On R&B Shows

On R&B shows

While I try to record intentionally and minimally at shows, the other day someone was like “do y’all actually watch the videos you take at concerts on your phone?”

And they gagged me a bit…I can’t lie. So, in the spirit of it’s never too late to change, this is me using these videos in my phone for something.

April, my birth month, was filled with R&B shows, from Nao at Terminal 5, Ravyn Lenae at Blue Note, and Flo at Brooklyn Paramount (<3 to my friends ily). Of the three, Nao was my favorite show, but all were just fucking spectacular. It’s got me thinking about how there’s truly nothing like R&B shows.

The first thing I notice at every R&B show from the second I queue up is that there’s always positive, sweet vibes emitting from the line. You just know there’s going to be love in the room. Have you ever seen a fight at an R&B show? I never have, and I’ve been to my fair share. It’s a novelty that we take for granted but shouldn’t, especially for a genre that 1) gets a lot of shit and 2) is in an artform where….a lot of wild shit happens at concerts.

R&B really is the genre of love and I’m grateful I got to experience it live so frequently as of late, especially in this extra nasty divisive world we live in.

The next thing I always notice is the smells—bud, oils, cologne, fragrance, gay niggas kissing (that’s my side of the R&B spectrum—I acknowledge every concert won’t give this lmao) and maybe a bit of liquor. Between sets, when the DJ spins R&B, everybody sings every lyric because the playlist bangs. It’s also an immediate preview that the choir is about to be on point—which is why every R&B singer does a call and response/sing-along moment and actually takes the time to teach everyone the parts because it’s about to actually about to sound mad good. People (me and my tall friends) are letting people go in front of them so they can see! Community fr!

That’s the main message I had on my heart to share. As touring becomes more and more expensive and inaccessible (while allegedly being one of the few surefire ways to make money as a recording artist?) and more and more artists talk about barely breaking even revenue-wise with touring, we know that’s going to disproportionately affect R&B acts. The genre is already defunded and under-prioritized, and while truly so much incredible, groundbreaking, R&B has come out this decade, it’s so often overshadowed by this thwarting online cacophony of repetitive talking points rooted in 1) tired nostalgia coupled with a lack of curiosity regarding the genre today and 2) what happens when you just accept what The Machine ^tm feeds you—ignorance about the artists who are making earth-shattering shit. We have to fight to preserve these spaces and the ability for artists to actually monetize their art by performing it, and for fans to experience it. That’s what the music was made for right?
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If you’re interested you can read my thoughts on all three shows below: 

Ravyn’s Blue Note show felt like a beautiful victory lap. She was singing literally as Love Me Not, her first Hot 100 hit, had just hit a new height on the UK Singles chart while entering the global Spotify Top 100. The song is now #2 in the UK—a beautiful example of someone making incredible music, sticking to her sound and taking her time, and reaching the whole world with her music.

While I have a complicated to these charts—and I think fans of music in general desperately need to divest from stats, numbers, and weaponizing them to fight with other fans—R&B is the underdog and is constantly being counted out. While “Love Me Not” is actually more of a pop-rock song than an R&B song, Ravyn is a hallmark act of late 2010s and 2020s alternative R&B. So…her success right now will ultimately help drive more money to similar acts at labels (because this is the most risk averse, profit driven industry ever, especially right now). If they see some shit make money, they gonna support it and replicate it and that’s just the truth. So, bravo Ravyn! Glad they caught up.

Anyway—the concert was stunning. She cried during “Days” and she performed a brand new song called “Goodbye 2 You.” It’s not on streaming services but I tracked it down and realized it’s only available on the signed “truffle” variant of her vinyl? How fab (I need this song in my life NOW, Ravyn!) I got my whole life to “Dream Girl,” and the Ty verse went so crazy with just the track playing while we all sang along—whoever told me they didn’t like it, I genuinely forgot, please run that back…it’s indisputable. “The Night Song” was so pleasing to hear live and I definitely cried during the “Love Is Blind” bridge (this song kinda makes me need to find somebody to fall in and out of love but then heal and feel reflective about it, which is so toxic and definitely just a fantasy) and everybody sang all the words to “Sticky,” “Skin Tight” and “Love Me Not.” Such a gorgeous fucking show.

The Nao show moved me to no end, omfg. She really is, or was, one of my few goats left who I hadn’t ever seen live. Nao was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome after her first birth and as a result hadn’t had a show in NYC in 5 years. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome aka myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) is a very complex condition and isn’t fully understood by the medical community. So this was a big fucking deal and you could feel that in the audience. First off, the set was gorgeous—so spacey and dreamy, got to hear “If You Ever,” “Orbit,” “Adore You,” ““Make It Out Alive” live — Nao was in top vocal shape. The latter song especially made me emotional—it’s only gotten more and more relevant since she dropped it and you could tell by the way that the audience closed our eyes and rocked back and forth and sang every word.

Fall too deep, too deep to get outta here
Too deep, too deep to get outta here
House burnt down, burnt down to the fucking ground
I don't even care now if I make it out
Can't get out my head, it's the atmosphere
Colours change, blue grass like the Lumineers
I'm too deep, too deep to get outta here
Too deep, too deep to get outta here

And how do we make it out alive?

Been waiting 7 years to sing that shit with a crowd—and the song definitely resonated because there’s a lot of fucked up shit going on right now, but we were working it out with love, with R&B, with music. I know it’s corny but I’m finding myself grateful for those aspects of life right now.

She was in tip top vocal shape--my favorite vocal performance was probably one of her signatures, breakout track “Bad Blood” — it was fucking electric, and the transition out of the first half of verse 1 before all of the instrumentation comes in was literally INSANE. She sounded exactly like the track the entire show, and was so mobile and locked in with the audience. We even got a whole sensual chair dance section during “Adore You.” She had all of T5 singing every damn word of every song at the top of their lungs, and literally had us in a three part harmony during “Elevate.” Speaking of “Elevate”—I admittedly was generally slow to get into that song and the album as a whole (which dropped in February and is entitled Jupiter, btw) but in my listens leading up to the show it started to click like crazy—and the show locked it all in. “Light Years” quickly became one of my favorite Nao tracks ever after watching it live, in part due to just masterful lighting work. “All of Me” also gained a whole new life after this show. This show was so beautifully and intentionally crafted and while I always am rooting for artists to blow up more (if they want that), I also love our safe, warm, coven of fans who sing along to all of the words and look at each other and sing together, and Nao so openly gives that love back with such ease, its pouring out of her!

And Flo—this was my third time seeing them live and by far the best performance I’ve ever seen from them. Two years ago, Spotify co-presented their first ever US show in ATL and we did content capture with the girls, and my team and I took them to their Billboard, Chik-fil-a for the first time and surprised them by facilitating Victoria Monet’s surprise entrance at the show. Sidenote—when we brought her into the audience after the opener but before the show started, everybody literally started screaming and shining lights in our direction. I have no idea how famous people are regularly that stimulated it was so OD. Anyway, all of this is to say—they were babies back then fr. While the music was truly top tier (I love those songs just as much as Access All Areas) the girls were still becoming seasoned as performers and artists. Their growth has been tremendous and was such a joy to watch. Not only did they all look tf good, but the arrangements were so beautifully complex and cohesive (if I could study under MNEK…you are a musical god amongst mortals). It wasn’t a perfect show, but it was so raw and compelling. They worked through sound issues like professionals, and hit literally thousands of choreo moves throughout the course of the night. They reprised the same closer from their last tour, “Losing You,” and it’s so effective and explosive every time, definitely in part due to the literal two full step keychange at the end that they nail every time, even after singing for over an hour - absolutely wild. The show was structured in three parts, managing to give us all of the new album and hits like “Cardboard Box” and “Fly Girl,” storytelling their evolution towards this milestone moment —their first full length album and two sold out NYC dates to match. It was a beautiful way to close out Aries season (on the actual last day mind you!)             

It moves me so deeply that you can create something independently and eventually have an entire room of people singing along to it, having physical, spiritual and emotional reactions and associating your songs with memories while making new ones. I lowkey can’t think about it too much or it fucks me up. I wanted to crawl into so many songs at these shows (“Love Is Blind” live…thank you Ravyn). It’s got me craving some creation…

Anyway— I’m going to Coco Jones tomorrow because I realized, I’m never missing an R&B show from one of my faves again. Top of my list who I haven’t seen yet are Ari Lennox, Chloe, Chloe x Halle, Summer, and Jai’Len Josey…manifesting.

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