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  • 11 months ago
Billboard awarded GELO, Ravyn Lenae, and Odeal as Rookies of the Year and named Leon Thomas the Breakthrough Artist of the Year. We're breaking down how these artists represent the future of Black music. Billboard staffers share why they believe each singer is transforming their respective genre, how their hits—“Mutt,” “Love Me Not,” and “Tweaker”—resonated with fans, and more!

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00:00The billboard is always about chart success but not only that but cultural impact and see the
00:21buzz and how they're resonating not just online but the streets as well the kids are talking
00:25about you most likely we're gonna cover y'all and see what's up tonight I'm most excited to
00:29see Leon Thomas and Odile gag it Odile what Raven Laney too I'm most excited to see Jell-o for sure
00:36Leon as well it's gonna be my third time seeing him and I'm gonna see him again on my birthday so
00:41Leon Thomas you don't have to finish the question you don't have to finish it
00:48Leon Thomas had such a breakthrough moment
00:58my what number one on the hot R&B hip-hop songs and three different radio formats I think my
01:11definitely resonated with the culture so much because it has a lot of essence of p-funk Bootsy
01:18Collins I feel like post pandemic everybody got into a little toxic energy so it's like perfectly toxic
01:24I'm definitely excited to see Raven I love her music it's a very like chill soulful vibe and she
01:37just always puts me in a good mood I'm absolutely excited to see Raven Laney I've loved her forever
01:41I got onto her train when she came out with candy and she's just the total package in terms of her
01:50songwriting the lyrics very relatable lyrics like her hot song love me not kind of a play on the whole
01:57Daisy thing he loves me he loves me not my music is resonating because once you are true to
02:07something for so long and you're pressing at something you don't really stay away from that
02:10at a certain point people turn their heads and they listen people feel light when they hear my music they
02:17feel like they're talking to me and I think my favorite songs I get that feeling from my favorite artists
02:24I'm most excited to see jello big jello definitely jello because I'm gonna swear down that corner
02:35whoa jello brings like a nostalgic 2010s type of vibe which everyone missed at one point in time
02:44oh jello he has a top 30 song with tweaker that just took over the internet sports world for two months
02:50I feel like I can get the people pumped up and that's how I grew up that's what I came up on
03:00seeing so it's like it ain't nothing new like you probably heard some shit and could relate to it
03:04and my beat selection is nice don't let that go over your head
03:07absolutely um Odile I missed him when he played here I went to London and I missed him in fucking
03:16London so I am trying to see him right now I'm most excited to see Odile because I absolutely love
03:22his last album it's so beautiful I think what makes Odile so special he's been able to meld so
03:27many different genres afro fusion alto he is also has a very international upbringing he's been able
03:33to tap into those local scenes and put all of it into his catalog he has a hit song called London
03:39summers which became his first top 10 on the u.s afrobeat songs chart
03:43the summer that saved me is a project which is supposed to be a soundtrack to the best summer
03:51since 2016 obviously as we all know 2016 was a summer which everyone remembers for various reasons
03:57possibly whenever anyone catches on to this project it'll be the soundtrack to the summer that saved
04:01them in terms of like learning new things unlearning bad habits entering like a new stage of their life
04:07people want authentic music they want truth in it they want relatability they want to be able to say
04:19I've experienced that and and see that somebody else has and that helps them through and I think right
04:25now that's very very important and then you've got people like a Rayman Lene who's been inspired by
04:30Erica Badu's the Janet Jackson's the outcasts they're just taking it to the next level and folks need to be
04:36open to that and let people be aware that this music is out here
04:40I'm a black woman and I walk with that experience and carry that with me it's so special for me
04:46when I get to look out in the crowd and see so many black women close their eyes and sing the lyric
04:50and really feel the music we share an experience together that's like no other so whenever I get to
04:57hit that spot for a black woman like I nailed it
05:05with social media it really has just broken any doors when it comes to artist discovery you don't
05:11have to be in the same city state or country you can find a new artist from wherever in the world
05:17I'm not naturally like a social media person listen it's the driver of music today it's our MTV you know
05:23it's that new shiny machine that can essentially get your voice heard to the world
05:27things like TikTok have definitely played a part in having an effect on R&B and Afrobeats music in general
05:35to be fair it's made people more privy to the two different genres and all genres in general
05:41people now are like oh what's this sound I like this what's this I like this and then you have artists
05:47artists that tap into both and able to fuse the two the opportunity is just so boundless and that
05:53can be a scary thing but also a really fun thing if you lean into it I think that is the gift of social
06:00media and people being able to really handpick what they like versus being fed certain songs that they
06:08should like one major thing that I've noticed when I interview a lot of these African rookies of the
06:12month a lot of them have grown up listening to like early aughts R&B they're always mentioning
06:17Destiny's Child Whitney Houston Chris Brown Boyz II Men as a lot of their influences and it's dope to see
06:24how they take the R&B that we've come to know and love and fuse it with local sounds it's like that
06:29shit never really left me so when I make music now people be like oh he sound like some older
06:34shit I'm a big fan of Prince Marvin Gaye Stevie Wonder even later on in my life like Frank Ocean
06:39Usher and Neon by my mom she played a lot of soul music a lot of R&B growing up Destiny's Child
06:46was something she played over and over she was in her 20s going through it I grew up listening to a lot
06:51of um you know soul R&B Afro beats a lot of Afro beats my mom had like Celine Dion in the career of
06:59Whitney Houston she used to listen to a lot of Brandy R&B is really interesting right now because I think we're
07:04in almost a transitional phase where a lot of people you know rightfully so are hanging on to
07:12what they grew up with and the the sounds that they're familiar with but I think there's something
07:16so interesting and exciting on the horizon just beyond that I'm hopeful that people would you know
07:23be open to and want to experience but there's so many amazing artists right now in R&B and soul
07:30funk spaces alt spaces even that are really pushing things and doing something special I think
07:37it's up to us as consumers and listeners to be open to what's new I think it's just a cycle
07:44throughout history we've seen older generations kind of turn up their nose at at some of the younger
07:50generations music they can always find somebody that they really like if they look hard enough
07:54there's millions of songs released every week on Spotify and Apple Music me personally I love to kind
07:59of like scroll through all the up-and-coming artists and you know find somebody new if I can I remember
08:03at the time like very very early on anything that came out of Africa was Afrobeats but now like you
08:08have like artists from Nigeria making R&B Afrofusion there's like a wider palette that the world are now
08:13getting accustomed to I think pop music is really inspired by R&B currently it's really cool to see
08:18more artists kind of attack more urban themes without losing their own essence we've seen that before
08:25throughout history Britney Spears and the Justin Timberlake moments but I think we're going to see
08:29more of that in the next like five years I'm a big fan of pushing the envelope and trying new things and
08:35experimenting with different palettes the more we're accepting of that and open to that the more we
08:43get to really find our best artists let's bring Bridges back it just kind of buttons up the stories I kind
08:50of miss the fact that we get to do a different chord change a little a little rain moment I'm excited
08:55for what else comes from this moment
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