![]() Nostalgia, Ultra, released 10 years ago today, introduced one of the greatest, most influential figures in the modern music landscape. ![]() Dude alluded to Radiohead, Van Halen, and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” within less than a minute of audio, just before implying he deserved at least as much attention as Drake and Trey Songz. The project’s radio single was a story-song about going to Coachella to see Jay-Z and ending up entangled with a woman who just wants to be numbed by sex and drugs. On his debut mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra, available for free on his Tumblr, the interludes were named for old video games: “street fighter,” “metal gear solid,” “goldeneye,” “soul caliber.” He sang over instrumentals from Coldplay, MGMT, and (much to Don Henley’s chagrin) the Eagles, possessing them as his own with the confidence of peak Lil Wayne. His voice was bright and clear and fluid, yet too muscular and gritty to be waved off as saccharine - think Stevie Wonder with more gospel heft or Usher gone slightly off-kilter. It may or may not sync perfectly with the OJ Simpson chase.This was too good to be true: Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, the mostly teenaged skate-rat hip-hop collective who had been barraging their way toward the center of music discourse, now included a 23-year-old R&B singer by the name of Frank Ocean. If you want to keep the party going, peep my updated R&B throwback playlist. 1994 is a Bad Boy classic removed from the glory days (sorry Cassie). Teyana Taylor purrs at you from across the dancefloor and through the years to remind you of a time when SNL was funny and all the best rappers weren’t dead. ![]() Absent are modern adaptations like hi-hat rolls, and the Migos flow, two of which you can hear on Taylor’s last album. The melodies lend themselves to clubs and house parties more than arenas, which affords a quaintness missing from modern R&B’s palaces of self-pity. She triangulates Toni Braxton, Mariah Carey, and Faith Evans on “Your Wish Is My Command,” which drives the point home with purloined Puffy ad-libs and also on “Who’s Gonna Make It Home,” which reveals Iman Shumpert as a more than serviceable rapper. Teyana Taylor’s The Cassette Tape 1994 is undisguised nostalgia served in a digestible five songs. Puff got his shot that day when new jack swing godfather Teddy Riley didn’t show up for a studio session at Chung King, which proves that 90s R&B is part of the cosmic plan. ![]() In fact, Puff Daddy said in an oral history of Bad Boy that the first record he produced was directly influenced by the old blend tapes he put Jodeci acapellas over EPMD drums and made the “Come and Talk to Me” remix. Blige, SWV, and Jodeci has its roots in the formative R&B blends of DJ Hot Day, Kid Capri, Brucie B, and Ron G, who, beginning in the late 80s, spliced R&B records with hip-hop beats on their mixtapes. Back in Giuliani’s New York, a DJ at The Tunnel could mix Total and The LOX for an audience of drug dealers without issue, though a Biggie verse likely helped Total’s case. The real stuff is warm and sultry party music that borrows New York hip-hop’s halcyon swagger and grit. Tinashe’s shades of Aaliyah aren’t enough. It’s not revisited as often as other 90s pastimes like hip-hop, Nickelodeon, and the Oslo Accords. Evan Nabavian is plotting Ma$e’s comeback’s comebackĩ0s R&B doesn’t get its due. ![]()
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