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Ronaldo was beside himself after his Portugal squad was stunned 1-0 by Morocco in their the 2022 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal match on Saturday, December 10. French Montana does not feel bad for him. The Moroccan-American rapper was already riding high from Morocco’s Cinderella run making it past Spain, but becoming the first-ever African country to compete in a men’s World Cup semifinals (as noted by ESPN) left French Montana in a state of pure euphoria.

French Montana began his celebration by trolling Ronaldo, partially captioning his first Instagram post, “Ronaldo u had your time g … it’s Morocco time lol.” He followed that up by photoshopping himself sitting across from Ronaldo and playing chess with the even more savage caption, “ RONALDOO AIRPORT THIS WAY ”

IRL, French Montana was fully engaged in an overwhelming Times Square celebration. “Hours later after a ig post !MASHALLAHHHHH REAL LOVE ! YOU AINT NEVER SEEN THIS MANY MORROCANS [sic] IN 42nd street NYC FEEL LIKE CASABLANCA RN,” the diamond-certified artist caption an Instagram video of cheering fans waving Moroccan flags. In another video, French Montana holds up the flag and says to the camera, “Morocco, we outside!”

French Montana was born in Casablanca, Morocco before his family relocated to the South Bronx in New York City when he was 13. “It was a culture shock at first. It was hard,” he told Esquire earlier this year, noting he only spoke Arabic and French at the time. He added, “I take all the pride in being from the Bronx. You could become a rapper anywhere in the world. Still, to do it in the mecca of hip-hop, where all the pillars come from, makes me even more proud.”

Morocco will try to make him the most proud on Wednesday, December 14, when they go up against the reigning World Cup champion and perennial favorite France in the semifinals. The match begins at 2 p.m. EST on FOX.

The White Lotus Misery Index is a weekly accounting of who and/or what is having the worst time in paradise in season two of the HBO series. The rankings are based on a number of factors, none of which can or will be quantified in any way. We are doing art here, not science.

UNRANKED: Mia and Lucia (I cared more about them than any of the other characters on this show and I am very happy for them and wish them nothing but smiles and tinkly piano music in Sicily for the rest of their days BUT the show does need a new protagonist now — we’ll get there, don’t worry — AND I bet I would enjoy a whole season about these two separating rich idiots from their money in a ski chalet in the Alps); Cameron (there’s something to be said for going through life as a handsome idiot); Matteo (my sweet mustachioed prince found his conscience just in time to save his oiwn life); Isabella at the Front Desk (good for her); Rocco (if this beautiful television program hadn’t given us Tanya’s Boat Adventure, I bet Valentina being nice to Rocco would have been my favorite moment in this whole season); Quentin and His Murderous Gays (they all did die or leap into the Ionian Sea at night but it happened pretty quick and they seemed to be enjoying themselves quite a bit before then so, like, cumulatively, not terrible?); Dominic (finally got his wife to answer the phone and all it took was a $50,000 bribe to the son who thinks he’s a sleaze to pay for the freedom of the prostitute he hired on a family vacation); Bert (got a lil aroused when Mia hugged him)

10. Valentina (Last week: 9)

I am very happy for Valentina and the hilarious bed hair she showed up to work with after her night of passion with Mia. I worried about her a lot all season. I knew she survived because we all saw her in the first episode receiving the news about the various dead bodies, but between chasing prostitutes out of the resort like Scooby-Doo chasing ghosts out of an abandoned amusement park and dealing with the heartbreak of a one-sided crush on Isabella, she did not appear to be having much fun at all, anywhere. The only time she seemed at ease was when she was feeding Sicilian street cats, which is a) sad, and b) a great name for a backing band. I would go see, like, Rex Orlando and the Sicilian Street Cate this weekend.

She does have two problems, though, that she’ll need to address between going to fun gay clubs with Mia and Lucia:

• She is the manager of a hotel where like half a dozen guests (and at least one gigolo assassin) were just found dead in the ocean, and that is, at the very least, going to require a lot of paperwork
• She could have an interesting situation with HR if someone lines up the thing where the piano player almost died from accidental ecstasy poisoning and the young prostitute who gave him the drugs took his job and was just nude in a bed with her in an unoccupied room

Could be a bad next week or two for Valentina.

9. Albie and Portia (Last week: Albie – 4; Portia – 7)

ON ONE HAND: it feels right that these two hopeless goofs would end up together, after all, and their little conversation at the end in the airport was very sweet. I hope they get married and have a dozen clueless little children.

ON THE OTHER HAND: They did both get duped by sweet-talking charlatans, one of whom scammed Albie out of $50,000 like the absolute doofus mark he was this entire season, and the other of whom basically got kidnapped by a mysterious English dude whose job was to seduce her and separate her from her boss so his boss could commit a murder at sea. Both of those things will leave scars. And, uh, I suspect people will want to talk to Portia about why she kind of fled Sicily without her boss, who washed up dead the same morning a handful of fancy men both of them had been cavorting with in broad daylight were discovered on a yacht with bullet holes in them.

Maybe she can get Albie to extort another $50k from his dad to pay for a lawyer.

8. Salvatore (Last week: Unranked)

He’s a creepy little man who needs to leave the pretty younger staff members alone but he also has an adorable little face and voice and I love him very much. I hope he is happy at the beach club. And I hope he stops harassing the women he works with. And I desperately want to hear him sing. I am very conflicted about Salvatore.

7. Greg (Last week: Unranked)

Two things are true here, both of them worth noting…

The first thing is that Greg is somehow coming out of this with exactly what he wanted: A dead wife and a big heap of money that he would not have had in the event of a divorce, for reasons relating to various prenuptial pieces of paper he signed. He’s a slimeball and a weasel and I hope the next season of this show opens with him getting struck by lightning as though God himself watched the events of this season unfold and said “Enough.”

The second thing is that we can add him to the list of characters who will have a lot of questions to answer in the aftermath of the boat debacle. Especially if the police notice that there’s a picture in a palazzo that belonged to one of the recently murdered men — who, again, had been seen cavorting around Sicily with the wife who was just found dead in the water — and that picture sure does look like a young Greg in a cowboy hat. Doesn’t exactly take Benoit Blanc to piece that sucker together, you know?

6. Daphne (Last week: Unranked)

Some notes here:

• Daphne has found a way to make her life work for her, which is nice but also sad in a very deep way
• I’ve been thinking about this a lot since the episode aired and it is my position that IF she screwed Ethan’s broken brain out of his body behind those rocks THEN it was more as revenge on Harper than Cameron, because she already knows Cameron is a dipshit but she just had that big chat with Harper about finally finding a friend and how hard that was
• I imagine there will be some lingering trauma from just like swimming into a corpse that sets off a whole-ass murder and extortion investigation
• The freaking acting on display in the scene I GIFed up there, holy crap

She fascinates me.

5. Jack the Rowdy English Boy (Last week: 3)

Good news and bad news for Jack, who really has a lot of things to evaluate going forward. The good news is that Quentin is dead and he can do whatever he wants with his life now, if he wants to make some changes and maybe stop living as a live-in sex drone and accomplice to various murders-for-hire that involve seducing poorly dressed American girls. He did not seem to be having fun in that life, which became abundantly clear between his heavy drinking and ominous cigarette smoking and the thing where it looked like he might snap and rip the steering wheel off that rental car.

The bad news is that… well, things did not seem to be going super great for him before or during and he seems like a young man who is very much in need of very much therapy that he will not have access to. Is it weird that I feel bad for this kid? He did do the right thing at the end there. Kind of. I don’t see any of this ending well for him and his sensitive nipples.

4. The Sales Staff at the White Lotus Chain of Resorts (Last week: Unranked)

“Hello, I’m calling on behalf of The White Lotus. You’ve been one of our most valued guests and we’d like to extend you a special offer for the holiday seas-…

“Well, yes, there was that unfortunate incident in Hawaii…

“Right, yes, the employee who defecated in the suitcase is no longer with the company…

“Yes, that was also our property in Sicily…

“The authorities are investigating it but it was not strictly a hotel matter…

“I’m not sure if ‘Gigolo Assassin’ is the term I would use…

“Well, yes, I would probably see a movie titled Gigolo Assassin, too…

“Probably Zac Efron…

“Well, I don’t…

“I think ‘murder hotel’ might be a little unfair…

“Sir…

“I…

“I think if you listen to the offer we have you might…

“Sir? Hello? Sir? Are you there?” Sir…

“Dammit.”

3. Ethan and Harper (Last week: Ethan – 1; Harper – 7)

What a mess these two are. Good Lord. From Ethan being a paranoid freak who insists his wife believe him without believing her to Harper making little moves with Cameron — her husband’s best friend, allegedly — and trying to play it off as a drunken nothing to Ethan punching Cameron in the ocean and maybe (probably?) having sex with Daphne in some little cove and then all four of them sitting down for one last friendly dinner like none of it ever happened. There are two takeaways here, at least as far as I can tell:

• The thing at the end where their various infidelities actually led them back toward physical intimacy kind of means they just turned into Cameron and Daphne a little joy, which is… not ideal
• Rich people are super weird

I want to see where these two are in like 10 years. Or maybe I don’t. I’m pretty sure I don’t.

2. Giuseppe the Piano Man (Last week: Unranked)

Giuseppe is a gross old man whose musical career topped out at playing background music for wealthy tourists who are so dumb that they eat dinner in the same hotel restaurant every night even though they are almost literally surrounded by delicious food and wine in Sicily. He almost died from a Molly overdose (Molly Overdose and the Sicilian Street Cats also works) and the prostitute who gave him the drugs stole his job in part by sleeping with his boss. He kind of stinks at his job, at least according to the guests who watched and heard him play. I suspect word will get out about him and make it tough for him to land a new gig, especially if his last employer starts being known as “the murder hotel,” which I choose to believe it will.

Also, just generally, it’s never good to be the guy standing in the crowded room shouting about conspiracies. You look like a crazy person. Especially if you just got out of the hospital following an overdose on party drugs. Things are not going great for Giuseppe.

1. Tanya (Last week: 10)

Lots to consider here…

ON ONE HAND: She, uh, died, which is bad.

ON THE OTHER HAND: She figured out the plan — eventually, but still — and went out in a blaze of damn glory like a hero and I was so happy for (and proud of) her that I’m still smiling about it today as I’m typing.

ON THE OTHER HAND: Freaking Greg is going to get her money after all, which does not feel right.

ON THE OTHER HAND: I do not know if there’s been a funnier death scene this entire year than Jennifer Coolidge mowing down a crew of devious gays and then whiffing on a dive into the escape boat after trying to pump herself up out loud about it.

ON THE OTHER HAND: I will miss Tanya very much and I’m already sad we won’t get to see her in the next season just bumbling around another White Lotus resort

ON THE OTHER HAND: If you gotta go out, I mean, this is certainly one way to do it. Good for her.

Yes, I’m aware I used six hands to explain all of this. I know that’s anatomically impossible. In my defense, there was… I mean, there was a lot going on. Good show. Can’t wait for it to come back. Congratulations to everyone involved, including all of us. We did it.

Although A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie‘s new album, My Vs. Myself, was only released this past Friday (December 9), he’s already followed up with a deluxe edition. However, whereas many artists’ deluxe albums lately have featured full playlists worth of material, A Boogie only added one new song to the tracklist: “Needed That,” an ode to his late friend PnB Rock.

The fact that “Needed That” is the only new song is a testament to how close it and PnB Rock both are to A Boogie’s heart. PnB Rock appears on the song as well, trading verses about heartbreak with A Boogie over a moody, piano-driven beat. A Boogie and PnB Rock previously collaborated on “Beast Mode” and “IDK” in 2017; the two East Coast rappers were formerly labelmates on Atlantic Records. PnB Rock died earlier this year when he was shot during a robbery at a restaurant in Los Angeles.

Me Vs. Myself is the follow-up to A Boogie’s 2020 album Artist 2.0, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. A Boogie is set to go on tour to promote the album, which was led by the single “B.R.O.” featuring Roddy Ricch, next spring. He’s also planning a “one night only” show at New York’s Apollo Theater later this week.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

(SPOILERS from The White Lotus will be found below.)

Daphne and Ethan had a moment during The White Lotus season finale. How far did that moment go? Was the “walk with me” a plain-language suggestion, or was Daphne indoctrinating Ethan on her method of marriage survival?

Clearly, the answer to that question isn’t clear at all. In fact, Mike White seems to delight in making us wonder. My initial thoughts (and I wasn’t mad at this) were that Daphne (who previously referred to her husband’s colleagues as “psychopaths”) could be setting out to murder Ethan, but both parties emerged from the conversation (physically) unscathed, so speculation abounds whether they actually had some revenge sex.

The above scene began with Ethan letting Daphne know about his suspicions of Harper and Cameron having a secret tryst that he interrupted. And hoo boy, Meghann Fahy really took people on a journey as her face processed (and then dismissed) what Ethan was communicating, and Will Sharpe convincingly played along into the wild, dreamlike turn of events that was beautifully shot. We do know that Daphne has been having her own fun, probably to cope with what she deals with at home. Her perspective, as expressed to Ethan, was that a little mystery in a relationship can be hot, and and you don’t have to be 100% with your partner’s actions to stay in love.

That kind of willful blindness says a lot, and Ethan didn’t seem like a dude (he did reject the sex workers) who would cheat on Harper. But maybe he did? As Decider’s Meghan O’Keefe points out, this remains an intentionally suggested possibility from Mike White, who declared in the Unpacking aftershow, “Whatever happened, it allows him to let go of the jealousy that has been brewing with him.” He added, “[I]t kind of brings back that first kind of sexual charge that happens in the beginning of relationships and sometimes fades away over time. By the end, you’re maybe like ‘Well, maybe what Ethan and Harper need was just a small dash of what Cameron and Daphne have.’”

Oh. Well, that changes everything. At first, I thought, “No way,” and now, I’m like, “Tell me more.” Is it time for Season 3 yet?

The White Lotus season finale is streaming on HBO Max.

Over the summer, George R.R. Martin confirmed reports that a Game of Thrones spinoff series centered on Jon Snow is in development. Not only that, Martin also confirmed that Kit Harrington pitched the idea and assembled his own team of writers. Since then, talk of the aptly titled Snow has been quiet as the Thrones franchise once again proved its dominance with its wildly popular prequel series, House of the Dragon. However, Harrington recently surfaced at a fan convention where he slyly dropped some hints about Snow.

According to Entertainment Weekly, neither fans, moderators, or Harrington broached the subject of Snow, which was presumably off limits. But when Harrington started commenting on the Game of Thrones finale, the actor couldn’t help but do a little table setting for Snow.

“At the end of the show when we find him in that cell, he’s preparing to be beheaded and he wants to be. He’s done. The fact he goes to the Wall is the greatest gift and also the greatest curse,” Harrington said:

“He’s gotta go back up to the place with all this history and live out his life thinking about how he killed Dany, and live out his life thinking about Ygritte [played by Rose Leslie] dying in his arms, and live out his life thinking about how he hung Olly [Brenock O’Connor], and live out his life thinking about all of this trauma, and that…” Harington paused for a brief moment. “That’s interesting,” he coyly emphasized.

While Harrington didn’t offer much else in the way of details, he did offer one final clue to how Jon Snow is doing when the spinoff series catches up with him: “He’s not okay.”

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Either someone just saw Everything Everywhere All at Once (unlikely), or Marjorie Taylor Greene always has butt plugs on the brain. Over the weekend, America’s Most Unjustifiably Proud Chef appeared at the New York Young Republicans Club gala alongside Donald Trump Jr. After they were done being annoying about Brittney Griner, Taylor Greene gave a speech where she brought up the accessibility of sex toys.

“By the way, you can pick up a butt plug or a dildo at Target and CVS nowadays. I don’t even know how we got here. This is the state that we’re living in right now,” she said. It was part of a “transphobic rant,” which is nauseatingly on brand for the face of the GOP.

The controversial congresswoman was one of several high-profile conservative firebrands who bashed President Joe Biden, progressives and more at the annual event… Greene bragged about not supporting a “single penny” to help Ukraine battle Russia while suggesting money would be better spent on attacking drug cartels in Mexico. “They care about a country called Ukraine whose borders are far away and most of you couldn’t find it on a map,” added Greene, who received an award from the club.

Other guests at the gala included Steve Bannon, Rudy Giuliani, Roger Stone, and Andrew Giuliani. It was a real who’s who of people who actual New Yorkers despise. It’s also led people to wonder why the GOP hates sex toys so much.

(Via NY Post)

Missy Elliott joined Lizzo to perform their Cuz I Love You track “Tempo” at Lizzo’s Special Tour stop in Los Angeles last month, and she saw all she needed to see. The hip-hop pioneer was part of Cuz I Love You, but she can’t stop raving about Lizzo’s Special era. Last week, we had Stevie Nicks opining about Lizzo’s potential political future, and now, Elliott is dreaming of a world where the Grammy and Emmy winner fronts a musical.

“What I really appreciate about Lizzo is that she is so diverse,” Elliott wrote for Lizzo’s capsule in Entertainment Weekly‘s “2022 Entertainers Of The Year” package. “There are so many levels to her. When she’s in the studio, she knows how to go into these different characters, she knows how to be heard, she knows how to sing, dance, rap, and it’s all amazing.”

Rihanna ended her six-year music hiatus in late October with the powerful ballad “Lift Me Up” for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack — and tacked on “Born Again” for good measure. Taylor Swift clocked the biggest first-week tallies since 2015 and monopolized the top 10 of Billboard‘s Hot 100 with Midnights. Lady Gaga won another Grammy with Tony Bennett and set out on her Chromatica Ball tour. And now, the powers that be at the 2023 Golden Globes are supposed to choose between them.

The Best Original Song, Motion Picture category is stacked: “Carolina” by Taylor Swift for Where The Crawdads Sing; “Ciao Papa” by Roeben Katz and Guillermo del Toro for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga and BloodPop for Top Gun: Maverick; “Lift Me Up” by Rihanna, Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson, and Tems for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; and “Naatu Naatu” by Kala Bhairava, M. M. Keeravani, and Rahul Sipligunj for RRR.

Elsewhere in the nomination field, Selena Gomez is up for Best Actress In A TV Series, Musical Or Comedy for her role in Hulu’s Only Murders In The Building, co-starring alongside Martin Short and Steve Martin for two seasons with a third on the way. The category is rounded out by Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary), Kaley Cuoco (The Flight Attendant), Jenna Ortega (Wednesday), and Jean Smart (Hacks).

The films that make up the Best Original Score category are Babylon, The Banshees Of Inisherin, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, The Fabelmans, and Women Talking.

Other loosely music-related nominations of note are Donald Glover’s (sometimes known as Childish Gambino) for Best Actor In A Television Series, Musical Or Comedy; Austin Butler for Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture, Drama for his portrayal in Elvis; and four nods for Pam & Tommy, Hulu’s limited series revisiting everything surrounding the 1995 sex tape made by Pamela Anderson and Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee.

The 2023 Golden Globes are scheduled for January 10, 2023 and will broadcast live on NBC with Jerrod Carmichael hosting.

After losing to Democratic challenger Katie Hobbs, failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is being dragged by Republican officials and campaign strategists for blowing a “winnable” race. The major source of contention: Lake’s deference to Donald Trump and her refusal to ease up on pushing his election fraud lies.

According to insiders speaking to the Washington Post, Lake was frequently counseled to pull back on her “extremist rhetoric,” but she refused to listen to state officials who believe her allegiance to Trump cost her the election. Via Raw Story:

“Advisers wanted her to focus less on Trump’s false claims of voter fraud and more on homelessness, water independence and border security, according to people familiar with their counsel. Business leaders recommended that she tone down her MAGA message to create a friendlier climate for capital. Republican strategists asked her to stop denigrating early ballots, a method of voting once critical to Republican victories in the state.”

Direct appeals to Lake reportedly did not go well. “She would never break frame,” an Arizona Republican told the Post. “She’d sort of look at you with a puzzled face and be like, ‘But the election was stolen in 2020.’”

Others are now saying Lake’s campaign was doomed from the start.

“It was both a collapse and, now in hindsight, it was a failed campaign from the beginning,” another GOP official said. “I don’t really know what to say beyond outrageous arrogance and never getting out of primary mode. This election wasn’t stolen. It was given away.”

Like Trump, Lake has refused to concede the election, but unlike Trump, she has yet to gin up enough support to stage her own mini January 6. In late November, she pleaded with supporters to literally get themselves arrested in an effort to stop the election results from being certifying. She has not had many takers if any at all.

(Via Washington Post)

As a fan of R&B, you may have spent some portion of the year arguing against critics of the genre who believe it’s “dead” due to the changes it exhibited over the decades. Two years ago, I went on a whole spiel that argued against this belief before celebrating the best R&B albums of the year. In all honesty, fighting against the false death of R&B is a bit counterproductive when the signs of life are right there. Even then, celebrating its life seems to be closer to the end goal that we lover boys and girls have, as opposed to fighting to prove its life.

Over the course of 2022, the life R&B of could be found through the return of tenured favorites like Steve Lacy and Ravyn Lenae who spent some time away from the mic. Frequents like Lucky Daye, Kehlani, and Giveon made quick returns to update their catalogs with impressive bodies of work. Elsewhere, names like Amber Mark and Zyah Belle took big steps into the spotlight with their albums, steps that were too big to ignore.

So, without further ado, here are the best R&B albums of 2022 in alphabetical order.

Alex Isley & Jack Dine — Marigold

Fighting against the pressures that come from her family’s musical legacy, Alex Isley continues to reach the bar set for her. Alongside producer Jack Dine, on Marigold, Alex pays homage to R&B’s traditional roots. Alex’s artistic growth is on full display in the delivery of her angelic vocals, and when paired with Dine’s divine production, it makes for a heavenly musical experience. In a half-hour, Marigold is a celestial soundtrack for diehard romantics. If she continues at this pace, in the coming years Alex will be one of the foremost figures within the genre. – Flisadam Pointer

Amber Mark — Three Dimensions Deep

The best things come in three(s). That’s a saying that Amber Mark knows too well, considering that the number has such a huge presence in her life. So, it’s no surprise that her third project and official debut album, Three Dimensions Deep, is her best and most-fulfilling body of work to date. Aside from it continuing a theme in her life, Mark’s debut beautifully explores the scary and/or exciting depths of love. Whether it be her hesitance to be trusting on “Most Men,” or her experience with a head-over-heels love on “Out Of This World,” or even the search of something for the spirit on “What It Is,” Mark’s album makes for a magical experience that’s too good to ignore. – Wongo Okon

Ari Lennox — Age/Sex/Location

Social media has had a huge effect on how we do everything in our day-to-day lives, from something as simple as where we get our news to something more complex like the dynamic of our person-to-person relationships. Ari Lennox’s sophomore album Age/Sex/Location is born out of this world, and through anecdotes of romance, heartbreak, and growth, Dreamville’s First Lady indirectly acknowledges these hardships by creating a world of her own. With help from J. Cole, Lucky Daye, Chloe, and Summer Walker, Lennox signs into a world where she’s in control and her standards are met without her having to alter them in hopes of true love. – W.O.

Arin Ray — Hello Poison

With his sophomore album Hello Poison, Arin Ray learns that it’s impossible to deny love when it’s right in front of you. The project’s title is an oxymoron that welcomes the very thing that used to hurt him: love. Between records like the eccentric “This Is Nice” to the funky “Lovely,” Ray passionately displays his change of heart, going from hesitant to try again at love to the hope that his open feelings are matched and not left to waste. For Arin Ray, his second full-length album adds more to his already impressive palette of talents, proving that the Cleveland native is truly a special corner in R&B. – W.O.

Brent Faiyaz — Wasteland

Brent Faiyaz, the enigmatic frontman of the musical ensemble Sonder and successful solo artist, dials up “toxic n**** R&B” to the umpteenth power with his second studio album, Wasteland. Throughout the 19-track project, Faiyaz welcomes us into his world of fast cars, designer clothes, beautiful women, and superstardom. The crooner treks through the pitfalls of love as he struggles with his growing notoriety. The project also offers a bit of dinner theater, with Faiyaz layering several skits throughout the project. – Alexis Oatman

Domi & JD Beck — Not Tight

The prodigious jazz duo delivered a futuristic debut album showcasing the full breadth of their mastery of keys (Domi) and drums (JD Beck). The pair sound like they could score an Adult Swim cartoon in their sleep and they bring Anderson .Paak, Snoop Dogg, Herbie Hancock, Mac DeMarco, and others along for the ride. Not Tight is as technically sound as it is ambitious, zany, youthful, and just plain dizzying. Domi & JD Beck could very well be the envoys for a future of jazz music flushed with tinges of R&B, hip-hop, and more in the process. – Adrian Spinelli

Ella Mai — Heart On My Sleeve

Distill the essence of the Love Jones quote — “romance is about the possibility of the thing” — into 15 R&B songs, and you get Heart On My Sleeve. Ella Mai could’ve chased the next hit after “Boo’d Up” but committed to a substantial body of work — vulnerably parsing love and heartbreak, fallibility and titillation. The UK songstress’ flawless vocals demand to be felt, soaring atop ethereal beats (“Break My Heart”), smooth pockets (“A Mess” feat. Lucky Daye), or strings (“[Pieces”). Daye, Latto, and Roddy Ricch are welcomed, but Mai is the main character. – Megan Armstrong

FKA Twigs — Caprisongs

Arguably one of the more underrated albums from this year, FKA Twigs followed up her critically-acclaimed Magdalene with the dreamy, astro-themed Caprisongs. (She is, in fact, a Capricorn.) The record boasts party-ready collaborations with The Weeknd on the apt “Tears In The Club” and Pa Salieu on “Honda.” Still, Twigs proves once again that she’s also perfectly capable of shining on her own, with equally-enticing tracks like “Meta Angel.” – Lexi Lane

GIVĒON — Give Or Take

GIVĒON’s soul-shaking baritone blasted him to the top of R&B (“Heartbreak Anniversary”) and even pop (“Peaches”). The velvet voice has something to say, too? Game over. The Long Beach export has described his debut LP, Give Or Take, as reading his diary to his mother, whose perspective on his heartbreak serves as bookends (“Let Me Go,” “Unholy Matrimony”). Singles “For Tonight” and “Lie Again” are soaring, universal ballads, but painstaking, slow-burning glue tracks like “Dec 11,” “July 16th,” “Make You Mine,” and “Tryna Be” posture him as a timeless storyteller. – M.A.

Kehlani — Blue Water Road

With their third studio album Blue Water Road, Kehlani allows themselves to be more vulnerable than ever. The 13-track project is presumably the first time the Oakland singer stands firm in their queerness, boldly addressing their love life and sexuality. From beginning to end, the album seems to flow perfectly in and out of each song, with the warmth and richness of ’90s R&B. Like ocean tides, this project beckons you to come closer and let the waves wash over you. – A.O.

Lokre — Elizabeth

Lokre’s (pronounced lock-ree) debut album Elizabeth is a fine display of growth, maturity, and self-awareness. The Toronto singer’s project comes more than a decade into her musical career, but it’s the wisdom and knowledge that she gained along the way that helped to make Elizabeth the pristine album that it is. Her soothing vocals guide listeners through a tale of conquering her fears, fighting for her peace, and learning from her missteps. Through the 11 tracks on Elizabeth, Lokre dusts the past off of herself, settles into the present, and takes the steps forward for what is set to be a fruitful future. – W.O.

Lucky Daye — Candydrip

It didn’t take long for Lucky Daye to prove that he was the next best thing in R&B. Grammy nominations among other things for his 2019 debut Painted proved that, but for his second act, Candydrip, Daye sought to expand his range. The New Orleans singer was more flirtatious than ever on his latest effort, and he also brought more sounds into play, opting to spend more time in mischievous nighttime fun this time around. What makes Candydrip so good is Daye’s ability to blend his traditional sound with his experimental takes for a cohesive project that lets listeners see a new side of him as well as how wide his range is. – W.O.

PJ Morton — Watch The Sun

Like many projects that arrived over the past 18 months, PJ Morton’s Watch The Sun is inspired by his experiences during the height of the pandemic. The New Orleans native confessed that the project’s title is inspired by his hope for better days during one of the darkest times in recent history. This hope is ejected through the warm-hearted and jazzy title track, the bouncy “My Peace,” the inspirational “Still Believe,” and the moving “The Better Benediction.” Through a listen of Watch The Sun, it’s clear that Morton succeeded in his goal of creating hope for tomorrow. The album’s backbone in gospel uses the genre as a source to point toward greener pastures while its roots in R&B, soul, funk, and jazz provide the perfect sonic landscape to fall in love with the records as well as Morton’s message. – W.O.

Raveena — Asha’s Awakening

Raveena gave us the psychedelic R&B album with South Asian flair that we never expected but always needed. Album opener “Rush” is a flowery, tabla-studded number inspired by Bollywood and sounds like colors and jewels. “Secret” is an exotic tune that feels like it was crafted in a palace and features Vince Staples. The album’s central character is a Punjabi space princess named Asha, an idea that came to Raveena on an art museum acid trip. And this euphoric sense of adventure and exploration from her is everywhere on Asha’s Awakening. – A.S.

Ravyn Lenae — Hypnos

After a four-year hiatus from music, Chicago’s red-haired songstress, Ravyn Lenae, returned to drop Hypnos. The debut studio album is familiar, with Lenae’s signature high-pitched, breathy vocals reminiscent of Minne Riperton. Still, it positions the singer light years ahead of her previous efforts with futuristic production and burgeoning lyrical maturity, a la Brandy’s post-adolescent ‘Full Moon.’ The confidence present in the chorus of the Monte Booker-produced “Venmon” and lyrical depth of “Deep In The Word” properly reintroduce the artist and build upon Lenae’s moody sound initially found in her breakout tracks like 2018’s “Sticky.” Stick around for the album’s penultimate female-forward track, “Mercury,” for a taste of Lenae in fresh collaboration. The whisper tone and angsty lyrics on the track are assisted by alt-R&B breakout Fousheé, switching up from her typical collaborators to step into a new era. – Ellice Ellis

Robert Glasper — Black Radio III

Nearly a decade after its second installation, Robert Glasper sought to once again showcase the beauty behind Black music with Black Radio III. The incorporation of jazz, hip-hop, R&B, and soul, as well as collaborators that specialized in at least one of the aforementioned genres, made for an excellent compilation of what makes Black art, Black music specifically, so beautiful. Glasper uplifts his community with help from D Smoke and Tiffany Gouche on “Shine” while vying for longevity with PJ Morton and India.Arie on “Forever.” In addition to his own contributions, another thing that makes Black Radio III so memorable is Glasper’s ability to combine his diverse cast of collaborators into a project that remains cohesive, well-produced, and purposeful. – W.O.

Steve Lacy — Gemini Rights

Though the astronomical fame of “Bad Habit” is deserved — it’s a ridiculously groovy track — it’s a shame how much attention was stolen from Steve Lacy’s Gemini Rights as a whole. The album is meant to be experienced in full, with the jittery atmosphere of “Helmet” following the quiet ambiance of “Static,” or the drama of “Cody Freestyle” prefacing the endearing piano-driven ballad “Amber.” Gemini Rights is a hypnotizing masterpiece from start to finish. – Danielle Chelosky

Sudan Archives — Natural Brown Prom Queen

For her latest album, and first in three years, Sudan Archives, born Brittney Parks, set out to do something new this time around. This change in direction produced Natural Brown Prom Queen. Truthfully, the 18-track project is another example of Sudan Archives going against the grain and doing things her way. Natural Brown Prom Queen focuses on a teenage girl named Britt, the album’s alter ego described as “the girl next door from Cincinnati who drives around the city with the top down.” Sudan Archives takes on the role of a naive, yet passionate teenager to cover themes about race, womanhood, and the loving relationships one has with their inner circle. It’s all done through atypical offerings of pop, R&B, and electronic that only further the true uniqueness and impressive artistry that lives within Natural Brown Prom Queen. – W.O.

Syd — Broken Hearts Club

With the release of Broken Hearts Club, certified lover girl Syd overcomes the sophomore slump. In just under 40 minutes, the crooner solidifies her spot as one of the leaders in alternative R&B. Across the 13 tracks, the former The Internet frontperson blends a wide spectrum of sonic elements — impressively without repetition. From robotic lo-fi instrumentation to swaggered basslines, the project oozes with Syd’s creative confidence as her masterful songwriting abilities are placed on display. Stationed in her tried-and-true musical arena of love, Syd’s signature whisper tones tuck neatly into each track’s romantic current. On Broken Hearts Club, Syd knows who she is as an artist, what her sound is, and allows her sharp ear for production to lead the way. – F.P.

Zyah Belle — Yam Grier

Yes, 2022 became the year that Zyah Belle released her debut album Yam Grier, but don’t mistake it for her first foray into the music world. Belle’s had her fair share of experience in the industry with 2016’s New Levels, 2019’s IX, and her 2021 EP Who’s Listening Anyway being proof of that. With Yam Grier, Belle places everything that makes her so special on wax. Through 14 tracks, Belle bathes in the warm freedoms and bright resolve that is so clearly a result of her Bay Area roots. So when she rocks out with Jordan Hawkins on “Back To Back” after catching a groove on “Holding On” all to find her funk on “Break Your Heart,” the only thing you can do is commend and applaud Belle for her versatility a determination to do it all. – W.O.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.