The Top 100 R&B Singles of the 2010s
10 years ago, I did lists of my favorite R&B
singles and rap/R&B
crossover singles of the 2000s, but this time I'm just putting both categories into one big list. Here's a Spotify playlist of all 100 songs.
1. Miguel - "Adorn" (2012)
#1 R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, #17 Hot 100
Miguel
was already a few hits into his run as one of the more promising new
R&B stars of the early 2010s when he released the first Art Dealer Chic mini-EP at the top of 2012. But I
wasn't as immediately taken with the 2-minute self-produced "Adorn"
as some other people were. But Miguel added a third minute to the song for its
official commercial release, and the bridge and extra chorus with beautiful
vocal ad libs really made the charming miniature into a monster song -- the
label tried to gild the lily additionally with a Wiz Khalifa remix but
perfection had already been achieved. My favorite R&B single of the
decade, from my
favorite album of the decade.
2. Tinashe f/ ScHoolboy Q - "2 On" (2014)
#5 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #24 Hot 100
I don't
think I'm a staunch R&B traditionalist in a lot of ways, but I was
never really on board with the crunk & B sound of the mid-2000's -- I
just never thought sung vocals sounded as good over those brittle Lil Jon beats
as rapped vocals. A decade later, DJ Mustard crossed over with a west coast
sound that relied on a lot of the same 808s and synths as Lil Jon, and I braced
myself to be annoyed by his inevitable transition to R&B. But I'll give
Mustard a lot of credit: a lot of his R&B productions either switched
up his sound entirely (Rihanna's "Needed Me," Ella Mai's "Boo'd
Up") or married his post-hyphy signature drums to some more textured and
melodic sounds as on "2 On," co-produced by Redwine and DJ
Marley Waters.
3. Beyonce - "Love On Top" (2012)
#1 R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, #20 Hot 100
4 was
the first Beyonce album after Top 40 radio turned a corner and started to leave
R&B behind, and it was the album that affirmed that she'd continue
ruling R&B radio for the foreseeable future with or without crossover
hits. "Love On Top" came in the middle of the album's singles
campaign, months after an immortal VMA's performance that culminated in B
revealing a baby bump at the end of the song, a moment that I think has
retroactively imbued "Love On Top" with even more joy and love than
the song was already bursting at the seams with, that you felt with every
climactic key change.
4. SZA - "The Weekend" (2017)
#6 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #37 Hot 100
Sometimes
artists know when they've made a great career-defining song, and some don't.
After the success of "The Weekend," SZA said "I
made that song in two seconds. That was like a throwaway." But it struck a
chord, a clever and compact song that puts a complicated romantic arrangement
into an elegantly direct chorus, and I feel like it's got the most staying
power of all the hits CTRL spun off. If she thinks she's
capable of much better music than "The Weekend," I'm looking forward
to hearing it.
5. Ciara
- "Body Party" (2013)
#2 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #22 Hot 100
#2 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #22 Hot 100
A good
number of contemporary R&B singles have sampled or interpolated hits of
yesteryear since the '90s, when hip hop-style sampling changed the sound of
soul music. But in the 2010s, it really started to feel like the snake was
eating its own tail when so much of R&B radio recycled songs still in
rotation from the '90s and early 2000s. When Ciara and Future's brief but
infamous relationship produced the biggest hit of the second half of her
career, "Body Party," I was a little a skeptical of the idea to slow
down Ghost Town DJs' "My Boo" to slow jam tempo. After all, as Rodney
Terry of Ghost Town DJs told Billboard's
Natalie Weiner a few
years ago, "The whole key of the record was it was an R&B record
over a fast beat. The music and the vocals couldn't have anything to do with
the beat." But "Body Party" grew on me, and in retrospect it's
one of the greatest moments of '90s nostalgia in the 2010s.
6. Jeremih f/ J. Cole - "Planes" (2015)
#1 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #44 Hot 100
Jeremih
became a star practically overnight in 2009, but he spent the next decade
coming into his own creatively while constantly being underestimated by the
industry and fighting for every victory. And that struggle is best epitomized
by "Planes," a song that took a year to come out after a live
performance of the song with its original guest MC, Chance The Rapper, went
viral. When Def Jam finally deigned to release the song, well after the
momentum of "Don't Tell 'Em" had dissipated, with the more bankable
J. Cole adding a legendarily
mediocre verse to it, it showed up on Spotify, then disappeared, then
came back, with the official title arbitrarily changing from "Planes"
to "Planez" at some point in the process. And yet, the song was still
a #1 hit, and deservingly so.
7.
Rihanna - “Rude Boy” (2010)
#2
R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #1 Hot 100
"Rude
Boy" was released on Rated R in late 2009, but it didn't
debut on the charts until the following year, so it's one of a handful of 2009
songs getting grandfathered into my 2010s lists. 6 of Rihanna's last 7 albums
launched with a huge lead single that went to #1 on the Hot 100, and the
exception of Rated R, which came out at the end of the tumultuous
year that Chris Brown assaulted Rihanna. The album's first two singles,
"Russian Roulette" and "Hard," represented a darker sound
than people had heard from Rihanna at that point. But with the release of
"Rude Boy" as the third single, it felt like she was ready to give
the world the sexy uptempo bangers that she's served consistently before and
since then, and "Rude Boy" really might be my favorite Rihanna song,
it just utilizes every unique quality of her voice perfectly.
8.
Fantasia f/ Kelly Rowland and Missy Elliott - "Without Me" (2013)
#6 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #74 Hot 100
#6 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #74 Hot 100
One of my
highlights of the past year was interviewing Fantasia
Barrino, one of the great R&B vocalists of her generation. Early in her
career, she'd manage to give a powerhouse performance even over a crisp minimal
track like the modern classic "When I See U." But Fantasia really
showed her range on my favorite track from the 2010s by scaling down and giving
a subtle, muted performance that simmered with indignation and disgust on
"Without Me."
9. Elle
Varner - "Refill" (2012)
#10 R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
#10 R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Elle
Varner's performance on "Refill" veers on over-the-top, but that
beautifully manic violin loop filling every available space in the beat manages
to provide the perfect back drop for her animated vocal. Pop Wanswel and DJ
Camper have both separately been behind a lot of my favorite R&B tracks
of the past decade, but this is one of just a couple co-productions they have
together (along with Big Sean's "Marvin and Chardonnay").
10. Khalid
- "Location" (2017)
#2 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #16 Hot 100
#2 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #16 Hot 100
Khalid's
career arc reminds me of Akon's -- starting out with a hit or two on R&B
radio, and then crossing over to the Top 40 world and staying there with
increasingly pop/EDM beats and collaborators. But the first time I heard
"Location" it just grabbed me and I had a pretty strong hunch that it
was gonna be a hit, months before it charted nationally, not know anything
about this teenage army brat with the oddly worldly voice other than that I'd
be hearing more from him.
11. Bruno
Mars - "That's What I Like" (2017)
#1 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #1 Hot 100
#1 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #1 Hot 100
The first
time I heard Bruno Mars's voice was on an R&B station, on that B.o.B
song that rocketed to #1 out of nowhere and was most of America's introduction
to Pete Hernandez. But he seemed immediately destined for pop stardom, and it
was a mild surprise when his polymath flair for studying and mastering
different styles of popular music led him to the retro funk of his third
album 24K Magic. But regardless of whether he stays there for album
#4, album #3 made R&B radio his home, and my favorite hit from the
record is the one that was the least tied to any particular past decade style.
It sounded a little like it could've come out in the early 2000s but for the
most part it sounded right on time.
12. Miguel
- "Sure Thing" (2011)
#1 R&B/Hip-Hop
Airplay, #36 Hot 100
"Sure
Thing" was a song that sounded a little left-of-center and ahead of its
time when it blanketed the airwaves in 2011. But by that point it had been
almost 4 years since the same track helped Miguel land a manager and a deal
with Jive, and 7 years since he first glimpsed fame with a brief appearance on
the hilariously named reality show "Blowin' Up!: Fatty Koo." The air
conditioning in my car was busted in the summer of 2011, and hearing "Sure
Thing" now just makes me think of how much I was sweating with the windows
open while hearing that song every hour of every day that I was in the
car.
13. DJ
Khaled f/ Chris Brown, August Alsina, Future and Jeremih - "Hold You
Down" (2014)
#1 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #39 Hot 100
Although
I liked early DJ Khaled's early singles like "We Takin' Over" and he
had plenty of hits in the last decade, his triumphant rap anthem formula really
wore thin for me in the 2010s. So after thinking about it, I realize that my
favorite Khaled song from the past 10 years was his first single that put a few
male R&B stars (and Honest-era Future at his most melodic) into the
posse cut format, something of a modern update of "The Secret Garden"
by Quincy Jones.
14. Kelly
Rowland f/ Lil Wayne - "Motivation" (2010)
#1
R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #17 Hot 100
Kelly
Rowland's got such a gorgeous voice, I miss the harmonies and the blend of
voices in Destiny's Child, and I wish she released solo albums more often. But
"Motivation" was the one moment where she really got her due as a
solo artist, another song I heard on the radio much for a few months that just
hearing it puts me back in that time and place.
15. Usher - "Good Kisser" (2014)
#1 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #65 Hot 100
15. Usher - "Good Kisser" (2014)
#1 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #65 Hot 100
Usher's
post-Confessions career has been pretty damn good, a little
inconsistent and at times lacking direction, but he's amassed a nice run of
singles and albums that's still better than the majority of his contemporaries
and would-be successors. But it's hard to come down from that kind of height of
stardom without showing signs of strain, and I think he got judged too harshly
in the 2010s, to the point that he ended up never releasing the album, UR,
that was set to feature "Good Kisser" or the other R&B #1
that followed soon after, "I Don't Mind." And those songs weren't
fiascos like "Pop Ya Collar," the 2001 single that prompted the title
change and delay of his 4th album, "Good Kisser" in particular was
just an outstanding record. The lyric is a little over-the-top but the Pop
& Oak production and the vocal performance are just killer. .
16. Beyonce - "Formation" (2016)
#4 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #10 Hot 100
I'm
moderately bored of Beyonce's more hip hop-leaning material, but she really got
the perfect recipe for that side of her sound with Mike Will and Swae Lee here.
Almost any Beyonce song with brass in it goes off, and the part where she
harmonizes with the horns at 2:17 is one of my favorite moments in her whole
catalog.
17. Daniel Caesar f/ H.E.R. - "Best Part" (2018)
#11 R&B R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #75 Hot 100
After
years of the more young and hip end of R&B leaning into trap drums and
rap flows, one of the more interesting developments of the last couple years
was a new generation of quiet
storm R&B. Daniel Caesar and H.E.R. both led the way on that trend,
and their acoustic duet is my favorite thing either of them has one to
date.
18. Frank Ocean - "Thinkin Bout You" (2012)
#4 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #35 Hot 100
At this
point, Frank Ocean is an independent artist who does whatever he wants and may
sell limited edition vinyl singles to his dedicated fanbase and never make
another radio hit for the rest of his career, and he's still continue to
headline festivals and get rave reviews. But for a moment, he was everywhere,
and "Thinkin Bout You" was that huge ballad that got him to that
level.
19. Ella Mai - "Boo'd Up" (2018)
#1 R&B R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #5 Hot 100
When I
hear "Boo'd Up" and its warm, jazzy piano chords, I think of how much
it contrasts with those early DJ Mustard productions with 3-note piano riffs
that inspired the "DJ
Mustard's piano" memes. Once Mustard hooked up with co-producer and
pianist Larrance Dopson, songwriter Joelle James, and a young British singer
going by the name Ella Mai, we got a whole different sound from him that ruled
the summer of 2018.
20. Tamar
Braxton - "Love And War" (2013)
#2 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #57 Hot 100
#2 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #57 Hot 100
When I
turned on the radio one afternoon and heard the DJ interviewing Tamar Braxton
and playing her new single, I kind of figured they were just giving her a
courtesy spin since she's from a famous musical family and "Braxton Family
Values" was a hit reality show. But the song was surprisingly good, sultry
and full of drama. And it kept coming on the radio soon after, not exactly
raising Tamar to the career heights of her big sister Toni but definitely
putting her on the map in a way she wasn't before.
21. K. Michelle - "V.S.O.P." (2013)
#7 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #89 Hot 100
#7 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #89 Hot 100
Like
Tamar Braxton, K. Michelle was a singer-turned-reality TV star whose chance at
a music career was, I assumed, years in the rearview when she dropped a huge
single in 2013. And she really emerged as one of my favorite R&B album
acts of the decade, Rebellious Soul is a classic but all of
her albums are solid, she's got so much #histray.
22. Sade -
“Soldier Of Love” (2010)
#6
R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #52 Hot 100
Sade
emerged as more revered and influential than ever in the 2010s. But nobody
really sings like Sade Adu or makes records that sound like the band she shares
a name with, something that was underscored when they returned with their first
album in 9 years and "Soldier Love" was a hit that sounded both
contemporary and utterly unlike it was being played alongside.
23. Rihanna f/ Future - "Loveeeeeee Song" (2013)
#4 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #55 Hot 100
Two of
the greatest and most distinctive voices of 2010s popular music, coming
together for the first time. Rihanna's song with Future on Unapologetic never
got a video, and seemed to briefly compete with her song on with Future
producer Mike Will Made It, "Pour It Up," to be the focus of the
album's R&B radio promotion, with the latter ultimately being a bigger
hit. But "Loveeeeeee Song" was always special to me, such a singular
and hypnotic song. Jay-Z's great contribution to music in the 2010s may be
his suggestion to add extra E's in the title of "Loveeeeeee
Song."
24. Trey
Songz f/ Nicki Minaj - “Bottoms Up” (2010)
#2
R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #6 Hot 100
I
remember interviewing Trey Songz right after
"Bottoms Up" came out, when he was at the pinnacle of his popularity,
my favorite part was when I referred to his "c'mere" ad lib and he
was quick to correct me that he was actually saying "c'mon." Nicki Minaj
was one of the only rappers who put an effort into their guest spots on
R&B songs in the 2010s, and her "Bottoms Up" verse is just
deranged, I put up there with "Monster" as one of her best
features.
25.
Erykah Badu - “Window Seat” (2010)
#16
R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #95 Hot 100
Erykah
Badu peaked commercially in the '90s, but she has a knack for still making an
impact every time she comes out with an album no matter how far she's drifted
into her own world. And I thought it was cool that at Rick Ross liked this
track enough to do the remix and rap over a James Poyser/Thundercat/Questlove
groove.
26.
Beyonce - "Countdown" (2011)
#12
R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #71 Hot 100
Cainon
Lamb is a really talented producer that doesn't get enough credit (Jazmine
Sullivan's "Need U Bad," Brianna's "Marilyn Monroe,"
Monica's "Everything To Me," a lot of later Missy Elliott stuff). And
"Countdown" is his masterpiece, just an incredible amount of stuff
going on in this track, the crazy snares and horns and the Boyz II Men sample,
and Beyonce's voice tying it all together. People like to say that Beyonce is a
skilled rapper, but I think that sells short the fact that she's great at
singing, really singing, in much faster cadences than most singers can
handle.
27. Robin Thicke -
"Love After War" (2012)
#14 R&B/Hip-Hop
Songs
Robin Thicke had a really
good run there before the big crossover hit kind of changed everything and
eventually stalled his career entirely. The whole Love After War album
holds up and I always thought the title track should've been a bigger
hit.
28. Keri
Hilson - “Pretty Girl Rock” (2010)
#4
R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #24 Hot 100
There's a weird thing on
social media now where people are just obsessed with Keri Hilson and Ashanti,
in a way that they weren't back when they had hit songs out. So oddly Keri Hilson
is more of a sex symbol now than when she made "Pretty Girl Rock,"
but I always had a crush on her and thought this song was a charming, well
produced little saccharine self esteem anthem.
29. Mary J. Blige - "Thick Of It" (2016)
#6 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
People
can kind of be vultures about Mary J. Blige's unhappiness. Yes, she sings sad
songs better than almost anyone, yes some of her best material came out of her
own life's real turmoil, but let's not be gross about being happy that she's
sad. That said, the first thing Mary J. did after divorcing Kendu Isaacs was
release her best single and best album in nearly a decade and declare the
now-legendary #DuDeadDay.
30. Kem -
"Share My Life" (2011)
#25 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Kim
"Kem" Owens isn't really well known outside R&B fans over 45,
and even the younger people that do know his music tend to make fun of his
crisp enunciation and corny "hey girl" ad libs in every song. But
"Share My Life" has always been my go-to Kem jam, I really love the
slow burn arrangement, which opens with a lovely acoustic guitar riff, hits the
first "hey girl" at almost the exact halfway point of the song, and
builds to this big climax and abrupt stop.
31. Ro James - "Permission" (2016)
#9 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
#9 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
"Brother's
Gonna Work It Out" from Willie Hutch's score for the 1973 Blaxploitation
classic The Mack has been sampled memorably many times,
including on Dr. Dre's The Chronic and Chance The
Rapper's Acid Rap. But now when I hear that smooth guitar/flute
loop, I tend to think of Ro James's biggest hit.
32.
Marsha Ambrosius - "Far Away" (2011)
After a
decade of making hits with Floetry and working on a number of blockbuster
albums as a songwriter or hook singer, Marsha Ambrosius finally released her
solo debut in 2011. And the biggest and most memorable hit from the album,
"Far Away," was a touching 7-minute ballad, produced by Just Blaze
and dedicated to a friend of Ambrosius who committed suicide. And Ambrosius,
who wrote the last R&B radio hit Michael Jackson had in his lifetime
("Butterflies"), recently tweeted a picture of her iTunes library
that appeared to confirm the existence of an unreleased version of "Far
Away" featuring MJ.
#26
R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #92 Hot 100
Terius
"The-Dream" Nash continued to stay pretty busy as a songwriter and
guest vocalist on huge records throughout the 2010s, but his brief window of
success as a solo artist started to close pretty quickly after 2010's Love
King. I think most of the singles he released directly before and after
"Love King" were weak and contributed to his commercial decline, but
"Love King" itself was a jam, wish it had done better.
34. Sevyn
Streeter - "I Like It" (2013)
#19 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
#19 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
After
starting out in the group RichGirl, Sevyn Streeter made a transition over the
course of the 2010s from group member to songwriter to solo artist. She
co-wrote several hits for Chris Brown ("Strip," "Yeah 3X,"
"Fine China," "Wet The Bed"), and then her biggest solo
hit, "It Won't Stop," kind of got overshadowed by the remix featuring
Brown. So I feel like she never really got her due as a singer, but I love her
voice and most of her music, especially her bombastic Harmony Samuels-produced
debut single, "I Like It."
35. Usher
- "Climax" (2012)
#1
R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, #17 Hot 100
There was
a weird prolonged controversy recently about this 8-year-old song when The
Weeknd proclaimed that he thought "that's a Weeknd song" when he
heard it. I don't think "Climax" really sounds specifically like The
Weeknd in any meaningful way, and in any case Usher's falsetto puts Abel's to
shame. But "Climax" inarguably was a moment when Usher was trying to
step back from his formula of club bangers and EDM crossover songs and make
something a little more leftfield and contemporary, and did so to great
effect.
36.
Maxwell - "Lake By The Ocean" (2016)
#12 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
#12 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
Maxwell
continued on a relaxed release schedule even after announcing an album trilogy
in 2009 that has yet to be completed. And the second album in the series didn't
feature a hit as big as "Pretty Wings," but I still really adored
"Lake By The Ocean." Just a really gorgeous and serene song with
heartbreak floating just beneath the surface the way it often does in his
songs, and some kind of really weird effect on the hi-hats that I'm still
trying to figure out how to rip off.
37. Jacquees - "You" (2018)
#19 R&B R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #90 Hot 100
"You"
and Jacquees's career in general were on the rise when the Cash Money singer
declared himself "the king of R&B right now, for this
generation." Regardless of how ambitious that claim is, I liked
"You" and the 4275 album a lot and I don't really
care if the kid isn't humble. But he's not, like, an amazing vocalist, so
people roasted him pretty hard about that, and I don't know if his career took
a permanent hit from all the fallout that followed.
38. Tory Lanez - "Say It" (2015)
#3 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #30 Hot 100
If "Body
Party" was by far my favorite 2010s R&B hit that cannibalized a
'90s R&B hit, #2 is the Tory Lanez take on Brownstone's 1994 hit
"If You Love Me" that helped inject some sorely missing girl group
harmonies into modern R&B. Unfortunately, Tory Lanez has kind of taken
this aesthetic and run it into the ground as he, Ty Dolla Sign, and producer
Hitmaka
39. Robin Thicke f/ T.I. and Pharrell - "Blurred Lines" (2013)
#1 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #1 Hot 100
The
discourse around "Blurred Lines" got insufferable about a month after
the song came out and has been ever since. I don't know how a song full of
phrases that nod toward consent, reciprocity, and mutual attraction ("get
at me," "you grab me," "lemme be the one," "I'm
watchin' and waitin' for you") became commonly described as 'rapey.' And
I still argue that it was extremely bad and
dangerous for the entire musical community that a Marvin Gaye pastiche, one of
thousands that abound in the R&B genre, triggered a $7 million legal
decision despite using the aesthetic of a Gaye song but not the melody or
lyrics. But despite all my bittersweet associations with this song and the way
it kind of sidelined Robin Thicke's once prolific and enjoyable career, it's
still pretty damn fun to listen to when it comes on.
40.
Beyonce - "Partition" (2014)
#3 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #23 Hot 100
#3 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #23 Hot 100
I love
the idea that Beyonce was possibly watching The Big Lebowski one
night and realized that she should have Julianne Moore's monologue about coitus
translated into French and recited on her new song about car sex. Shout
out to the D.C. station WKYS that always played the full album track with
"Yonce," probably my favorite Timbaland beat of the past decade,
preceding "Partition."
41. Ari
Lennox - "BMO" (2019)
#17 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay
#17 R&B/Hip-Hop Aiplay
My
favorite R&B song from the last year of the decade, it manages to not
sample or directly ape any particular '90s song but gives me this vague 1998
feeling that makes me visualize twitchy choreography in a Hype Williams fisheye
lens. Really think it should have been a bigger hit than it was.
42.
Keyshia Cole f/ Lil Wayne - "Enough Of No Love" (2012)
#7 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, #84 Hot 100
#7 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, #84 Hot 100
Keyshia
Cole's run of hits started to dry up by the end of the 2000's, but this, her only
Hot 100 entry of the 2010s, really holds up. Great cascading strings and
thumping Harmony Samuels beat, great Keyshia harmonies on the hook, one of
Wayne's best R&B features.
43.
Solange - "Cranes In The Sky" (2016)
#23 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #74 Hot 100
#23 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #74 Hot 100
I was
never too into that EP that Solange did with Dev Hynes, but when she came back
on the full-length with Raphael Saadiq, that was some good shit. This song has
such a simple gorgeous sound, like you could just play it over and over without
it getting old.
44.
D'Angelo And The Vanguard - "Really Love" (2015)
#24
R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
Raphael
Saadiq was the secret weapon of D'Angelo's first two albums, co-writing and co-producing
the biggest hit on each of them. And I suspect that if D'Angelo had called up
Saadiq to work on a track on Black Messiah, it would've been a
smash too. But he didn't, and the album was still pretty excellent, with the
lovely, understated "Really Love" becoming a minor hit 7 years after
Questlove previewed the song on Triple J Radio in Australia.
45. The Weeknd - "The Hills" (2015)
#1
R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #1 Hot 100
The
Weeknd's early mixtapes were indisputably a major moment in 2010s R&B, I just
never liked them and never will, and think the guy's entire style of singing
and songwriting is kind of schticky and dumb. When he abandoned that sound to
become a pop star, I started to like his music a little more. But a funny thing
happened after "Earned It" and "Can't Feel My Face" crossed
him over: the darker, more characteristic The Weeknd, whining about 'the
friendzone' on "The Hills," also blew up, becoming the longest
running #1 of his career.
46. Chris
Brown - "Fine China" (2013)
#8 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #31 Hot 100
#8 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #31 Hot 100
At the
dawn of the 2010s, "I Can Transform Ya" had just flopped and it
appeared that Chris Brown's career might really be over as a consequence of his
assault of Rihanna. And then "Deuces" and a bunch of other garbage
songs got Chris back on the radio, and he continued showing himself to be a
terrible person while also becoming probably the most consistent R&B radio
presence of the 2010s. And the most frustrating thing is most of those singles
were not even very good, just the most generic crap, while his fans insisted
that he deserved to be as big as Michael Jackson. But if Chris Brown ever got
his shit together and made a pretty excellent song that actually reminded me of
MJ in the past decade, it was "Fine China," even if his falsetto
still sounded pretty strained on it.
47. Trey
Songz - "Slow Motion" (2015)
I don't
much care for Charlie Puth's voice. But he's a decent writer, and has enough of
the same vocal range as Trey Songz that he was able to pen one of Trey's best
singles, maybe he should do more R&B writing if his solo career doesn't pan
out.
48.
Diddy-Dirty Money f/ Drake - “Loving You No More” (2010)
#20
R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #91 Hot 100
Last
Train To Paris is one of my favorite kind-of-R&B
albums of the 2010s, and it spun off several singles, but I kind of feel like
there's no one song people know that really captures the appeal and the range
of the album. "Loving You No More" was a nice little radio jam that
made great use of Dawn Richard's voice though. And it's funny to hear two rap
superstars on this track together in happier times, 4 years before Diddy would
beat Drake up over not giving him "0 to 100."
49.
Guordan Banks - "Keep You In Mind" (2016)
#15
R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
Philly
songwriter Guordan Banks got interest from stars like Mary J. Blige and Chris
Brown about releasing his song "Keep You In Mind," but when they
ultimately passed on the track, Banks released it as his own sleeper hit
independent single, eventually hitting #1 on the Adult R&B chart.
50.
Charlie Wilson - "Turn Off The Lights" (2013)
#32 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #31 Hot 100
#32 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #31 Hot 100
R&B isn't as
youth-obsessed as some other sectors of popular music, but real longevity is
rare. But Charlie Wilson has enjoyed a pretty great second chapter as a solo
artist after Snoop Dogg started working with the former Gap Band singer
regularly in the '90s, as everyone from Justin Timberlake and Kanye West to
Tyler, The Creator and Bruno Mars wanted to make music with Uncle
Charlie. I really enjoyed interviewing Charlie
Wilson a few years ago and hearing about how he got this era of his career
going. He released "Turn Off The Lights" right before his 60th
birthday, and has continued racking up hits well into his 60s, even older than
Ronald Isley was when he had his last run of radio singles.
51. Jazmine Sullivan - "Holding You Down (Goin' In Circles)" (2010)
52. Miguel - "Quickie" (2011)
54.
Jeremih - "Oui" (2016)
55.
Rihanna - "Sex With Me" (2016)
56. Rico
Love - "They Don't Know" (2014)
57.
Monica - “Love All Over Me” (2010)
58.
Jennifer Hudson - "No One Gonna Love You" (2011)
59. Mila J
- "Smoke, Drink, Break-Up" (2014)
60. Bruno Mars - "24K
Magic" (2016)
61. Sevyn
Streeter - "Before I Do" (2017)
62. Khalid
f/ Disclosure - "Talk" (2019)
64. Mariah
Carey f/ Miguel - "#Beautiful" (2013)
66. Daniel
Caesar f/ Kali Uchis - "Get You" (2017)
67. Beyonce - "Dance
For You" (2012)
68. Raphael Saadiq f/ Rob
Bacon - "Something Keeps Calling" (2019)
69. Alicia Keys f/ Maxwell
- "Fire We Make" (2013)
70. Kiana Lede - "Ex" (2019)
71. Cee-Lo Green f/ Melanie
Fiona and Philip Bailey - "Fool For You" (2010)
73. Miguel
- "Do You..." (2012)
75.
Michael Jackson f/ Justin Timberlake - "Love Never Felt So Good"
(2014)
83. Beyonce - "Before I Let Go" (2019)
84. Miguel f/ Kendrick Lamar - "How Many Drinks? (Remix)" (2013)
85. Lloyd
- "Tru" (2016)
86. Avery*Sunshine -
"Call My Name" (2015)
87. Ella Mai - "Shot
Clock" (2019)
88. The Bonfyre -
"Automatic" (2019)
89. Summer Walker f/ Drake
- "Girls Need Love (Remix)" (2019)
90. Anthony Hamilton - "Pray For Me" (2012)
91. Trey Songz f/ T.I. - "2 Reasons" (2012)
92. Melanie Fiona - "Gone & Never Coming Back" (2011)
93. Fantasia - "Enough" (2019)
94. Bruno Mars f/ Cardi B - "Finesse (Remix)" (2018)
95. Kelly
Rowland - "Kisses Down Low" (2013)
96. Mack Wilds - "Own It" (2013)
96. Miguel - "Coffee" (2015)
98. Beyonce "Sorry" (2016)
99. Gallant - "Doesn't Matter" (2018)
100. Queen
Naija - "Medicine" (2018)
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