R&B/Hip-Hop Fresh Picks of the Week: Jae Stephens, Jaz Karis, Ray Vaughn & More

Method Man may have a different point of view, but the past week in hip-hop and R&B was utterly dominated by the latest news in the federal indictment against embattled music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.

On Tuesday (Sept. 17), less than a day after his arrest in New York, federal prosecutors unsealed a criminal indictment against Combs, revealing sweeping allegations of sexual abuse and running a racketeering conspiracy that included forced labor, sex trafficking, kidnapping, arson and bribery. The new development in Comb’s case comes months after both Cassie Ventura‘s bombshell November 2023 lawsuit and a reported raid of Combs’ Miami and Los Angeles Homes on March 25. As a vile hurricane of gossip, misinformation, and victim-blaming continues to surround this case, it was nearly impossible to think about the worlds of hip-hop and R&B without landing on this culture-rocking indictment.

Nonetheless, a few musicians were able to stake a small claim for themselves in the news cycle — including Future, who dropped off a new mixtape called Mixtape Pluto, marking his third full-length project of the year so far. Grammy-winning rapper Eve also found herself back in the news as she promoted her new memoir, which included heartfelt memories of working with Nicki Minaj on the set of 2016’s Barbershop: The Next Cut and conversing with Jay-Z amid the release of her Billboard 200-topping 1999 debut album, Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders’ First Lady.

With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from Jae Stephens’ new Y2K fantasia to 4batz and Lil Baby’s smooth new duet. Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.

Freshest Find: Jae Stephens, “PDA”

After cutting her teeth as a songwriter and signing a deal with Raedio, in partnership with Def Jam, Jae Stephens is ready to fully step into her spotlight as the world’s favorite new pop girl. Cheekily titled Sellout, Stephens’ new EP runs a tight six tracks, all of which hone in on her funky, R&B-steeped take on the percussive pop fantasies of the late ’90s and early ’00s. While recent singles “Wet,” “Girls Don’t Cheat” and “Body Favors” have made the rounds on socials, it’s “PDA” that stands as the project’s crown jewel. “Does anybody in here have a problem with us acting up?/ Ain’t you ever seen a baddie and her baby bad in love?” she questions at the song’s onset. She’s not really asking us for permission to love on her baby, but it’s that combination of devil-may-care swagger and tongue-in-cheek cockiness that makes “PDA” such a nifty encapsulation of Sellout’s vibe and sound. From sultry electric guitar licks to sneaky trips to her fluttery falsetto and spunky spoken word breakdowns, “PDA” is a surefire song of the fall.

Jean Dawson, “Houston”

For the latest taste of his forthcoming Glimmer of God LP (due Oct. 18), Jean Dawson turns up the heat on his flirtations with pop and dance for an atmospheric new joint titled “Houston.” Over a beat that sounds like a distant cousin of the soundscape The Weeknd curated with 2020’s After Hours, Dawson picks up where the Canadian pop icon left off by localizing his balance of life’s most epic highs and lows in an American city with its own lore and mythology. For The Weeknd, that city is normally Los Angeles, but Dawson opts for Houston as he croons, “Ima lose my soul tonight/ Only for the moment right I/ Sink into the lonely night/ Dancing with my own desire higher.” He tempers the song’s synth-pop skeleton with a vocal delivery that exposes the melancholy that courses through his desire to get “higher,” making for a worthy lesson in lyrical and melodic tension.

Jaz Karis, “Talk About It”

Last week (Sept. 20), South London R&B singer-songwriter Jaz Karis dropped her debut full-length album, Safe Flight, and “Talk About It” is one of the project’s most impressive cuts. Produced by contemporary R&B architect Camper, “Talk About It” finds Karis trying her best to convince her partner of the merits of talking through issues rather than shutting down when conflict arises. “Know these ain’t the goals you see online/ It ain’t picture perfect, it’s real-life/ We don’t stand a chance, if we don’t fight/ I don’t wanna give up, not this time,” she coos in the second verse, over a twinkling arrangement equally supported by lush R&B chords and gorgeous vocal stacks. In her embrace of sonic signifiers of past eras of R&B, Karis can root her explorations of the feasibility of Internet Age “relationship goals” in a different context, making for some truly effective songwriting despite the tried-and-true nature of the song’s concept.

4batz & Lil Baby, “Roll Da Dice”

4batz adds another superstar collaborator to his decorated resume that already includes tracks with Usher, Drake and Kanye West. Lil Baby brings the Atlanta trap to the Dallas crooner’s doorstep for the woozy “Roll Da Dice.” As a gambler, Baby is always down to test his luck and take another spin at the wheel. 4batz brings that same mentality to romance while doing whatever it takes to win over a woman so he’s not left love sick. “I roll the dice, make sure there’s no babies,” 4batz reveals of his unguarded nature. But when it comes to intoxicating love-drunk anthems, the elusive R&B singer-songwriter already is impossible to defeat like he was dealt ace-king on the blackjack table. 

TiaCorine, “Different Color Stones”

Imposter Syndrome can be an exhausting battle for artists when it comes to releasing music. Luckily for TiaCorine, her friends and team reportedly pushed her to deliver “Different Color Stones.” The bubbly tune finds Tia collecting infinity stones in the form of different flows as she plays hopscotch mixing in speedy 100 MPH rhymes with a slower-paced hypnotic pocket. “Listen baby/ If you got some money goin act up/ Shawty throw yo ass up/ We ballin’ baby,” she raps while saluting the self-made women winning across the globe. FreakyT’s elevation continues while moving into the post-Almost There era. 

Ray Vaughn & NLE Choppa, “FNBM”

With Cuffing Season just around the corner, don’t expect Ray Vaughn or NLE Choppa to get involved. The TDE rapper and Memphis native connect for the explicit “FNBM” as they’re going to be outside for quarter four. The brash duo doesn’t care about women’s ties to previous partners to complicate their own love lives. “Excuse me, I’m from Los Angeles/ Just f–k the homie, b—h, cause I’m scandalous/ Afterwards she puttin’ chips on my sandwiches,” Vaughn raps. Choppa takes the baton and brings his raunchiness and “SLUT SZN” energy to the track. The visual is worth a watch as well, where an ex pulls up to Vaughn and Choppa’s estate and he’s met face-to-face with an assault rifle. 

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