@Howard Rosenstock

This is the space for all that’s new in R&B. Crossover ballads, modern hybrids, fresh sounds that call back to the past—if it’s got that vibe, you’ll find it here. Selections are updated regularly, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

R&B is one of the more dynamic spaces in modern music—and this is where you'll find the boundary-pushing artists leading the conversation. Taking cues from hip-hop and electronic, but still anchored by tradition, here are the tracks pointing the way R&B is heading. Our editors rotate selections regularly, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

Memphis-based Stax Records was the beating heart of the Southern soul scene in the ‘60s, with artists like Otis Redding and Carla Thomas. In the racially divided South, Stax was a progressive anomaly with their integrated groups—including the label's house band, Booker T. & The MG's. Isaac Hayes was an early songwriter for the label before launching his own career at the end of the decade.

A hand-picked mix of hits and album cuts by the stars that shaped '90s R&B. Our editors regularly update this playlist—if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

The ’90s was a revolutionary time in R&B: Not only had the mature, quiet-storm-oriented sound evolved to its most sophisticated state, you started to really hear the influence of hip-hop—a shift that changed not only R&B, but the sound of modern pop in general. From neo-soul to new jack swing, the classic-sounding to the more cutting-edge, these are the tracks that shaped R&B in the ’90s and early 2000s. Our editors update picks regularly, so if you hear something you like, take a minute and add it to your library.

Here’s where you’ll find the best R&B tracks making the rounds online. Just like your feed, this playlist is constantly being updated—if you hear a song you like, add it to your library.

“Hey Siri, play the Slow Dancing playlist.”

Here’s an R&B playlist that strips things down to the essentials: no bells, no whistles, no studio magic—just voice, instrument, song, and spirit. Some of the tracks here are reworks, instances of an artist recording a new, more minimal version something they’ve already released. Some were just born this way. Ballads, slow jams, new and old, here’s the sound of R&B at its barest. We update this collection regularly, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

Focused on the mellower, mature side of R&B, the tracks here capture the music as an offshoot of soul and jazz, of quiet storm and adult contemporary—Black pop at its most contemplative and sophisticated, but still deeply connected to real life. Our editors update picks regularly, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

Change is good, but a lot of the best R&B points back to the source. Focusing on current stuff with some classics sprinkled in, this playlist highlights grown-up R&B tunes with hints of the classic tradition: relaxed new sounds with the same old soul. Our editors are always switching things out, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library.