When it comes to R&B, too much is never enough. You learn so much from the songs – strength, spirit, soul, and harmony. From the pained love songs to the perky dance tracks, R&B has it all.
The reason R&B is so rooted in American culture is because it caught the mainstream music at the perfect time – post-WW II, when the entire nation was looking for something to lighten the mood.
R&B is one of the best examples of how music can change the way man thinks, for the better. When the Americans used the black people as slaves in the old days, the slaves used blues and African percussion music to either communicate with each other in the cotton fields, or to express their pain through music. Later on, all black music converged into the term “race music”, which although the black community came up with themselves, was still used by the whites in a derogatory manner.
As far as the music genre is concerned, all it took was a simple change in name from race music to “rhythm and blues”. And thus began a genre that almost always talked of love, and talked about with love. The music is made with soul, and the voices are beautiful.
The 50 Best R&B Songs Ever
- “A Song For You” – Donny Hathaway
- “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” – Marvin Gaye
- “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” –Diana Ross
- “Otherside Of The Game” – Erykah Badu
- “What You Won’t Do For Love” –Bobby Caldwell
- “Rock With You” –Michael Jackson
- “Real Love” –Mary J. Blige
- “Never Too Much” – Luther Vandross
- “As” – Stevie Wonder
- “I Like” -Guy
- “Un-break My Heart” – Toni Braxton
- “I’ll Make Love To You” –Boyz II Men
- “Don’t Leave Me This Way” – Thelma Houston
- “Dancing In The Streets” – Martha and the Vandellas
- “Easy” –The Commodores
- “Ain’t Nobody” –Chaka Khan
- “I Got You (I Feel Good)” – James Brown
- “Always” – Atlantic Starr
- “I Will Always Love You” – Whitney Houston
- “Black Or White” –Michael Jackson
- “I Believe I Can Fly” – R. Kelly
- “I Swear” – All-4-One
- “The Boy Is Mine” – Brandy and Monica
- “No Scrubs” –TLC
- “The Way You Make Me Feel” –Michael Jackson
- “What’s Love Got To Do With It” –Tina Turner
- “When Doves Cry” –Prince
- “Endless Love” –Diana Ross and Lionel Richie
- “My Girl” – The Temptations
- “What’d I Say” – Ray Charles
- “All I Need (To Get By)” – Method Man feat. Mary J. Blige
- “You Got Me” – The Roots, Erykah Badu feat. Eve
- “Midnight Train To Georgia” – Gladys Knight and The Pips
- “The Seed (2.0)” –The Roots feat. Cody ChesnuTT
- “The Way You Move” – OutKast feat. Sleepy Brown
- “All That I Got is You” – Mary J. Blige feat. Ghostface Killah
- “Breakdown” –Mariah Carey feat. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
- “Been Through the Storm” – Busta Rhymes feat. Stevie Wonder
- “Lately” –Stevie Wonder
- “Love” – Musiq Soulchild
- “Oh” – Ciara feat. Ludacris
- “The Streets of New York” –Rakim, Nas and Alicia Keys
- “Pocketbook (Remix)” – Meshell Ndegeocello feat. Redman
- “Start from Scratch” – The Game feat. Marsha Ambrosius
- “I’ll Be There” – Jackson 5
- “I Don’t Wanna Know” – Mario Winans feat. P. Diddy
- “One Hundred Ways” – Quincy Jones feat. James Ingram
- “Sincerity” – Mary J. Blige feat. DMX and Nas
- “Fast Lane” – Bilal feat. Jadakiss and Dr. Dre
- “I Like That” – Houston feat. I-20, Nate Dogg and Chingy
Other Great R&B Songs
- “I’ll Be Missing You” – P. Diddy and Faith Evans
- “Can’t Knock the Hustle” – Jay-Z and Mary J Blige
- “Hey Lover” – LL Cool J feat. Boyz II Men
- “Déjà Vu” – Beyonce feat. Jay-Z
- “Like You’ll Never See Me Again” – Alicia Keys
- “Love Shoulda Brought You Home” – Toni Braxton
- “Don’t Let Go (Love)”-En Vogue
- “Love U 4 Life” – Jodeci
- “I Love Your Smile” – Shanice
- “And Our Feelings” – Babyface
- “If I Never Get To Heaven” –Javier
- “We Need a Resolution” –Aaliyah feat. Timbaland
- “My First Love” – Avant feat. Keke Wyatt
- “I Wanna Love You” – Donell Jones
- “Cupid” – 112
- “The Love We Had Stays On My Mind” –Dru Hill
- “Let Me Be Your Angel” – Stacy Lattisaw
- “I Care ’bout You” -Milestone
- “Don’t Leave Me” – Blackstreet
- “Someone To Love” –Jon B. feat. Babyface
- “One Last Cry” –Brian McKnight
- “Every Time I Close My Eyes” – Babyface feat. Mariah Carey
As always, music is a subjective thing. So what I’ve put down won’t necessarily match with what you feel. But constructive help is always welcome; if you have any songs that you think should be on the list, feel free to add them in the comments.