Kazak’s Picks: Smooth Operators 2021 (R&B and Soul)

Clockwise from top left: *Pick Up Your Feelings* by Jazmine Sullivan (*Heaux Tales* artwork courtesy of RCA Records), *Divine* by MMYYKK (*Science* EP artwork), *Tears of a Crown* by Joel Culpepper (*Sgt. Culpepper* album artwork), and *Forgot About* by Priya Ragu (*damnshestamil* album artwork)

Alongside rap and pop, R&B is one of the biggest powerhouses in twenty-first century music both commercially and critically. The pinnacle of the genre also often possesses an incredible aural smoothness, one it shares with its predecessor, soul music. This playlist documents the very best from R&B, soul, and neo-soul released in 2021.

The format is simple: tracks from the the past month feature at the beginning of the playlist, before turning to highlights from the rest of the year (in no particular order). If you’d like to hear the genre’s most recent gems, check out the first five to ten tracks. If you want to explore the year as a whole, simply hit that shuffle button, sit back, and enjoy!

If there’s a track that you think is the pinnacle of R&B, soul, and neo-soul this year but isn’t featured here, please don’t hesitate to let me know about it at thebayingofkazak@gmail.com.

WARNING: All tracks and their accompanying videos are completely uncensored. A number of them contain explicit language that is unsuitable for children, NSFW topics and images, discussions of potentially triggering subjects, and/or political commentary that may offend.