2022 has been a phenomenal year for R&B music. Thanks to the slow decline of the pandemic and an upsurge in creativity in music scenes across the world, 2022 was an incredible year for R&B songs – here are some of its finest works from this era.
Dominican producer and singer Lidis Santamara’s tracks effortlessly traverse trap, dembow and homegrown bedroom pop styles, dexterously exploring love in all its many manifestations from toxic romance to spiritual renewal.
Ari Lennox – Age/Sex/Location
Ari Lennox has experienced an extraordinary two years. From releasing her 2016 EP Pho, which boasted retro flair and the bliss of satisfying one’s carnal needs, to her 2019 full-length debut Shea Butter Baby exploring young single women striving to understand themselves outside of sexual relationships, then onto age/sex/location; where DC native Ari delivers another steamier yet seductive collection on her path towards self-acceptance.
Age/sex/location marks a notable development for Lennox, as her horn-backed R&B hits both hard and soft moments to highlight her natural range and relatable lyrics. Produced by Dreamville affiliate Elite, Theo Croker, Bryan-Michael Cox and Jermaine Dupri, Lennox recorded age/sex/location at her home studio and represents her most confident-sounding work to date; age/sex/location follows on the success of “Pressure” and “Hoodie,” both which featured on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart respectively.
Check out Lennox’s age/sex/location details below, and be sure to keep an eye out for her tour dates: In addition to Las Vegas, Lennox will make stops in Los Angeles, Houston, New Orleans and Atlanta before concluding her 27-date trek back home in Washington D.C.
Lennox has also marked her album release with special events, like performing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday (September 4). Here she performed both her latest singles: “POF” and “Waste My Time”.
As Lennox performs her captivating performances during this tour, she will be joined by an array of talented performers like Lucky Daye and Summer Walker as well as Doja Cat, Smino, Durand Bernarr, JID. Beginning January 26 in Las Vegas, Lennox will make stops throughout Los Angeles, Oakland, New Orleans Atlanta Boston Toronto Chicago until finally concluding it back home on March 28 in D.C. Purchase tickets here.
Amaria – All For You
Love was one of the year’s major themes, from new romances to spiritual and toxic relationships – with artists such as SZA, Snoh Aalegra and GloRilla exploring various versions of it on their respective releases.
Amaria of Tampa channels the soothing yet engaging aspects of neo-soul, perfected by artists like Erykah Badu and Amel Larrieux. Her 2022 EP Bittersweet features “All For You,” an intimate bedroom jam which showcases Amaria’s delicate voice and seductive delivery; making this mid-tempo bedroom jam an essential for summer playlists or grown and sexy parties alike.
Amaria’s visuals encapsulate her song’s psychedelic R&B aesthetic through sepia tones and fluid dancers that emphasize her ethereal presence. The captivating clip should not be missed! With an album coming soon and more visuals on their way out, Amaria should be kept an eye on. We may get lucky enough to witness one of her live sets soon.
Fatima & Joe Armon-Jones – Tinted Shades
Joe Armon-Jones, an esteemed English producer, composer, and keyboard player collaborated with Swedish soul singer Fatima on Joe’s Aquarii label to release three track EP Tinted Shades this March. This project explores personal truths whilst simultaneously confronting darkness with hope – spanning soul, hip hop and R&B genres – such as lead single “#1”, which features Fatima’s indelible essence beautifully produced.
Both artists are at the pinnacle of their careers, making this project essential and timeless. Joe’s jazz background provides the ideal complement for Fatima’s spiritual currents and her stunning vocal performance, with Moses Boyd and Morgan Simpson providing head-nodding drum grooves as well as Fatima producing her own ethereal production with an endearing key solo in part two of this track.
2022 was an incredible year for R&B and neo-soul artists, with many of the genre’s premier musicians creating stunning projects and collaborations that delivered fan favorites like Drake. Amid daily madness and pandemic disease rage-ing through society, these music makers provided fans with soothing songs that lifted spirits while serving as powerful anthems of love (new love, spiritual love, toxic love and self-love) during these turbulent times.
R&B titans Muni Long and SZA also made our list of the best R&B songs of 2022. Both artists explored the complexities of relationships through their offerings, showing an uninhibited sexuality while breaking from convention. SZA captured toxic love’s desperate intensity through her Dave Meyers-directed cinematic video for cinematic ‘Shirt’ while Muni Long defied timers in bed by performing her modern day version of classic ‘Cater 2 U’; both tracks will elevate any sensual playlist!
Aaliyah – Aaliyah
Aaliyah combined her beautiful face and talent for seamlessly fusing R&B and hip-hop music into an impactful artist of her time. Just three albums into her career and film career when she tragically died in a plane crash while filming “Rock the Boat”. Aaliyah lives on in her legacy being recorded by artists like Drake, Ciara, and Beyonce whose musical output features elements inspired by Aaliyah.
Aaliyah began her music career at age 14 with Jive Records, recording the album Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number, which produced multiple top hits including #1 R&B hit “Back and Forth”. Leaving Jive in 1996 for Atlantic Records where she collaborated with producers Missy Elliott and Timbaland on her second album One in a Million; its lead single from motion picture Anastasia “Journey to the Past” earned an Academy Award nomination; its success solidifying Aaliyah as both singer/actress.
In 1998 Aaliyah decided to branch out and venture into acting. Following her successful appearance on The Academy Awards show, film producer Joel Silver invited her for an audition role in Romeo Must Die as Joel Silver was looking for new actors for this movie; Joel fell in love with Aaliyah’s determination and seducive charm and cast her in one. Romeo Must Die went on to become a box office success!
Following her successful acting debut, Aaliyah recorded and released her third album “Aaliyah.” Her infectious single from this project, ‘Try Again,” earned a Grammy nomination as well as two MTV Music Videos Awards nominations. Additionally, its music video was shot on Abaco Island beach under Hype Williams – one of the leading directors for music videos.
Once Aaliyah released “Try Again” and her third album was out, she expanded into different musical genres and films such as Queen of the Damned in 2001 with Stuart Townsend and Vincent Perez as co-stars based on Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles trilogy book 3.