Aaliyah & James Blake Hold Down This Week's "R&B Season" Playlist

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Plus, new music from Abra and Tiwa Savage.

Aaliyah's influence in the music industry is set in stone, years after her passing. From her sense of fashion to her choice of production, it's all managed to seep into the modern sound of music today. Her timeless music hasn't been the most accessible, unfortunately, with the majority of her catalog missing from streaming services. On Friday, fans rejoiced after One In A Million was finally brought to DSPs. So, it only made sense that we'd highlight at least one track off of the project for this week's R&B Season playlist and the title track only felt right.

In a few weeks, James Blake will finally be delivering his follow-up to Assume Form. The multi-instrumentalist, producer, and singer has shared a few singles over the weeks to prep for the campaign, beginning with "Say What You Will." On Friday, he shared the second single off of the project titled, "Life Is Not The Same" which includes co-production credits from Take A Daytrip. It was a necessary vibe for this week's playlist and one that will be in steady rotation this week.

Along with records from Aaliyah and James Blake, this week's R&B Season playlist also includes some new music from JoJo as well as Abra.

Check out this week's Fire Emoji playlist below and make sure you subscribe to HNHH on Spotify. 


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.