The 20 Best R&B Radio Hits of 2019
One of the reasons I include chart positions in these year-end wrap ups is it helps me get some perspective on the commercial standing of different artists and genres, and it really feels like R&B is not in a great place commercially. Only 7 of these songs even charted on the Hot 100, the lowest number of any genre I wrote about this year, and the lowest number of any R&B list I've done this decade. Summer Walker was the year's biggest new star, but she didn't quite get to the level of previous breakouts like Ella Mai and SZA, and even just looking at urban radio charts, hip hop is pushing R&B off the airwaves like never before, a lot of singers that used to be in heavy rotation every year are struggling to get into the top 10. And it's a shame, there's been some excellent music this year.
I made a Spotify playlist of these songs. And here are my other 2019 lists for rap, rock/alternative, country, and pop, and my previous R&B lists for 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.
1. Ari Lennox - "BMO"
#17 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay
"Whipped Cream" was the first single that got me anticipating Ari Lennox's debut album Shea Butter Baby, but "BMO" turned out to be the one that really had staying power. There's something about this track that feels very '90s to me, and I don't think it's even because it samples a different section of the Galt MacDermot cut that was looped for "Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check." Lemme go and check on these goddamn garbanzo beans.
3. Raphael Saadiq f/ Rob Bacon - "Something Keeps Calling"
5. Ella Mai - "Shot Clock"
2. Khalid f/ Disclosure - "Talk"
#1 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay, #3 Hot 100
The R&B radio success of "Location" launched Khalid's career three years ago, but ever since then he'd been off and running as a Top 40 crossover star, so I was curious if his second album would still be embraced by urban radio. It was, and surprisingly it was with the collaboration with British electronic duo Disclosure, who previously had a brief moment of R&B radio success with Sam Smith and Mary J. Blige half a decade ago. "Talk" was really just one of those broad simple records that worked in every possible format, though, there's not much to it but that woozy shuffling groove and a couple of memorable vocal melodies, and that's all it needs.
3. Raphael Saadiq f/ Rob Bacon - "Something Keeps Calling"
#21 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay
I rarely fall asleep listening to music, but once over the summer I drifted off to sleep while I had headphones in, and this is the song that was playing when I woke up maybe 10 minutes later. And that groggy half asleep memory has been imprinted on my brain so that I feel a little of it now every time I hear "Something Keeps Calling," and it really enhances the sad haunting quality of the song.
4. Kiana Lede - "Ex"
#35 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay
I feel like I heard this song on D.C. and Baltimore radio a lot more than its national chart position would suggest, maybe it did better in some regions than others. A great, understated and beautifully produced song, though, I have to say that I'm unhappy that radio...buried the lede here.
I feel like I heard this song on D.C. and Baltimore radio a lot more than its national chart position would suggest, maybe it did better in some regions than others. A great, understated and beautifully produced song, though, I have to say that I'm unhappy that radio...buried the lede here.
5. Ella Mai - "Shot Clock"
#5 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay, #62 Hot 100
So few R&B albums go three singles deep these days, I'm happy that Ella Mai was able to get there with such a good track, with a distinctive creeping groove that stood out from her pretty similar first two hits.
6. The Bonfyre - "Automatic"
#16 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay
Yung Berg had flash in the pan success as a rapper circa 2008, but in recent year's he's successfully reinvented himself as the producer Hitmaka. Most Hitmaka singles sample popular songs from a decade or two back as shamelessly as Irv Gotti ever did, but now and again he's made some really nice tracks that don't trade on nostalgia, and "Automatic" might be my favorite of those.
7. Summer Walker f/ Drake - "Girls Need Love (Remix)"
Yung Berg had flash in the pan success as a rapper circa 2008, but in recent year's he's successfully reinvented himself as the producer Hitmaka. Most Hitmaka singles sample popular songs from a decade or two back as shamelessly as Irv Gotti ever did, but now and again he's made some really nice tracks that don't trade on nostalgia, and "Automatic" might be my favorite of those.
7. Summer Walker f/ Drake - "Girls Need Love (Remix)"
#6 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay, #37 Hot 100
You knew I was gonna say this, but this song was perfectly fine before Drake jumped on it, it was already getting spins without him. But of course, it wouldn't have turned out quite as big without him, so good for her, I guess, but I prefer the quick 2 minutes and 21 seconds of the original.
8. Beyonce - "Before I Let Go"
8. Beyonce - "Before I Let Go"
#5 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay, #65 Hot 100
It'd be audacious for anyone, even Beyonce, to cover a song as perennially beloved as "Before I Let Go." And when I heard that her cover was made with Tay Keith, the Memphis producer known for the booming bass of songs like BlocBoy JB's "Look Alive," I have to admit I was skeptical. But she really put her on stamp on it, it's never going to take the place of the original, but I enjoyed hearing it all year, especially that outro with the Cameo interpolation and the "Get Me Bodied"-style dance instructions. I have no idea if it was deliberate, but I liked the nerdy trivia angle that the Maze song originally was released as a new studio track at the end of a live album, and so was Beyonce's cover.
9. Fantasia - "Enough"
#16 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay
Interviewing Fantasia Barrino was one of the highlights of my 2019. I really thought she blossomed creatively over her last 3 albums and it was great to hear directly from her about how she went about that, and how proud she was of getting a song with all live instrumentation like "Enough" on the radio.
10. Robin Thicke - "That's What Love Can Do"
#19 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay
After the triumph of Blurred Lines came crashing down with Paula and the divorce and the Marvin Gay lawsuit and everything else, Robin Thicke hasn't released in album in over 5 years, sporadically releasing singles and trying to pick up the pieces of his career. And the 6th single he released over the last few years, "That's What Love Can Do," finally stuck a chord and became his biggest radio hit since "Blurred Lines" with some gentle Stylistics vibes.
11. Anderson .Paak f/ Smokey Robinson - "Make It Better"
#22 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay
Anderson .Paak really got to flex with two Aftermath albums in the space of six months, one a rap album with Kendrick Lamar on the lead single, and the other an R&B album with Smokey Robinson on the lead single. But what surprised me was that the song with Smokey did better on the radio, it was really a nice mellow track that showed off .Paak's range well, makes me wonder if he'll primarily have hits in the future as a singer.
12. SiR f/ Kendrick Lamar - "Hair Down"
#37 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay
I appreciate that Top Dawg Entertainment has really allowed SiR's career to blossom slowly, letting him drop a project every year (two EPs and then two albums) and finally putting a Kendrick feature on his 4th release for the label. In typical Kendrick fashion, he doesn't turn in a straightforward R&B feature, muttering for half his verse and hilariously shading half his rap superstar contemporaries with a throwaway line ("Calabasas ain't the move, that's where everybody live"). It's a cool little song, it's fun to finally hear SiR on the radio after following him since he was an independent artist.
13. Lucky Daye - "Roll Some Mo"
#34 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay
Lucky Daye has I think one of the worst stage names in music today (other than Asian Da Brat, of course), but he's a really talented guy, kicked around for over a decade singing Sam Cooke at an "American Idol" audition and writing hits for Ne-Yo and Mary J. Blige before getting a shot as a solo artist. "Roll Some Mo" and his album Painted weren't big commercial hits but he got 4 Grammy nominations for them, so he's doing something right. 14. H.E.R. f/ Bryson Tiller - "Could've Been"
#23 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay, #76 Hot 100
Nobody in the new generation of R&B stars has gotten more Grammy love than H.E.R., who's gotten 10 nominations in the last two years (and won 2 last year). I keep thinking I know what to expect from her and then she kinda goes in a different direction, the Bryson Tiller duet was better than I thought it could be and the new single with YG is really good too.
15. Alicia Keys f/ Miguel - "Show Me Love"
#10 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay, #90 Hot 100
#10 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay, #90 Hot 100
Alicia Keys once asked Miguel to co-write a song for her album, but he ended up keeping "Where's The Fun In Forever" for his own album. 7 years later, there's finally an Alicia Keys featuring Miguel record, and it's pretty nice. Duets have always been a good look for Alicia, from "My Boo" to "Fire We Make," and her voice sounds good alongside Miguel's.
16. Doja Cat f/ Tyga - "Juicy (Remix)"
#21 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay, #47 Hot 100
Doja Cat has had one of the oddest career arcs in the last couple years. In 2018 her major label debut barely made a dent on popular consciousness, and then 5 months later she made a goofy cow-themed song called "MOOO!" that went viral and she kind of used her newfound fame to pivot toward urban radio more with a couple of more polished singles including "Juicy." I think I would have categorized her as a pop artist on her first album, and people are classifying her as a rapper more and more now, but "Juicy" kind of puts forward a decent argument for her as an R&B singer.
17. John Legend - "Preach"
#34 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay
An interesting thing has happened with John Legend's singles in the last couple years. Last year's "Good Night" was a collaboration with pop/EDM producer BloodPop (Justin Bieber etc), and this year's "Preach" was produced by pop/rock producer Greg Kurstin (Kelly Clarkson, Beck, etc.), but both songs did better on the R&B charts than in the pop world where Legend crossed over big time a few years ago with "All of Me."
18. Afro B - "Drogba (Joanna)"
#13 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay
Afrobeats has been on the rise for years, but 2019 felt like the first time it was really normal to turn on an American R&B station and hear an Afrobeats song, and I'm amused that that's largely due to an artist named Afro B (Davido too, but that "banana fall on you" song was just too damn silly for me to enjoy). I still have mixed feelings about the genre, I think it's weird that they just put an S on the end of Afrobeat, a completely different genre with a much longer history, and a lot of it just sounds like dancehall to me, I just kind of assumed "Drogba" was by a Jamaican artist the first time I heard it.
19. Monica - "Commitment"
An interesting thing has happened with John Legend's singles in the last couple years. Last year's "Good Night" was a collaboration with pop/EDM producer BloodPop (Justin Bieber etc), and this year's "Preach" was produced by pop/rock producer Greg Kurstin (Kelly Clarkson, Beck, etc.), but both songs did better on the R&B charts than in the pop world where Legend crossed over big time a few years ago with "All of Me."
18. Afro B - "Drogba (Joanna)"
#13 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay
Afrobeats has been on the rise for years, but 2019 felt like the first time it was really normal to turn on an American R&B station and hear an Afrobeats song, and I'm amused that that's largely due to an artist named Afro B (Davido too, but that "banana fall on you" song was just too damn silly for me to enjoy). I still have mixed feelings about the genre, I think it's weird that they just put an S on the end of Afrobeat, a completely different genre with a much longer history, and a lot of it just sounds like dancehall to me, I just kind of assumed "Drogba" was by a Jamaican artist the first time I heard it.
19. Monica - "Commitment"
#21 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay
I don't think Monica gets enough credit for her consistency, she's been out here for over 20 years regularly dropping music and she doesn't have many singles I don't like.
20. Jacquees f/ Lil Baby - "Your Peace"
I don't think Monica gets enough credit for her consistency, she's been out here for over 20 years regularly dropping music and she doesn't have many singles I don't like.
20. Jacquees f/ Lil Baby - "Your Peace"
#28 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay
Jacquees was having a breakout year in 2018 when he perhaps a little prematurely declared himself his generation's king of R&B, and this year he doubled down with an album titled King of R&B. I can't help but wonder if he shot himself in the foot by opening himself for ridicule like that because he hasn't even been able to get another big radio hit, but "Your Peace" deserved to do better, it was a jam.
Jacquees was having a breakout year in 2018 when he perhaps a little prematurely declared himself his generation's king of R&B, and this year he doubled down with an album titled King of R&B. I can't help but wonder if he shot himself in the foot by opening himself for ridicule like that because he hasn't even been able to get another big radio hit, but "Your Peace" deserved to do better, it was a jam.
The 10 Worst R&B Radio Hits of 2019:
1. Chris Brown f/ Drake - "No Guidance"
2. Layton Greene f/ Lil Baby, City Girls and PnB Rock - "Leave Em Alone"
3. YK Osiris - "Worth It"
4. Davido - "Fall"
5. Tank - "Dirty"
6. Peabo Bryson - "All She Wants To Do Is Me"
4. Davido - "Fall"
5. Tank - "Dirty"
6. Peabo Bryson - "All She Wants To Do Is Me"
7. Jessie Reyez f/ 6lack - "Imported"
8. DaniLeigh - "Lil Bebe"
9. DJ Khaled f/ SZA - "Just Us"
10. India.Arie - "That Magic"
8. DaniLeigh - "Lil Bebe"
9. DJ Khaled f/ SZA - "Just Us"
10. India.Arie - "That Magic"
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