@Mireille Zarife

There’s something about the balminess of summer that makes you want to let loose. And the right soundtrack makes all the difference. Mixing hip-hop and R&B with Afrobeats, dancehall and more, here’s a playlist to take you through those warm nights. Our editors regularly update this playlist, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library and keep the party going.

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.

A hand-picked mix of hits and album cuts by the stars who 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.

Ne-Yo has a nearly unrivalled ear for melody: His best pop songs don't have one hook but several, and he stitches them together without revealing a single seam. This playlist, which focuses on numbers he's written for other R&B singers, defines smooth, cruising from Mario's soul-baring slow jam "Let Me Love You" to Beyoncé's self-empowered send-off on "Irreplaceable".

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.

Call it alté, call it the new alternative, call it whatever you want. Fresh, light and just a little off-centre, the tracks here point away from the mainstream to somewhere genuinely new, with a wave of genre-bending artists whose sound is transforming West African music. Our editors update selections here regularly, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

R&B is one of the most dynamic, adventurous sounds in modern music, a place where art both personal and provocative meets the mainstream. From the alt vanguard to modern vets, straightforward to left-field, these tracks capture where R&B is now and point the way to where it’s going. This week, Bryson Tiller’s “Last Call”, off of his newly released project <i>The Vices</i>, is at the top of the playlist. Produced by Hitmaka, the atmospheric track finds the singer-songwriter craving attention from an old lover to the point of calling one last time to see if she would agree to his advances. “Like I said hello, my dear/I’ma take this like it is, ’cause I’m drunk, ain’t got no fear/And my cup is clear/Should we order two more bottles, have some fun in here?” he raps. We update this playlist regularly. If you like a track, add it to your library.

Good R&B can be balm for the soul. Here's a playlist of new and contemporary stuff highlighting the mellower, more acoustic side of the sound: some retro, some progressive, some ballads, some with just a slight bump in the beat. Tracks here change regularly, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

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.