R&B/Hip-Hop Fresh Picks of the Week: Halle, Shenseea, A$AP Twelvyy, Samara Cyn & More

R&B’s banner year continues!

After scoring two of the genre’s buzziest current hits with “Mutt” and “Folded,” respectively, Leon Thomas and Kehlani both launched new EPs to maintain their momentum. While Thomas enlisted Issa Rae, Lovie Simone and 4Batz to build out PHOLKS, a funk-rock seven-song EP, Kehlani tapped six late ’90s and early ’00s R&B stars for her Folded Homage Pack EP. Brandy, Toni Braxton, Jojo, Ne-Yo, Mario and Tank each delivered their own spin on Kehlani’s smash, helping breathe new life into the Rhythmic Airplay chart-topper.

Elsewhere in the world of R&B, several artists dropped new albums, including Miguel (CAOS), Daniel Caesar (Son of Spergy) and Halle (Love?… Or Something Like It). Last week, the Little Mermaid star stopped by Billboard’s Takes Us Out series for a conversation about her debut solo album over a few vegan bites. On the rap side, we also got new albums from Dave (The Boy Who Played the Harp), Cupcakke (The Bakkery) and The Alchemist & Hit-Boy (Goldfish).

Of course, arguably the biggest hip-hop music moment of the week belonged to Megan Thee Stallion. On Friday (Oct. 24), the Houston rapper finally shared her long-teased, Total-sampling “Lover Girl,” which evolved from a beat produced by TikTok creator @jacobdior.

With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from an unofficial Chloe x Halle reunion to Shenseea’s catchy flip of a Blu Cantrell classic. Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.