Rolling Stone's 10 Best R&B Albums of 2018

After two concept albums and a string of roles in Hollywood blockbusters, one of music’s fiercest visionaries sheds her alter egos and steps out as herself. Buckle up: Human Monáe wields twice the power of any sci-fi character. In this confessional, far-reaching triumph, she dreams of a world in which love wins (“Pynk\") and women of color have agency (“Django Jane”). Featuring guest appearances from Brian Wilson, Grimes, and Pharrell—and bearing the clear influence of Prince, Monae’s late mentor—*Dirty Computer* is as uncompromising and mighty as it is graceful and fun. “I’m the venom and the antidote,” she wails in “I Like That,” a song about embracing these very contradictions. “Take a different type of girl to keep the whole world afloat.”

All five projects to come from Kanye West’s summer 2018 creative spurt have appeared to be equal collaborations between West and his G.O.O.D. Music colleagues, but that balance manifests itself most clearly on Harlem singer Teyana Taylor’s *K.T.S.E.*. The project—eight songs, one more than its four predecessors—owes as much to Taylor’s airy melodies as it does to Kanye’s studied production ear; the producer utilizes vocal samples as choruses, as bookends to her verses, and as the backbone of beats. For her part, Taylor is the embodiment of the formidable, around-the-way-girl persona fans have adored since her debut in the late aughts. Addressing a one-time elephant in the room on “A Rose In Harlem,” Taylor sings, “N\*ggas like, ‘You ain’t hot, you ain’t pop/Yet, sup with you and Ye?’” And in *K.T.S.E.*, they have their answer.

After releasing a series of mixtapes and signing to Cash Money, Atlanta R&B singer Jacquees is ready to break out. His debut studio album, *4275*, is a reference to his boyhood home address. It showcases a voice that\'s suited for the pew, but its party-and-sex themes are strictly for the club and bedroom. Just listen to “Studio” to hear his buttery midrange hit Usher-strength levels of expressiveness. He\'s confident enough to hold his own alongside heavyweights like Chris Brown (“All My Life”) and Trey Songz (“Inside”). (On the latter, he sings with a rapper\'s cadence and stays firmly in the pocket.) And, as a bonus, new-school ATL meets old school as Jacquees gets down with late-\'90s So So Def icons Jagged Edge on “Special.”

Having sprung from L.A.’s Odd Future collective, Matt Martians and Syd innately understand the dynamics of collaboration and ego management. So when The Internet’s third album, *Ego Death*, was nominated for a Grammy in 2016, all five members of the alt-R&B band dove into solo projects rather than crank out a follow-up. “I had a lot of music I needed to get out of my system that wouldn’t have made sense coming out under The Internet,” Syd told Beats 1 host Zane Lowe. “It just made us all feel a lot more free and open to each other’s ideas.” The result is a more sonically inventive and personally assured record, and the cohesiveness is evident in everything from the lyrics to the title. “Going out on our own got us battle wounds that we can all relate to,” said Syd. “We all move in a unit now.”

The Weeknd\'s 2016 album, *Starboy*, was the musical equivalent of a Hollywood blockbuster: action-packed, star-studded, with a little something for everyone. Here, he returns to his unfiltered, art-house roots with a release so intimate and tortured, you’ll feel like a fly on his bedroom wall. Stuttering snares, gauzy production, and R-rated lyrics about sex and drugs (“I got two red pills to take the blues away,” he coos through a vocoder on “Privilege”) paint a vivid picture of a brooding Lothario—one that strongly resembles the dark artist we initially met on *House of Balloons*. This time around, he’s tapped gothic electro king Gesaffelstein to bring a sheen to the shadows with neon synths and fuzzy echoes that lift his signature anguish into new emotional heights.

She originally established herself as a YouTube influencer, but Queen Naija’s got a voice on her, too. The Michigan-born R&B singer balances delicacy and strength, and her self-titled debut EP splits the difference between heartbreak and flirtation. “Don’t get it twisted; I can play this game too,” Queen warns on breakthrough single “Medicine,” a deceptively sultry ode to revenge (and a response to the public dissolution of her marriage). But by the mellow “Butterflies,” she’s got eyes for someone new. And “Mama’s Hand” is a tender lullaby to her young son.