Beyoncé embodied R&B's timelessness during her magnum opus Renaissance World Tour, where she preceded her disco-pop futuristic performance with a medley of some of her greatest R&B hits, including "Dangerously in Love 2," "Flaws and All," "I Care," and her rendition of Mary J. Blige's "I'm Going Down."
SZA's blockbuster album SOS made history when it topped Billboard's Top R&B Album Charts for 41 consecutive weeks, and the album's standout anthem, "Kill Bill," followed suit when it broke the record for the most weeks at number one on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip Hop chart. The song is also a contender for Song of the Year and Record of the Year at the 66th annual Grammy Awards.
The Grammy's R&B categories also gave proper credit to R&B's rising stars with nominations for Coco Jones, Alex Isley, Kenyon Dixon, and Victoria Monet, whose hit song "On My Mama," which sampled Chalie Boy's "I Look Good," became an instant summer sensation.
R&B luminary Usher ended the year on a high note. In September, he partnered with Apple Music to announce his 2024 Super Bowl halftime performance, and in December, he closed out his 100-show Las Vegas residency, a culmination of a sprawling, decades-long career. Rolling Stone recently solidified his legacy by naming his 2004 smash "Confessions Part II" the best R&B song of the 21st Century.
Narrowing in on South Florida's R&B scene, local and regional artists also mirrored the resurgence of R&B. Miami-based singer-songwriter Cedric Brazle's What I Know Now EP earned New Times' 2023 Best Emerging Act. And producer and South Florida native Justin Wiggins joined forces with Canadian singer and rapper Jahkoy to executive produce his latest offering, Healing Phases. A plethora of standouts like Tampa native Destin Conrad and Broward singer-songwriter Q reclaimed South Florida's ties to R&B.
From subtle grooves to genre-bending vocals, here are New Times' picks for the R&B artists to watch in 2024.