R&B

Ghanaian pop star Amaarae: 'I'm presenting black women as deities'

Raised between Accra and Atlanta, the genre-rejecting singer draws from her cosmopolitan upbringing – and a love of Kelis – to confront narrow definitions of womanhood

Timi Sotire

01, Jan, 2021 @6:00 AM

'All that mattered was survival': the songs that got us through 2020

Mariah with butterflies, Bronski Beat in the Peak District, Snoop Dogg on a food delivery ad … our writers reveal the tracks that made 2020 bearable

Guardian music

31, Dec, 2020 @10:00 AM

Wonder breaks the silence: pop, rock and classical music for 2021

Cardi B pushes into Beyoncé’s turf and Sleaford Mods tot up the cost of Covid, while UK orchestras head back to the concert hall – our critics look ahead to big music moments

Alexis Petridis and Andrew Clements

28, Dec, 2020 @6:00 AM

The 50 best albums of 2020: the full list

Our countdown is complete, topped by a mercurial work of sprawling invention by a woman who has dug deep to survive. Taken as a whole, these choices contain drama, solace, poetry and fire, a fitting selection for a turbulent year

Ben Beaumont-Thomas and Laura Snapes

18, Dec, 2020 @8:07 AM

Guardian albums and tracks of 2020: how our writers voted

We’ve announced our favourite releases of the year – now the Guardian’s music critics reveal their individual top picks of 2020

Guardian music

18, Dec, 2020 @6:00 AM

The 50 best albums of 2020, No 3: Rina Sawayama – Sawayama

Sawayama picks her way through formative musical loves to produce a risk-taking musical cocktail of R&B, goth rock and video game soundtracks

Alexis Petridis

16, Dec, 2020 @6:00 AM

Little Richard remembered by Bootsy Collins

5 December 1932 – 9 May 2020
The P-Funk star recalls the rock’n’roll trailblazer – and the friend who inspired him to always stay true to himself

Bootsy Collins

15, Dec, 2020 @10:00 AM

The 50 best albums of 2020, No 5: Sault – Untitled (Black Is)

The first of two incredible albums released by the band this year is weapons-grade R&B and luxuriates in being unapologetically Black

Lanre Bakare

14, Dec, 2020 @6:00 AM

Nines and Mahalia top winners at 2020 Mobo awards

Rapper and R&B singer each pick up two awards, with Steve McQueen, Headie One and Young T & Bugsey among other winners

Ben Beaumont-Thomas

09, Dec, 2020 @8:30 PM

The 50 best albums of 2020, No 10: Moses Sumney – Græ

Sumney’s playful, genre-splicing second album showed a man determined to present life in all its richness and contradiction

Ammar Kalia

07, Dec, 2020 @6:00 AM

Mariah Carey's 30 greatest singles – ranked!

With All I Want for Christmas Is You on the cusp of claiming the UK No 1 for the first time in 26 years, what better time to celebrate one of the great R&B repertoires?

Alexis Petridis

03, Dec, 2020 @12:30 PM

Drake calls for Grammys to be replaced after snubbing Black artists

Singer’s demand follows absence of the Weeknd in all categories of the 2021 awards despite huge success this year and dismay at exclusion of Lil Uzi Vert

Laura Snapes

26, Nov, 2020 @1:19 PM