy, and fun yet unremarkable music. Unlike past work, the Houston native takes a stab at singing about love and all the emotions that come with it: trust, betrayal, and letting go. An ambitious effort, the LP is another solid entry to his discography.

Mood Swings – Vedo

Vedo’s album Mood Swings is a solid album that showcases the singer’s versatility and musical range. With a mix of R&B, soul, and pop, the album explores themes of love, heartbreak, and self-discovery. Vedo’s powerful vocals and emotive delivery bring the lyrics to life, making each track a standout piece of art. Overall, Mood Swings is a must-listen for fans of smooth R&B and soul music.

SOS – SZA

It’s been five years since her debut album CTRL, and though she hasn’t gone completely missing in action since then – she’s appeared on Summer Walker, DJ Khaled, and Doja Cat projects – it’s the first time we get to hear her perspective on her absence and everything that’s been going on in her world, not through Twitter interpretations, or he said/she said drama, direct from the source. Throughout her career SZA has operated in the space of experimental R&B, foregoing traditional song structures, power vocals, and one dimensional writing for other techniques. Though SOS finds itself experimenting with new sounds, there’s a clear shift to a more pop focused sound. In her decade-long career SZA has proven that her strength as an artist lies in her sharp writing and the blending of genres to build her own unique sound world. This mingled with the stream of conscious flow many of her songs emote shapes much of SOS into a deeply personal – sometimes too much so – testament of work.

What I Didn’t Tell You – Coco Jones

With her powerful vocals, smooth beats, and introspective lyrics, Coco Jones’ What I Didn’t Tell You (Deluxe) showcases Coco’s versatility and musical range. From soulful ballads to upbeat pop tracks, the album offers something for everyone and highlights Coco’s growth and evolution as an artist. If you’re looking for a powerful and impactful listen, What I Didn’t Tell You is definitely worth checking out.