STAY WOKE: 25 Alternatives To The Trash Ass R&B They Play On The Radio

This is the last edition of the DON’T SLEEP/STAY WOKE series you’ll ever read on KillerBoomBox. I’ve done 4 previous installments of my “What To Listen To While You’re Waiting For Jai Paul” series dating back to last summer when I worked through finally accepting that it’s time to move on and stop waiting for Jai Paul given all of the artists and music that’s out which more than fills the void left by his absence. By now, he’d only be adding to the wide selection of great music already out as opposed to tiding music fans over until he finally releases something. I got the initial idea to do the “What To Listen While You’re Waiting For Jai Paul” series after a conversation I had with the homie Malcolm Gray last Spring when we were discussing the R&B we were both genuinely excited about at the time. We discovered a correlation between those music fans who were up on the same music we were and those who were waiting on Jai Paul’s album to drop as if he were Guffman or some shit. Malcolm had his Future Sounds series running on KillerBoomBox so I came up with my series that was a spinoff of it after he talked me out of quitting music journalism last Summer.

I began by outlining my mission statement last August with the STAY WOKE piece “The Evolution (Or De-evolution) Of Modern R&B” which I had so much fun reading again and again with extra elements added by different music journalists for months afterwards all over the Internet. While doing this series I not only got to expose a lot of people to great music but experience even more incredible acts that people shared with me. From there I just put my ear to the ground and heard a lot more music I grew to love over time or was enamored with instantly.

In this final STAY WOKE I’ll pick 25 different artists that I haven’t previously written about. To get an idea of whom I covered previously click those links above (WARNING: It’s a lot). I’d like to thank G. Valentino Ball, Brandon “Bedlam” Matthews & Darius McCroey for bringing me onboard to KillerBoomBox and involving me early on. I’m off to release music via Producers I Know and write in spaces where I can both be compensated for my work and not have to deal with the (same) bullshit I did within the world of music journalism. Without any further ado, I present to you all the beginning of the end. Also, I named this last piece “25 Alternatives To The Trash Ass R&B They Play On The Radio” even though I really don’t know if any of these artists actually DO get any semblance of love on the radio because quite honestly I don’t listen to it. I would write individual descriptions for everyone but I’m a busy man & I ain’t getting paid for this. Besides, why should I completely spoil the fun of music discovery for all of you readers? Thanks for the past few years of putting up with my bullshit. Enjoy (or don’t…it’s a free country. FOR NOW):

Ari Lennox

STAY WOKE: 25 Alternatives To The Trash Ass R&B They Play On The Radio

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