Mixtapes redefining R&B, old-school soul, a crunch of funky-bass-bounce from the UK, and a funkadelic feast from a man in hock to Prince up to his ruched elbows
FKA twigs has been complaining about being narrowcast as a purveyor of alt R&B, unhappy especially about the R&B bit, suspecting that it is a way of diminishing her achievements and boxing her in. Twigs is fiercely on-point when she notes that this segregation is racial, agreed the Faders Aimee Cliff. But R&B hasnt been black either in terms of the artists making it or its signifiers (grit, gospel fervour, soaring intensity) for decades. Since the 90s, it has been synonymous with futuristic production and vocals that are remarkable for their dispassion: almost the opposite of its original design. The point is, you wouldnt know whether todays R&B acts were black or white, but the appellation works for a broad range of darkly atmospheric electronic music bearing cool vocals, male or female. Take the Code, a production duo who it could be said are operating in terms of sleek surfaces and crepuscular sorrow in the realm of R&B, without wishing to constrain them in any way. Although rumour has it theyre British, which would make them the most successful homegrown exponents yet of the post-Weeknd/Drake school of bleakly emotional, broken-hearted modern blues. Their mixtape, 1/11, features Kaleem Taylor, KasFlow and G-Eazy, and is a consistent, crisply executed, lovely thing that further redefines R&B in terms of mood and sonic techniques.
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by Paul Lester via Electronic music | The Guardian
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