Ciara Revamps Herself On Our New “R&B Season” Playlist Update

Welcome back to our R&B Season playlist update, here to round up the best of the best genre-adjacent releases this week had to offer. While we didn’t get a lot of big drops this week, it’s always nice when an anticipated album comes out and quickly follows up with more of what fans wanted.

We’re talking about Ciara and her new album CiCi, which came out last week but just got four new songs as part of a deluxe edition that dropped on Monday (August 25). One of them is the dancehall-inspired cut “Low” with Diamond Platnumz, which contains some really creative percussion details and slick vocal performances. In comparison to other soulful crossovers into this genre, this track makes something entirely different out of its influences.

Also, this deluxe version features the “Ecstasy” remix with assistance from Teyana Taylor and Normani, which unsurprisingly shows off some solid chemistry between all the performers. Although it could benefit from more distinctive sections, the vibe certainly takes over. It’s not the most expansive deluxe in the world, but a gratifying one nonetheless.

Elsewhere on R&B Season, we wanted to welcome back a duo that took a bit of a backseat in recent years. But it feels like they never left. dvsn finally followed up their 2023 efforts and dropped two new tracks: “Excited” and “Love On You.” The first is a sultry R&B jam with a lot of dramatic embellishments, whereas the second is a more funky jam with stronger melodies and a more easy-going structure.

Vocalist Daniel Daley and producer Nineteen85 made fans very happy with this comeback, and they have great news for the future. They singed to Jermaine Dupri‘s So So Def Recordings and HYBE, marking the next step in an already beloved career in the worlds of rhythm, blues, and soul.

Elsewhere regarding this new music Friday, we also got some big releases in the hip-hop world. Our Fire Emoji playlist highlights the new Joey Bada$$ album Lonely At The Top and a revamped version of an old Eminem freestyle. That new Slim Shady track appears as a part of the STANS documentary’s soundtrack.