Compared to the 90s, the first decade of the 21st century is a little closer to us. The opening of 2000 also marked the arrival of a new musical year. In this decade, there has been the rise of a new generation of musicians, and there are also mature musicians who continue to be brilliant. Through the undertaking and innovation of generations of outstanding musicians, the entire music scene has always remained active and has always had a soul.
Today we are going to talk about the 10 R&B albums worth paying attention to in the first decade of the 21st century, which have the charm of the last century and the innovations of the new century, which are new classics that fans must not miss.
《Songs in A minor》- Alicia Keys
Songs in A Minor is the debut solo album by Alicia Keys released on June 5, 2001 at J Records. After graduating from high school, Alicia signed with Columbia Records and began her music career. In 1998, he released a recorded album, but the company rejected it. After some disputes, she terminated her contract with the record company and then signed with Cliff Davis to produce most of the album's tracks.
Due to Alicia Keys' mastery of old-school jazz vocal groups and R&B, the album received widespread attention from the industry. Alicia Keys' music is a blend of the styles of famous singers such as Aretha Franklin, Steve Wonder, Billie Hollyday, Prince and Lauren Hill. Upon its release, the album topped the Billboard album sales chart with about 236,000 copies. So far, the album has sold more than 6.2 million in the United States and exceeded 12 million worldwide. The album also earned Alicia Keys five Grammys, including best newcomer, and finished second in Rolling Stone Magazine's 2001 Album of the Year.
《Dangerously In Love》-Beyoncé
Dangerously In Love is Beyondcé's debut solo studio album. After parting ways with former duo Destiny's Child, she took the lead in the production herself and came up with her own ideas for the mix mastering of all the songs on the album.
The album is dominated by R&B and mixes elements of Soul, Hip-hop and Arabic music. Despite Beyondcé's rigor in the production of music, there were many music outlets discussing the album's relationship with Jay-Z. After the album's release, Dangerously In Love received positive reviews from music critics, praising it as an "artistic leap." The album also received numerous accolades, with Beyoncé winning five Grammy Awards at the 46th annual Grammy Awards on February 8, 2004.
《Get Lifted》- John Legend
Get Lifted is the first studio album released by John Legend Legend. The album features big-name musicians such as Kanye West, Dave Tozer and will.i.am. Legendary Brother has added many new elements to the already somewhat old-fashioned R&B template, incorporating Hip-hop and Soul to make the song more of a choir of empty inspiration, coupled with his natural voice is very intoxicating. The album eventually sold more than 2 million copies in North America, earning legendary brothers double platinum certification and winning Best R&B Album in the Grammys in 2006.
《Chris Brown》- Chris Brown
Chris Brown is Chris Brown's eponymous debut album, released nationwide on November 29, 2005 by Jive Records. The album was commercially successful, having sold more than two million copies nationwide, received a double platinum sales certificate from the Recording Association of America, and surpassed one million overseas. The album also received two Grammy Nominations for Best Newcomer and Best R&B Album for Chris Brown.
《A Girl Like Me》- Rihanna
"A Girl Like Me" was a huge commercial success as Riri's second studio album. Influenced by Caribbean hometown music, Sister Riri added many elements of reggae and folk to her R&B title album, as well as experimentation with dance and rock styles. The single "SOS" on the final album rushed to the top of the Billboard charts for the first time with Sister Riri, and "Unfaithful" and "Break It Off" also broke into the top ten of the B chart.
《Confessions》- Usher
Confessions is Usher's fourth studio album, released on March 23, 2004 by Alista Records. Usher worked on the album from 2003 to 2004 and worked with long-time collaborators such as Jermaine Dupré, as well as jimmy Jim and Terry Levi's and Lear Jon. Confessions is a mix of pop dance music, Hiphop and Funk.
The album reached number one on the Billboard 200 album chart in the first week of its release with more than 1.09 million copies sold, and also brought arthur the kid several awards, including "Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album". According to the data on the Billboard chart, Confessions was the second best-selling album in the United States in the 2000s, after Muye's "The Marshall Mathers LP". The album sold more than 8 million copies in 2004 and is also seen as a sign of a renaissance in U.S. album sales after three years of decline.
《The Emancipation Of Mimi》
- Mariah Carey
The Emancipation of Mimi is Sister Niu's tenth studio album and is considered by critics to be Kelly's return album, as well as Sister Niu's best-selling album in the United States in the 2000s. Mariah Carey collaborated with a large number of songwriters and producers in 2004 to produce albums, including Dog, Vista, Fei Dong and many of them also contributed to the album's songs.
Mariah Carey chose to use her personal nickname "Mimi" in the album's title to show her closer side, but also to liberate her from personal and business setbacks. Although the album has vocal productions similar to her previous works, tending to produce her signature lyrical songs, the album also contains dance music as the production direction and rhythmic songs. The Emancipation of Mimi captures the broader range of styles, exploring R&B-related genres, including gospel and soul music revived in the 1970s.
In the first week of the album's release, it landed at the top spot of the US "Billboard" top 200 album chart, and refreshed the highest first-week sales of Niu Jie's works at that time. The album also reached the top five of the Canadian, Danish, French and Japanese album charts. The Emancipation of Mimi became the best-selling album in the United States in 2005 and became the second-best-selling album in the world that year with 10 million copies sold.
《In My Own Words》- Ne-Yo
Ne-Yo was actually well-known in the R&B industry before the album was released, and after collaborating with Mario on "Let Me Love You", his musical talent was finally recognized. In early 2006, Ne-Yo released his debut album, In My Own Words, on Def Jam Records. Driven by the success of the second single, "So Sick," the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. Ne-Yo's subsequent singles "When You're Mad" and "Sexy Love" peaked at number 15 and 7 on the charts, respectively.
《Slicker Than Your Average》
- Craig David
After David successfully broke into the U.S. music industry with his debut studio album Born to Do It, he began to change his musical style and tried to use Slicker Than Your Average to reach the global market. In an interview with ADAM Gonshor of ANDPOP, David revealed inspiration for certain songs on the album. September 11, 2001 - He is forced to stay in a hotel room for a week after the attacks in New York City, which inspired him to write the song "World Filled with Love." The album went on to take fourth place on the UK Albums Chart and was certified gold by the RIAA.
《BLACKsummers'night》 - Maxwell
After 7 years of silence, Maxwell has made a comeback with a strong twist and style, with a strong Soul musical element of the new album "BLACKsummers'night". A clearer and more direct musical structure, combined with the songwriting of his own experience, allowed the album to reach the top of the Billboard charts in its first week of release, and dominated the charts for 47 weeks. Maxwell said in an interview that "inspiration comes from life, and during the time I left my music career, I experienced surprising feelings, which is my inspiration.") In the end, Maxwell received 6 nominations in the 2010 Grammys, BLACKsummers 'Night won best R&B album, and his own hit single Pretty Wings was also nominated for "Song of the Year".
After the introduction of ten albums, you can probably feel the musical contours of the 21st century. These ten albums are not representative of the music of the entire era, and there are many musicians and music albums that have not been put up, or have not received a lot of attention and attention from the world, but it does not mean that they are not good works, or have no meaning to listen.
I hope that by recommending good music from different generations to you, I can inspire you to discover more excellent music works and then share them with each other and friends. This creates a virtuous circle in which we can all enjoy and embrace the joy and beauty of music.
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Editor-in-Chief: Cora Blu
Editor: Lil Dolphin