T-Pain is one of the most accomplished artists in the last two decades, however, nobody has been able to quite place him in a single genre. Is he a rapper? A singer? Or a mix of both?
The auto-tuned genius even titled an entire album Rappa Ternt Sanga in an attempt to re-brand himself within the music industry. Still, to this day, Teddy Penderazdoun has been unable to shake the rap underline. He took to Twitter to prove a point this week.
"I. AM. NOT. A. RAPPER," adamantly stated T-Pain. "Do ppl legit think I’m Sprung, Stripper, Buy u a drank, bartender, etc. are RAP songs?! Some of them even hav a rapper ON em!!! Do y’all think my verses on byad were rap verses? Do y’all for real think that’s me trying to rap? Have you heard rap? CHRIST!"
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Bryson Tiller heard that loud and clear, agreeing that he has also been thrown into that same territory.
"We both deal with this bro," said the Trap Soul artist. "We’re just inspired by Rap music (as we should be because what’s life without Rap music) but at the Core it’s R&B!! Rapper Turnt Sanga! Sanga Turnt Rapper! perspective."
Where would you place Bryson Tiller and T-Pain in the music landscape?
Kehlani Talks Being Compared To H.E.R. & SZA, Discusses Deaths Of Young Artists
Kehlani recently covered “Teen Vogue” and in her feature she talked being compared to other artists while also chatting about her relationships with Mac Miller, Chynna Rogers, and Lexii Alijai.
An artist can have their own sound and make their own lane, but regardless of the genre, it’s certain that they’re going to be compared to someone else. It’s something that comes with being in the music industry, and Kehlani recently touched on the subject while speaking with Teen Vogue for her cover feature. The singer is still riding high from her freshly released project It Was Good Until It Wasn’t and she spoke with the outlet about being connected to other female artists as people try to rope them all in together.
“Fans put so much pressure on artists, sometimes more than the industry,” said Kehlani. “I’ve never been compared more in my life than last year and this year, and now it seems like every day I see a ‘SZA, Kehlani, H.E.R., or Summer Walker — one of them has to go.’” Not all fans feel that way, of course, but the pressure can be a bit daunting for artists who just want to create music.
Kehlani also spoke about three of her close friends who have all passed away in recent years: Mac Miller, Lexii Alijai, and Chynna Rogers. She and Mac were scheduled to have lunch together the day he died and Kehlani had planned on not only taking Lexii on tour but signing her to a deal. “Chynna, I had brought her out at my shows. She slept in my house all the time in Brooklyn and we would talk about how we can do this.”
“We have to start appreciating multiple people at the same time,” she added. “I’m sure if [Mac, Lexii, and Chynna] felt a little bit more successful, a little bit more loved, things might have gone a little different. Life might have been in a better place.”
Justin Bieber Tries To Fact-Check Kehlani And Sparks A Debate
Justin Bieber had fans questioning whether or not he actually makes r&b.
Kehlani has cemented herself as one of the biggest r&b acts in the world and recently, she put out her album It Was Good Until It Wasn't, which is projected to sell quite well. It appears as though the singer is in for quite a battle in terms of the Billboard charts as she is very close to landing the number one spot. In fact, Kehlani recently shared a post from a fan page saying that if she hit number one, she would be the first female r&b artist to do so since Beyonce's Lemonade.
The artist also posted a call to action, urging her fans to stream the album as it could end up becoming the firs r&b album of 2020 to top the charts. While this is a nice challenge, Justin Bieber decided to chime in saying that his latest effort Changes, was actually r&b and that it already hit number one.
Bieber's comments ended up sparking a conversation on Twitter about what truly qualifies as r&b. Some felt that Bieber's comments were out of pocket due to the fact that he is mostly known for being a pop artist and that the r&b label would be disingenuous. Others were simply upset that Bieber would interfere in Kehlani's business for seemingly no reason.
Needless to say, the internet stays mad at everything.
JoJo, Trey Songz, Summer Walker & More Bless Our "R&B Season" Playlist
Cuts off JoJo’s new album, “good to know,” plus some new collabs from Summer Walker including a joint with Trey Songz and another with Khalid highlight this week’s “R&B Season” playlist.
It’s been almost six months since we began curating our “R&B Season” playlist for all you R&B heads out there, and there’s no sign of slowing down. Every week, we’ve been keeping our audience up to date on the freshest R&B offerings out right now, and today, we’re back with some more heat.
This week, we’ve added two songs off JoJo‘s brand new album, good to know, including “So Bad” and “Small Things,” as well as a joint titled “1 Mo Time” featuring Jeremih off K CAMP’s recently dropped project, Kiss 5. Of course, the release of Drake‘s Dark Lane Demo Tapes meant that the previously dropped “Chicago Freestyle” was finally available to stream on Spotify, and while Drizzy is, for the most part, primarily of the hip hop sound, this Giveon-featured track is so versatile, it made the cut on both our “R&B Season” and our “Fire Emoji” playlists. We’ve also included Summer Walker and Khalid’s new collab, “Eleven,” as well as Trey Songz‘s single “Back Home,” which Summer is featured on.
Check out all the latest additions to our “R&B Season” playlist including new music from H.E.R., Glass Animals, the Dreamville collective, and more. Make sure to follow our other specially-curated playlists on Spotify as well!
Follow our Wake & Bake playlist here.
Follow our G.O.O.D. Music playlist (for a GOOD ASS FRIDAY) here.
Tory Lanez Launches "Social Distancing Tour" & Teases New R&B Single
Tory Lanez live streamed a full-length set titled, “Social Distancing Tour,” and shared a snippet of a new R&B “baby maker” single, “Temperature Rising.”
Tory Lanez is coming through with a new single on May 15th, following the launch of his live-streamed concert event, “Social Distancing Tour.” Tory’s had quite the busy weekend. He dropped his new collab with French Montana, “Cold,” on Friday, following their Instagram live battle, and he’s got the return of his wildly popular IG live show, Quarantine Radio, happening later today. Tory also just released his new mixtape, The New Toronto 3, less than a month ago, but he’s already got three new projects in the works comprised of entirely different genres. However, none of that managed to distract him from filming an at-home quarantine concert called “Social Distancing Tour,” which he announced on Thursday (April 30th) would be a monetized event. He also indicated that a percentage proceeds will be donated to charity.
“Social Distancing Tour” was streamed live Youtube on Friday and Saturday night, but you can watch the entire two-hour set below:
The concert event was meant to emulate the since-postponed tour that he was meant to embark on his year, his at-home viewers serving as his live audience. Tory also teased a new single on Friday called “Temperature Rising,” which sees him returning to his Chixtape 5 R&B sound.
“IM DROPPING A REAL BABY MAKER MAY 15 !!!!” he wrote on the post, which includes a snippet of the song. “I LOVE MY WOMEN AND I OWE ALL MY RNB HEADS THIS !!!!!!” While you wait for “Temperature Rising” to be released next Friday, stream “Cold” and watch the “Social Distancing Tour” above.
Mario Crowns Himself "King Of R&B"
Mario has claimed the title of “King of R&B” for himself in terms of pure skill, rather than popularity or the volume of one’s catalogue.
Mario feels that, ultimately, in terms of who possesses the most overall skill, he should be considered the real “King of R&B.” Back in 2018, Jacquees started a dialogue over who the King of R&B truly is when he nominated himself, a point that many folks disagreed with. Since then, it’s been a topic of heavy debate, and it seems we have yet to settle on one clear, undeniable winner. However, Mario seems to think that, if the conversation is focused on who has the most talent, without taking any other factors such as popularity in the music scene or the actual amount of music an artist has made into consideration, he is the indisputable king.
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Mario spoke to WGCI Chicago’s Frankie Robinson over Instagram live recently, where she asked him about this lingering debate. “It’s just ridiculous,” he responds, before going into his reasoning for nominating himself.
“If we really talking about just straight, pure skill,” he continued. “We not talking about relevance, we not talking about who puts out 100 songs a year–we talking about, ‘N*gga give me a mic, you get a mic.’ If we just talking about that, there’s nobody f*cking with me. I promise you. On everything, I put that on my grave.”
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“I just got too much flavour,” he went on to say. “I got too much sauce. Go listen to my albums. If you hear this new music, I think it’s going to show you. But like, there’s nothing that I can’t do as a writer, as a performer. I’m a quadruple threat.”
Do you agree with Mario? Who is the real King of R&B?
