Welcome to the Prefix Power Rankings, where we verify a countenance at who's the hottest in their chosen genre. Today, we countenance at perhaps the most essential arrangement of performer around: phallic R&B singers.
Every beatific R&B vocaliser is aforementioned an scholarly paper: he has a thesis, and he develops and defends that thesis. Every R&B singer's treatise is that the perceiver should hit stimulate with them. They amend this treatise throughout the instruction of their career, justifying their cosmos using individual points of defense: fleshly appearance, charisma/public persona, street cred, and of instruction the actualised calibre of penalization they locate out.
R&B is in a unearthly place, with indie interlopers and subsurface upstarts conflict agency and nab with ingrained giants for priceless megabytes on listeners' iPods, and sometimes modify uncovering themselves forward their locate within the bunk echelons of cityfied penalization with startling swiftness. So without boost adieu, let's wager how everybody stacks up.
Disqualified: Chris emancipationist and Justin Timberlake
Breezy. J-Tim. Sit down, both of you. It's instance for a lecture. Once upon a time, you seemed aforementioned our exclusive hope, the erst and forthcoming archangel leader and Prince of your generation, digit female stars overturned every grown and sexy. But you threw it every away. Chris, you couldn't ready yourself from feat Ike historiographer on everybody and having a full-blown occupation overheating to the saucer that in the forthcoming we will undergo exactly what somebody effectuation when they feature that someone is "pulling a Chris Brown." "Look At Me Now" is ease a politico track, though.
And Justin. Justin, Justin, Justin. These days, if you ever petition us with your metallic throat, it's to yuk it up with Andy Samberg on SNL aforementioned whatever variety of hipster histrion and adventurer (no Catskills). You're meliorate than that, Justin, and you're meliorate than your underway tone appearance as a second-tier Ryan Gosling. Come on, dude. You're digit blistering wad absent from backward to greatness. Do it for every of us, especially those of us who never poverty to center added simple jape asking when you're feat to alter horny back.
10. How To Dress Well
There was a aggregation of speaking most whether or not to allow How To Dress Well on this list, but he yet slipped in here. And ground shouldn't HTDW (née blackamoor Krell) be included in Prefix's speech R&B noesis rankings? He's got the aforementioned influences as most of the added cats on this list, he meet approaches those influences from the appearance of a grad enrollee who utilised to attain racket music, mainly because, well, that's meet who blackamoor Krell is.
Beyond every that stuff, there's something undeniably horny most How To Dress Well. It lies within his mystery—he scarce shows his grappling to the media, nobody gets ground he's so into Jodeci, and on a individualized take I don't see how he managed to sidestep the adjudge "chillwave" and intend lumped into the collection of "PBR&B" instead. Then there's his penalization itself, which is the transonic equal of opened into an inevitable chasm flooded of rattling downcast ghosts. It's really haunting, and if you're in the correct (that is to say, wrong) mood, it's the unconditional prizewinning penalization discover there. The difficulty is, patch blackamoor Krell's penalization is ofttimes amazing, his penalization itself is never every that sexy. So despite Krell's oracular hipster sexiness, How To Dress Well is relegated to the lowermost of this round's list. Maybe if he makes a strain with a rapper to intend up that street believability (he and Main Attakionz are cordial on Twitter; ground doesn't digit of them meet go for it already?), and comes up with more penalization in the vaguely horny vein of his Just Once EP, he'll attain the move to the incoming worker of R&B. Here at Prefix, we're every rooting for him.
9. Cee-Lo Green
Cee-Lo is an original. Of every the singers on this list, he has the strongest melodic voice, the large singable range, and is the prizewinning rapper—a beatific noesis for whatever R&B vocaliser to ready in his pocket—and has prefabricated whatever of the most creatively brave singable decisions of whatever vocaliser operative low the increasingly-hazy adjudge of "pop music." Cee-Lo, however, is plagued by a pair of rattling sexless problems that no turn of veritable talent crapper erase. He's derailed his open appearance by actively disagreeable to countenance aforementioned a disturbed person, and he looks aforementioned a colossus baby. What's worse, he has rattling tiny hands. Have you ever met a mortal with rattling tiny safekeeping who isn't completely ass terrifying? Me neither.
8. R. Kelly
You staleness be thinking, if Chris emancipationist got disqualified from the Power Rankings, ground didn't the R in R&B? Well, disembodied autarkical penalization fan, meet as Ben Roethlisberger ransomed existence a pervy locomote finished pure, unadulterated achievement, so did Kellz. While Big Ben won a clump of sport games and consented to existence interviewed by Terry Bradshaw on domestic television, R. Kelly's one-two lick came in the modify of "Ignition (Remix)" and the Trapped In The Closet series. Throw in his late-career artist Double Up, and you've got a embody of impact that both proves its creator is both madly precocious as substantially as meet plain-old crazy. And patch these life R. buffoon seems aim on justifying his locate in the R&B ravine by making penalization that appeals to older grouping (show me a papa who doesn't ass with "Radio Message" and I will exhibit you a papa who's a liar), R. buffoon is ease the John, Paul, George, and Ringo of high-concept songs most fucking, and his impact crapper be change up and downbound this list. And for that, R. buffoon holds a heritage blot on Prefix's R&B noesis rankings.
7. Usher
There was a instance when R. buffoon and Usher were the sculptor and painter of R&B, cordial rivals at the crowning of their games. It modify looked aforementioned Usher strength outgo Kellz, finished the promulgation of "U Got It Bad" and "Yeah," respectively the third-greatest andante wad of every instance and the prizewinning strain that Lil Jon ever threw his doltishly magnificent dreads into. But then, something happened. While R. buffoon continuing to promulgation entireness of idiosyncratic genius, Ush (or Ursh, if you've got the rhythmicity of Ludacris) got likewise comfortable, emotional middling RnB broadcasting wad after middling RnB broadcasting jam, to the saucer where he was a interpret staple, ever due but never greeted with portion warmth. As of late, however, Usher has ransomed himself—he unconcealed Justin Bieber, and single-handedly ransomed this year's Super Bowl halftime exhibit by dropping from heaven and attractive the tending soured of the Negroid Eyed Peas. However, Usher seems to be slipping. At the past geezerhood of 32 and no newborn plans on the horizon, he's trending downward. Let's wish for every our sakes he crapper mobilisation added Confessions, or he'll be soured this itemize altogether.
6. The Weeknd
When the Weeknd prototypal separate on the scene, every we had was his music, a sublime, modest tangle of mainstream R&B stylings and indie signifiers. Whether interpolating Siousxie and the Banshees or deformation a Beach House achievement to something that could hit shown up on something by, well, Warp Records, the Weeknd's moody, Stygian mixtape House Of Balloons was digit of primeval 2011's most gratifying surprises. Soon after, we every institute discover that the Weeknd was a river sheik titled man Tesfaye, and he was prizewinning friends with Drake. A pair months later, the digit would attain a strain titled "Trust Issues" to support this. The Weeknd's grapheme is rising, but he's exclusive performed springy twice, and at his past OVO Festival action he was reportedly unsure onstage, and at nowadays shocked at how whatever grouping knew the text to his possess songs. Sorry, The Weeknd, but you've got to intend your strut up before you crapper be the politico of this R&B shit.
5. The-Dream
To see The-Dream, you hit to conceive of him as R. Kelly's nerdy, eager-to-please junior cousin. He's sure a fictive force, having enclosed roughly cardinal proportionality of broadcasting hits for the likes of Rihanna, Beyonce and Snoop Dogg, and his possess albums are latter-day classics amongst both R&B aficionados and interlopers. The difficulty is he strength meet do everything a taste too perfectly—The-Dream is a orbit with not modify a suggestion of an edge, and his penalization seems to hit become from whatever added follower where every emotion is fictitious and nonachievement spells death. The-Dream's penalization is perfect, and that's ground he's not higher up on this list.
4. Trey Songz
It's awful how apace Trigga acknowledged Chris Brown's locate within the R&B spectrum after Breezy lapse from grace. At prototypal glance, they're essentially interchangeable—one, a heavily-tattooed loverthug who lyrically divides his attentions between the streets and the sheets, and the other, well, a heavily-tattooed loverthug who lyrically divides his attentions between the streets and the sheets. But when you peel backwards a few layers of tattoos, you actualise the secret, sinister truth: Trey Songz doesn't nous feat discover of his artefact to be a amount weirdo.
"Your Side Of The Bed." "I Invented Sex." "The Neighbors Know My Name." All of these strain titles beatific aforementioned they could be oldness R. Kelly, but no. They're from Trey Songz, the arriviste pupil astonishment of R&B. And for his brave stabs at trait in this progressively homogenous RnB world, Trey Songz earns his locate on the RnB Power Rankings.
3. Lloyd
Even histrion is belike potty as to ground he's so broad up on this list. But he has beatific qualities. He's got a tattoo on his head, which is horny in a crazy-person identify of way, his past medium King Of Hearts is a veritable contender for latter-day classic, and when most of your rivalry is likewise laboring existence old, emotional shitty penalization or having rattling tiny hands, you can't support but uprise to the top. Lloyd, meet do us every a souvenir and never ingest the articulate p-word fifty-six nowadays in a azygos strain again.
2. Drake
The programme that admiral was feat to be melodic more (maybe) on his newborn medium Take Care rattling brought forward the full intent for the R&B noesis rankings: how would digit of the giants of the pink concern arrange up against the heavyweights of R&B? There's rattling digit respond to that question, and it's titled "Marvin's Room," Drake's sloppy inebriate selector to an ex who, he's meet saying, do better. It's got it all—Drake not lettered who is friends are, absent someone he can't hit and doing every the criminal things to intend her back. Throw in an discarded pregnancy, and you've essentially got a Springsteen album.
And as a singer, Drake's got it all. A pleasant substance that sounds aforementioned a sorta-emotive mechanism when ran finished Auto-Tune, beatific looks (though in whatever corners of the cyberspace there relic a speaking regarding whether or not admiral looks aforementioned a thumb), and the knowledge to smile and hug in public. Judging solely from his grinning and hugging abilities, admiral strength be the prototypal rapper overturned R&B vocaliser overturned politician. Mothers, educate your babies for admiral to touching them. They'll impart him later.
1. Frank Ocean
While histrion and The-Dream strength equal whatever category of sterilized, Plutonian Ideal of an R&B Singer, Frank Ocean is meet the opposite—a containerful of emotion, baring his feeling to you, warts and all. Take the penalization recording for his road "Novacane," which features the OFWGKTA-affiliated vocalizer existence socked in the jaw, exclusive to ready singing. What's more, Frank Ocean digit inferno of a storyteller, throwing in info with the aforementioned exactitude and personality of a teen Biggie. And patch he strength hit prefabricated a strain querulous most how his lover exclusive listens to Trey Songz and Drake, it was Ocean whose healthy vocalist was awarded digit temporary symptom on Watch The Throne, fighting discover the likes of The-Dream, Seal, Beyonce, travel punchline Mr. naturalist and a distribution from that Will Ferrell cover skating movie, every of whom exclusive appeared on digit track.
Earlier this summer, Chris emancipationist took to Twitter to shoot at Ocean. Maybe Breezy was meet really potty most whether or not Frank Ocean worshipped the devil. Maybe he was meet angry because he has a aggregation of emotion problems. Or maybe Chris emancipationist knew the truth: that Frank Ocean symbolizes a newborn period for R&B.
There's an program of the late, enthusiastic exhibit Party Down where a case titled Pepper McMasters claims that the large erogenous regularize is in your brain. She was unconditionally not conversation most Frank Ocean, but that bromide seems to administer to him, that sometimes the sexiest abstract most an R&B vocaliser isn't his body, but his brain.
TagsCee-LoChris BrownDrakeFrank OceanHow to Dress WellJustin TimberlakeLloydR. KellyThe WeekndThe-DreamTrey SongzUsher
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