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Projects released by Summer Walker, Shelley FKA DRAM and Jazmine Sullivan are included in NPR Music's best R&B albums of 2021. Photo Illustration by Renee Klahr/NPR; Getty Images hide caption

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Photo Illustration by Renee Klahr/NPR; Getty Images

Best Music Of 2021

The Best R&B Albums of 2021

December 9, 2021 • From Dijon and Figmore to Mereba and Cleo Sol, the best R&B albums of the year were born out of reshaped perspectives in the face of the post-pandemic facade we're now calling reality.

Heat Check: Favorite Discoveries Of 2019

Kirby, Odunsi (The Engine) and Hope Tala Courtney Loo & David Karp/Folarin Omolayole/Freddie Stisted/Courtesy of the artists hide caption

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Courtney Loo & David Karp/Folarin Omolayole/Freddie Stisted/Courtesy of the artists

All Songs Considered

Heat Check: Favorite Discoveries Of 2019

December 17, 2019 • From Kirby and Hope Tala to Odunsi The Engine and BEAM, these are the artists who dropped the surprises that stuck this year.

Hey majesty Missy Elliot returned with Iconology in August. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

Best Music Of 2019

NPR Music's Top 16 Songs Of August

August 30, 2019 • Missy Elliott reminded us just how vital and future-seeking she continues to be, Normani offered a late-summer dominator and Big Thief got raw.