7. Esperanza Spalding – Emily’s D+Evolution
Esperanza Spalding is probably best known for snapping up the 2011 Grammy for the Best New Artist when up against Justin Beiber and Drake. This was followed by intense trolling of her wiki page and twitter outrage. Spalding was suddenly thrust into a limelight she’d largely shunned and following the episode, disappeared into some sort of obscurity.
On Emily’s D+Evolution, Spalding re-emerges with an alter ego, Emily (Espy’s middle name), more audacious than ever before. Singing confidently, “See this pretty girl, watch this pretty girl flow” and imploring listeners to come on this journey of self-empowerment and fearless discovery. Spalding calls for fighting the powers that be and fighting for justice. Sonically, Emily’s D+Evolution, explores new territory for Esperanza – while it still has her jazz leanings, the sound is more brazen, more powerful. It’s reminiscent of the jazzy, funky, rock-leaning Soul music that you’d expect from Prince. It’s a beautiful, boundary-pushing work of art for the more broad-minded music fan.
Start With: Earth to Heaven
6. KING – We are KING
KING are an alternative R&B / Soul group comprised of twin sisters, Paris and Amber Strother, and Anita Bias. In 2011, they released their first EP to ringing endorsements from Prince and The Roots’ Questlove, as well as a Kendrick Lamar sample of their song Hey. Anticipation was high for their debut full-length and after a couple of release delays, We Are KING finally arrived on February 5, 2016.
We Are KING is a homage to the days of dream pop Soul music – the airy light, psychedelic music of the likes of Sade and Janet Jackson. However, the album remains firmly modern, with floaty electronic and modern Soul production. We Are KING is similarly surrealist in its lyrical content, with songs about dreamy love, escaping to remote lands and escaping technological distractions.
Start With: The Greatest
5. NxWorries – Yes Lawd!
2016’s R&B break-out starboy, Anderson .Paak and his musical soulmate producer, Knxwledge delivered a collection of funky, ’70s-soul, hip hop infused vignettes in Yes Lawd!. Between .Paak’s raspy, powerfully emotive voice and old Soul delivery and Knxwledge’s hip hop Soul, deliberately choppy, meticulous production, Yes Lawd! is a moment that encapsulates the renaissance of black music that 2016 has peaked on. The album stays mostly in the mid-tempo range, but is dynamic, with a range of infusions from Gospel, to funk, hip hop and Motown classics mashed up to create a sonic experience that sweeps you up and has you bobbing your head for all 19 tracks and 48 minutes. The production is brilliant and layered with sample upon sample. The tracks are mostly on the shorter side (below 3 minutes), blend seamlessly into each other and with a slightly unrefined finish (almost a crackle), giving the sonic feel of a vinyl mixtape.
Quite simply, this is one of those albums you put on and think “this is what good music feels like”. The album pays homage to the inextricable link between Soul music and hip hop, without trying hard or losing any sense of authenticity. There may not necessarily be any ‘break out hits’, but Yes Lawd! does what we think great albums do – deliver a consistently standout calibre of rich, nuanced music with flair and originality.
Start With: Get Bigger / Do U Luv
4. James Blake – The Colour In Anything
For those familiar with Blake’s previous work, The Colour in Anything, the 17-song L.P. is a walk down familiar territory – his signature baritone voice laid onto dark electronic beats singing of isolation. He’s stuck to what he does well and given us what we’ve come to expect from him – genius minimalist synthy, but soulful music. It’s a lengthy, fairly heavy listen, requiring some level of investment to stay with Blake, as can sometimes get self-indulgent, falling deeper and deeper into the sound of isolation, almost leaving the listener behind. But he always brings it back before it’s too late.
If you need more reasons to listen, the album features a Frank Ocean co-write and collaborations from Rick Rubin. Blake has mastered the art of using mellow, sparse, melancholy production and singing to create powerfully emotive music.
Start With: I Need A Forest Fire
3. Gallant – Ology
Gallant is 24-year old tenor from the suburbs of Columbia, Maryland, signed to Mind of a Genius Records and in April, he released his debut full-length album, Ology. Ology is a hard-hitting alternative soul album, packed with stand-out tracks.
The album features almost haunting lyrics, touching issues from love, to suicide, solitude and even cosmology. Its potent force is Gallant’s voice and powerful falsetto. We love Ology cause it is timelessly soulful, but firmly rooted in a modern, even futuristic, sound. It is refreshingly different from any of the music out today, but sonically draws in even avid pop-music fans. True soul music, but with daring, unconventional, but sonically stunning production choices.
Start With: Shotgun
2. Anderson .Paak – Malibu
In his second appearance on our list of the most underrated albums of 2016, Anderson .Paak is riding solo on one of the best albums of the year, period.
Malibu is stunning for its musical range. .Paak explores the range of Soul music from neo-Soul to jazz, to old and doo wop Soul. It has several stand-outs, from low and mid-tempo earworms to upbeat bangers like its lead single Come Down. Throughout, the album feels deeply funk-infused, but again, feels truly contemporary. As with several of this years’ best albums, Malibu shows a mastery of appreciating the legacy of Soul music and simultaneously understanding the beauty of contemporary/alternative soul. .Paak also marks out a lane for himself for his lyrical quasi-rap delivery aided by his powerfully raspy vocals. A masterpiece you can’t afford to miss out on.
Start With: Come Down
1. Nao – For All We Know
And now, we come to #1 – our favourite underrated album of 2016, Nao’s For All We Know. For those familiar with the UK R&B scene, Nao is a household name. With one of her earliest singles, So Good, clocking over 1m listens on Soundcloud and earning Zane Lowe’s Hottest Record title, sets at major festivals, including the coveted Glastonbury festival, it is hard to believe Nao only released her debut album in July . It’s been a bit of a wait, but this was an album worth waiting for.
For All We Know is a beautifully elegant aggregation of Nao’s journey to the artist she is and is still becoming. In her teenage days growing up in South London, Nao was a grime MC by the name ‘Jess Z. J’. Later on, she studied a vocal jazz degree at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama – one of the UK’s most prestigious performing arts schools. In her home life, she was steeped in the gospel music her mother loved to listen to and as a ’90s-bred teen, she is a product of the sound and swag of the original R&B princesses, Aaliyah, Janet Jackson and TLC.
All of this combined with the fact that her sound has crystallised in the age of EDM and other forms of electronic music having a defining effect on music, create the unique sonics of For All We Know. Electronic beats form the base throughout the album, overlayed by Nao’s distinct unmistakable vocals. She shows off her vocal range and acrobatic skills at several points, gliding effortlessly between soprano and low alto notes. The ’90s R&B, funk and gospel fusion sound that she’s crafted for herself is the album’s secret weapon. For All We Know is infectiously upbeat and catchy, but sonically rich, in a way hardly heard of on the radio these days. Nao manages to make musical magic creating R&B music that quintessentially embodies ’90s R&B, but is beautifully digitalised with a range of genre influences baked in to create one of the year’s richest sonic experiences. It’s brilliant for delivering great music from its opening chord, right through to the last note.
Start With: In The Morning
