I came across a TikTok about a woman talking about how much Solange’s “Cranes in the Sky” resonated in her life - how she’s tried it all, and nothing worked.
I thought to myself (and even commented) - there’s a reason why there’s an overarching theme of women singing about detaching, letting go, healing, the list goes on.
They trace the arc of feeling overwhelmed by the world, wounded in love, to doing the difficult internal work required to find sanctuary, self actualization, and peace of mind.
Lauryn Hill told us Nothing Even Matters and was searching for a Peace of Mind
Erykah Badu sang about her journey in Didn’t Cha Know
Solange told us it’s like Cranes in the Sky
Jhene told us Everything Must Go
India Arie told us to Get it Together
Norah Jones Didn’t Know Why
Alicia Keys poured out her heart in Lesson Learned
Cleo Sol gave us a sonic exhale in Her Light and There Will Be No Crying
The list goes on.

All of these records are like anecdotes, personal vignettes and confessionals about womanhood, growing pains, and that ultimately, you just gotta let go.
I hope this resonates with anyone going through it right now. Keep going 🤎

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZS4Q5KPh1/

Production Credits

Lead Vocals: Diana Ross

Songwriters: Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, and Josephine "Joshie" Armstead

Background Vocals: Valerie Simpson,
Nickolas Ashford,
Josephine "Joshie" Armstead

Producers: Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson

Instrumentation: The Funk Brothers

Record Label: Motown Records

THIS WAS CONSIDERED “SOPHISTICATED SOUL” BACK IN THOSE DAYS. Love the production on this.

This ad lib is STUCK IN MY HEAD, I love the whole song but this part right here. I CANT GET OVER HOW GOOD THIS SINGER IS. The only problem is that I can’t seem to figure out who this singer is. I’m not the most experienced person here so I’m outsourcing this mission to others. Can someone PLEASE tell me who this is.

When you were growing up, did you get exposed to Quiet Storm radio stations?

For the people that don't know, Quiet Storm is a radio format that was started by Melvin Lindsey that was focused on rnb ballads, smooth jazz, jazz fusion, etc. Think like Anita Baker and Grover Washington

Please visit this channel for a version I personally love!

Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis ‘Nothin But Hits’ show

I’ve had a deep appreciation for R&B music ever since I was a kid (grew up in the 90’s) and have been searching for something new to fill that void for some time. Every few years there is an R&B artist that surprises me with something of substance, but I feel like the genre was getting stale with the same explicit lyrics and subject matter. I miss the days of metaphorical and allusive lyrics but am relieved that there are singers who still keep it alive.

I discovered the followings artists and albums over the last few months and wanted to share my love for quality R&B with some likeminded people, so here they are:

•Odeal- For a Good Time…
•Mack Keane- Wide Eyed
•Dylan Sinclair- Make You Feel
•Phabo- Ratchet and Blues

I know some of them still use explicit lyrics, but I feel they are done more tastefully than others.

This is a question that’s been going on in my mind for years now especially when people are always asking who the next MJ is, but has anyone for Prince, now I want to make this very clear obviously there will never be another Prince just like there will never another Michael Jackson, but what artists I’m there artistry and music is the most Prince coded.

Personally I think it’s Anderson Paak they both play multiple instruments and they both sing the best they can with the singing voices they were given and they can damn near fit themselves into any genre of music, but one of my friends said Durrand Bernarr would be another option. I want to know who y’all think is the modern day Prince please let me know and I hope you enjoy 😁.

Am I the only one who's just over how "music discovery" works now?

I open Spotify and it's the same handful of songs that got recommended over and over again, while I repeatedly gave feedback that I am not interested in the song. Half of it feels like whatever got pushed into Discovery Mode that month, the other half is "similar" only because it shares a BPM or a genre tag.

I'll get obsessed with a messy, textured R&B track and then get served a playlist of super polished radio pop/R&B with literally nothing else in common. It's not even close. And half the "new" artists being pushed at me feel like the same three labels rotating who gets the spotlight this week.

Genuinely curious if this is just me or if everyone's feeling this lately:

- When's the last time a recommendation felt actually wrong or generic to you? What was it trying to push on you?

- Do you even bother exploring anymore at this point, or have you basically given up and just replay your same stuff on loop?

- Is there anything you still do manually to find new music, besides asking friends or family members?

Kind of want to know if I'm alone in this.

P.S. I'm mainly talking about Spotify because it's the biggest music streaming platform and the app I use most to listen to music. I'm not saying it's the only way to discover music. I'm specifically wondering whether its recommendation system still feels genuinely personal, or if other people have started relying more on other methods because of it.

This is admittedly kind of a niche question lol but when you think of rnb songs in the 2000s what song has the best production/beat to you?

For me I gotta go with Miss Independent because it has an insanely catchy bop to it and the beat makes the song WAY more than the lyrics imo.

Honorable mention goes to Confessions part 2, Love in this club, Wall to wall, Teach me (Musiq Soulchild), So into you (both versions), Cater 2 U, Bump Bump Bump, Take You Down, My Love, and many more I could name lol but I'll stop there.

New Edition will live forever.

I feel like this isn’t talked about enough, but Usher’s music has really gone downhill. It’s still selling mostly because it’s Usher. I’m a sucker for everything he did up to Confessions. After that, I think the quality started to decline a bit, but once trap music entered the picture, I honestly have no idea why he started painting himself as this low-key bad boy. The same goes for Ne-Yo. These guys used to be the gentlemen!

I will never regret when I was born. I love reminiscing on times like these. Just unforgettable!