There’s no way you could not know of Brian McKnight, even if you are just a little bit into R&B music. Brian has really build a name for himself in a career that has already spanned over 2.5 decades. His own songs have sold over millions of copies all over the world, but his songwriting and producing has kept him relevant over all these years. It’s got him to work with many of today’s R&B stars and many people still consider it to be an honor to work with him.
Brian is the master of smooth. His melodic vocal lines with sweet harmonies make every woman’s heart melt, and thus it’s his trademark sound. The same sound also returns on his latest release. His 15th album, “Genesis”, has been released back in August, but his latest video for his latest single, “I Want U” – taken from the album – only caught my eye last week.
The song is everything you would expect from a 90s R&B singer and it’s been feeling like a little bit of a homecoming to hear this kind of R&B again. I am genuinely glad there are so many of these artists that I grew up on, picking up their thing again. But Brian is showing a little bit of nod to today’s R&B with some vocal effects in the background of the song, but I’m glad there’s no autotune. Yeah!
In an interview, he’s said that he’s tried to do exactly that with his whole album. He said he was “trying to figure out how to bridge that gap between the music we made in the ’90s and trying to make modern music, without sounding 21.” (The Blender) I’m glad he’s had the sense to stay away from some of the sounds going on today, but at the same time I am kind of curious to hear what he would’ve done if he would’ve crossed those boundaries.
Brian is currently still promoting the album, but also has a special one-night-only gig in December, doing a double bill with Brandy. But I will be happy just listening to the album J
