R&B/Hip-Hop Fresh Picks of the Week: Stove God Cooks, Russ, Xowié & More

Thanksgiving Weekend is normally a quiet time for new releases — but that doesn’t mean the worlds of hip-hop and R&B stopped spinning.

On Thanksgiving (Nov. 27), R&B singer Ray J was taken into custody by Los Angeles police and charged with making a criminal threat after allegedly pointing a gun at his ex-wife, Princess Love, during a livestreamed argument. The “One Wish” singer, who’s also Brandy’s younger brother, was released on $50,000 bond later that night. “The worse it gets, the better it gets for us, impression-wise, algorithm-wise, profit-wise, everything,” he explained to Cam Newton on an episode of the former NFL star’s Funky Friday podcast, which resurfaced following the holiday arrest.

By the end of the holiday weekend (Nov. 30), the NFL unveiled the official lineup for the Super Bowl LX pregame. Charlie Puth will perform the national anthem, Brandi Carlile will sing “America the Beautiful,” and Coco Jones will deliver a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” All three Grammy-nominated vocalists will take the stage ahead of Bad Bunny’s highly anticipated 2026 Apple Music Super Bowl LX halftime show on Feb. 8, 2026.

Finally, Billboard kicked off the final month of the year (Dec. 1) with the announcement of its Billboard 2025 No. 1s Livestream, hosted by comedian and actor Druski. Co-hosted by Billboard News‘ Tetris Kelly, the livestream will air on the Billboard News YouTube channel and BillboardTV on Samsung TV Plus on Tuesday, Dec. 9, starting at noon ET/9 a.m. PT. Once the stream ends, Billboard will publish hundreds of 2025 year-end charts to its official website.

With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from a new Stove God Cooks banger to a sultry duet between AKIA and Aaron Page. Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.