I can’t count how many times I’ve heard praises for the return of pop girlies. Don’t get me wrong — I’m as locked in as the rest of the music world, cheering on Sabrina Carpenter’s ten-year overnight success story, blasting Chappell Roan’s unapologetic sapphic pop in the car, and astounded by Tate McRae’s dance skills. And yeah, I’ll root for other pop girlies like Olivia Rodrigo, Charli XCX, and Billie Eilish. But amid all the focus on the return of pop that makes us feel like the late 2000s and early 2010s have returned, I fear we’re missing another ongoing revival — R&B.
On April 25, Coco Jones dropped her long-awaited debut album, Why Not More? And really, it’s left me wondering: why not more? Why not more R&B stars on the top of the charts, honoring a genre that I feel often gets stuck in pop’s overwhelming shadow? Jones catapulted back into the mainstream with her old-school ballad “ICU,” accompanied by an EP that got a Babyface stamp of approval with their collab “Simple.” The OGs know her from her friendship with Terrell (Shoutout T and Coco!) or — even before that — her starring role in the Disney Channel Original movie Let It Shine, where Coco Jones played the star she’d eventually become.
But Jones isn’t the only one bringing back R&B. Across the pond, British girl group FLO is reviving the vibes of Destiny’s Child with their own debut, AAA. Singles like “In My Bag” feature modern trends with swag that evokes the 2000s. Best New Artist nominee Teddy Swims is rising as a new male R&B singer out there, showing off vocal dexterity with his breakout single “Lose Control.” Nickelodeon star Leon Thomas III has also found his way back into the spotlight with his single and album of the same name, “MUTT.” Muni Long became a Grammy winner for her hit “Hrs and Hrs” in 2023 and followed it up with a 2024 album featuring “Made for Me,” another Grammy-winning song. All this to say nothing of vocal powerhouse Tori Kelly, who dropped a self-titled R&B album with 2000s flavor in 2024.
What I can’t figure out is: Is anybody actually talking about these artists as much as they should? We love covering which pop stars are following in the songwriting footsteps of Taylor Swift or the dancing footsteps of Britney Spears. Why don’t we cover the artist with a unique voice like Alicia Keys or the R&B and hip-hop flow of Mary J Blige? Maybe it’s because, to society, R&B isn’t as exciting as pop. Maybe because while pop can give us a little bit of everything, from rock to country to just enough R&B and hip-hop to satiate us, R&B is a relatively reserved genre. It stays in its lane and mostly overlaps with hip-hop, if not tossing a splash of pop in.
We should give the R&B revival just as much attention as the pop renaissance. Coco Jones and Leon Thomas have worked just as hard for their mainstream moment as Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan. FLO is finally bringing back old-school girl groups. And hey, R&B hasn’t been dead this whole time. Artists like Ella Mai, Summer Walker, Jazmine Sullivan, and H.E.R. haven’t dropped albums in a hot minute, but their catalogue is still worth embracing.
Plus, R&B definitely has the power to top the charts. SZA and Kendrick Lamar’s old-school R&B-infused “luther” has been #1 on Billboard Hot 100 for a ninth total and consecutive week as of April 25. Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” has also maintained a top 10 position for over a year. I think the musical flexibility and emotional depth of R&B is worth diving into, especially as a mode of catharsis. Besides, so much of pop comes from a strong R&B tradition, and listening to R&B, you might discover something entirely new about music or yourself.
This doesn’t mean we need to stop giving pop girlies their due — they’ve definitely earned it — but we should also keep in mind that there are other artists out there we’ve yet to discover. While recession pop might be in the back of everyone’s mind, and the country craze is still going, R&B might help us tap into a whole other side of our feelings in this moment. Now, excuse me while I continue to play Why Not More? on a loop until I get tired of it.