SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Usher, Leon Thomas, Jill Scott, Babyface - NPR's Tiny Desk series has hosted some incredible R&B artists over the years. And on top of that, our NPR music colleagues are always on the lookout for new talent through the annual Tiny Desk Contest. This year, more than 6,000 independent artists submitted their work to the contest. And today, host and series producer Bobby Carter is here to share the best R&B entries. Hey, Bobby.
BOBBY CARTER, BYLINE: What's happening, Scott? How are you, man?
DETROW: I am good. I'm ready to get sultry with some R&B.
CARTER: (Laughter) Let's talk about it.
DETROW: What stood out to you this year?
CARTER: You know, I noticed this year that so many genres had a little splash of R&B in it, and that's just happening in the music industry as a whole right now. A lot of the pop music is R&B coated. But one of the big, big standouts this year is by this woman by the name of Kennedy Ryon, and she had a song called "Ego."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EGO")
KENNEDY RYON: (Singing) I just met my ego. She's been knocking at my door. Said, what for? Got a message I don't think you should ignore.
CARTER: When you watch the video, it brings it all together, but she's like - I've never - this is, as far as I'm concerned, her first entry. And if she's entered before, this is the first time she's hit my radar, but she's so dynamic, so much energy. And I just loved her voice. And it's a song that really, really sticks in your head and really, really catchy. So I love that entry.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EGO")
RYON: (Singing) Hey, ego, don't fail me.
DETROW: It definitely popped out.
CARTER: Yeah. Kennedy, if you're listening, enter again because we're watching.
DETROW: All right, who else? Who else caught your ear?
CARTER: Rijah, who's been really, really consistent. She played a song this year called "Earth."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EARTH")
RIJAH: (Singing) One day, I'm a rock. Next day, lump of clay.
DETROW: I like the guitar in there.
CARTER: The guitar and the thing that stood out to me - obviously, she's - Rijah's been entering for the past few years, and she's been on our radar for quite a minute. But I love artists like her because we're watching them develop with each passing year, vocally, lyrically. I love how she introduced the tabla, this drum, into her sound this year.
(SOUNDBITE OF RIJAH SONG, "EARTH")
CARTER: It's just really, really cool to see these artists enter time after time and reimagine themselves and also reimagine their sets and also just evolve as artists. It's been really, really cool to see Rijah, again - enter again. But that song, "Earth," made a huge impression on me. I couldn't stop singing that song.
DETROW: Those two songs were great.
CARTER: Yeah.
DETROW: Is there one song that rose to the top for you?
CARTER: Whew. I'll tell you what, man. A song called "Aurora" by Ella Faye really, really made an impression on me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AURORA")
ELLA FAYE: (Singing) Oh, Aurora. What is there to know? When you see me as your sound.
CARTER: Young students just getting together in a room on a couch and just harmonies that just blew you away.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AURORA")
FAYE: (Singing) Oh, oh.
CARTER: Listen, R&B has come a long way in this contest, and there's so much great discoveries that we've run into this year. I'm really, really happy with the way that R&B showed up and showed off this year.
DETROW: That is NPR Music's Bobby Carter, talking about the best R&B entries in this year's Tiny Desk Contest. Thank you so much.
CARTER: Thank you, Scott.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AURORA")
FAYE: (Singing) Won't you hear me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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