AllMusic’s Favorite R&B Albums of 2008
December 9th, 2008 | 10:00 am est |
Damon Aaron – Highlands
Kissey Asplund – Plethora
Erykah Badu – New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War
Raheem DeVaughn – Love Behind the Melody
The-Dream – Love/Hate
Estelle – Shine
The Foreign Exchange – Leave It All Behind
Al Green – Lay It Down
Lalah Hathaway – Self Portrait
Dave Hollister – Witness Protection
J*Davey – The Beauty in Distortion/The Land of the Lost
Jazzanova – Of All the Things
Solange Knowles – Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams
Eric Lau – New Territories
Little Jackie – The Stoop
Ne-Yo – Year of the Gentleman
Raphael Saadiq – The Way I See It
Jazmine Sullivan – Fearless
Robin Thicke – Something Else
Leon Ware – Moon Ride
Hmmm… lots of unexpected stuff here (as in bland choices). I cheer for Neyo, Estelle, Solange, and Al Green. But Erykah Badu? The words unfocused and inaccessible spring immediately to mind. I think in order to be considered ‘good’ something should also be listenable.
Hi,
Not that I don’t appreciate your lists alone, but could you give an introduction (like you have in the amg loves 19xy posts) and say if it has been a spectacular year, what the trends/movements were etc.?
Or are you doing something like that in the personal lists?
Thank You
Foreign Exchange is definitely up for album of the year, nice to see it getting some love on here.
Add Irma Thomas’ “Simply Grand” to my best of 2008; didn’t see it on any of your lists; this is real R&B/bluesy vocalizing. Also, add Wayne Escoffery’s “Hopes and Dreams” to the best jazz of’08.
Thank you All Music for giving props to Lalah Hathaway, folks are sleepin’ on this record I’m happy to see that you are not. Everyone needs Self Portrait in their life it will bless you, excellent song writing, good music and Lalah’s vocals are like none other.
uh uptonking, everyone is entitled to an opinion but to say erykah’s album is misguided or unlistenable is saying a lot about how u comprehend music. her album deals with things going on in the world now and her own personal life. maybe u should stick to listening that overwritten neyo album.
Co-signing Face, no need to put the Ne-Yo album down tho’, to each his own, but I’d rather bump Badu’s album over Ne-Yo’s any day. Badu’s album just needs to sink in before it reveals its real quality.
And as much as I like Estelle’s album and love both Solange’s & Al Green’s, all of ‘em are very clean-produced, lack in depth compared to Badu’s and don’t require no repeated listens to get into it, at least to me.