PopMatters' 15 Best R&B/Soul Albums of 2016

PopMatters' 15 Best R&B/Soul Albums of 2016

Original Source →

15.

Corinne Bailey Rae - The Heart Speaks in Whispers
May 13, 2016
Critic Score
73
19 reviews

It’s fearless, the way she approaches the task of genre-bouncing. She’s not sitting still merely for the sake of not sitting still; she’s not sitting still because she’s an artist who has a very unique and very determined sense of versatility.

14.

KING - We Are KING
February 5, 2016
Critic Score
81
11 reviews

We Are King is an album designed to work on the listener as a whole. The LP’s slow-burning atmospherics, vamping introductions and sophisticated song structures unfold elegantly and purposefully over the course of its 60-minute runtime.

13.

Ngaiire - Blastoma
June 10, 2016
Critic Score
85
2 reviews

12.

James Blake - The Colour in Anything
May 6, 2016
Critic Score
79
34 reviews

The rest is, as mentioned, colorless and tedious, with Blake’s typical lugubriousness added in.

11.

Alicia Keys - HERE
November 4, 2016
Critic Score
74
18 reviews

Alicia Keys decided to make something so raw, so honest, so palpable, that it should be all but impossible for soul music lovers to ignore this release.

10.

St. Paul & The Broken Bones - Sea of Noise
September 9, 2016
Critic Score
77
5 reviews

9.

Laura Mvula - The Dreaming Room
June 17, 2016
Critic Score
79
15 reviews

8.

Michael Kiwanuka - Love & Hate
July 15, 2016
Critic Score
82
25 reviews

7.

Frank Ocean - Blonde
August 20, 2016
Critic Score
86
42 reviews
Like the greatest artists, Frank Ocean makes the new and experimental appealing towards even the most mainstream audiences, except this time the songs are more fulfilling and memorable than ever before.

6.

Gallant - Ology
April 6, 2016
Critic Score
74
8 reviews

His first record reveals a felicity with language, a charismatic manner of singing, and a deep understanding of what makes a song work well beyond his years. Each track works on several layers. One can listen to it, make love to it, or just move to the beats.

5.

Jamila Woods - HEAVN
July 7, 2016
Critic Score
79
6 reviews

4.

BJ the Chicago Kid - In My Mind
February 19, 2016
Critic Score
80
5 reviews

3.

D∆WN - Redemption
November 18, 2016
Critic Score
75
9 reviews

2.

Solange - A Seat at the Table
September 30, 2016
Critic Score
88
30 reviews

Daunting and at times exhausting, A Seat at the Table is still an undeniably important work.

1.

Anderson .Paak - Malibu
January 15, 2016
Critic Score
81
19 reviews

His ability to make uptempo soul without losing his ability to invoke a response more typical of downtempo sounds is particularly impressive.

Original Source: http://www.popmatters.com/feature/the-15-best-soul-albums-of-2016/
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