Our “R&B Season” playlist has been blessed with tons of new tunes this week, including some cuts off Chloe x Halle’s new album, Ungodly Hour, a cover of St. German’s “Rose Rouge” by Jorja Smith, and more. As the weeks past, the world continues to experience unrest at the ceaseless injustice faced by Black folks at the hands of police. It’s a very emotional and heavy time especially for the Black community, and we hope you can find some comfort and solace in these healing selections as you continue to rise up against the system.

Along with additions from Chloe x Halle and Jorja, we’ve also included the new single, “Wake Up Love,” by Teyana Taylor and Iman Shumpert—under the moniker “Iman.”—the music video for which served as a pregnancy announcement for the married couple.

As the fight for racial justice continues, we’ve also decided to highlight some of the new protest anthems of the R&B variety that came out this past week amidst the nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism. T-Pain‘s “Get Up” and a stripped down version of Elijah Blake’s 2016 track “Hanging Tree” featuring Donald Lawrence & Co can both be found on “R&B Season” this week.

Check out the rest of our newest additions below, including joints from Leon Bridges and Jamila Woods, and keep up the fight.

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Follow our G.O.O.D. Music playlist (for a GOOD ASS FRIDAY) here. 

Chloe x Halle continue to display their unbelievable talent with their latest cover medley, in which they've flawlessly mashed up Lauryn Hill, TLC, and Aaliyah with their new single, "Do It." The songstress sisters shared the video to Instagram, indicating that these were just a handful of the artists whose music had serve as inspiration for their upcoming sophomore album, Ungodly Hour, dropping tomorrow (June 12th).

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in honor of our album coming out this friday, here is a mashup of songs from a few of the artists who’ve inspired us ??

A post shared by chloe x halle (@chloexhalle) on Jun 10, 2020 at 5:31pm PDT

In the clip, Chloe pays keyboard while she and her younger sister, Halle, harmonize with ease. They begin with some of Ms. Lauryn Hill's "Ex-Factor" before interjecting a snippet of Aaliyah's "More Than A Woman." They then shift gears by taking on TLC's "Creep," blending it with their latest single, "Do It," which dropped last month.

Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Last Monday (June 1st), Chloe x Halle announced that they would be postponing the release of Ungodly Hour in light of recent events. The album was originally slated to drop last Friday, June 5th, but they decided to delay it until June 12th "in solidarity of all the beautiful black lives lost." The duo explained their reasoning in a video posted to their social media channels. 

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we’ll be postponing our album to June 12th in solidarity of all the beautiful black lives lost ✊??

A post shared by chloe x halle (@chloexhalle) on Jun 1, 2020 at 6:11pm PDT

Halle Bailey was the subject of plenty of racist scrutiny last summer after the news broke that she’d been cast as Ariel in the upcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, but the talented artist did not let any of the hate get to her. Halle appeared alongside her older sister, Chloe, who together make up the group Chloe x Halle, on the cover of Teen Vogue this week. In their cover story, Halle was asked about the negative criticism she received by folks who took issue with a Black woman playing the fictional mermaid.

Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

“We’ve always learned to just keep our heads up no matter the situation,” she said. “No matter what anybody has to say about you…just keep pushing.”

Halle officially landed the exciting role last July after director Rob Marshall conducted “an extensive search” to find the perfect Ariel. “It was abundantly clear that Halle possesses that rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance — plus a glorious singing voice — all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic role,” he said at the time. While many were thrilled for Halle, others decided to turn a happy situation sour, and project their own racist views onto her casting. Some even had the nerve to start a petition titled #NotMyAriel in an attempt to have Disney recast the character with a white actress that they felt would more closely resemble the animated fish-human hybrid. In response, Disney’s cable network, Freeform, wrote “An open letter to the Poor, Unfortunate Souls” who were vehemently against their casting choice.

All the while, Halle stayed positive. “I feel like I’m dreaming, and I’m just grateful,” she told Variety at the time of her casting. “I don’t pay attention to the negativity. I just feel like this role is something bigger than me. It’s going to be beautiful.”