THE WEEK IN R&B, October 11, 2026
Joyce Wrice, Dawn Richard, and Danielle Ponder lead a big Friday, and Lucky Daye's ALOUD! is next.
THE BIG FRIDAY
October 9 was a full day for R&B. Joyce Wrice released MACHIKO, a 14-track album named after her middle name. Dawn Richard released creole culture, an 11-song record on Merge that features Big Freedia and her father, Frank Richard of Chocolate Milk. Rated R&B points out that both are the artists' first albums in five years.
Danielle Ponder's Everything Has Changed, her first album for Dead Oceans, came out the same day. So did Johnny Venus's solo debut The 11th Hour, Tobe Nwigwe's THE BRIDGE, and Rochelle Jordan's four-song Disc 3 EP. Ledisi shared For Dinah (Deluxe Edition), which adds three more covers to her Dinah Washington tribute. Leven Kali followed with LK99 (Deluxe).
SINGLES WORTH YOUR TIME
Kevon Edmonds of After 7 is back with “Right Here.” It follows his cover of Sade's “No Ordinary Love,” which reached No. 1 on the Digital Radio Tracker global airplay chart. He says a video is on the way.
Tanerélle shared “MMFSG” (“Make Me Feel So Good”), the first official single from an album due later this year. Aaron Frazer's “Same Old Game,” Dende's “Brown Suga,” and Paris Alexa's “Hold The Light” also landed on Friday.
ON SOUND RNB
Our first review covered MACHIKO, which we scored 8.0 (Strong). SOUND RNB WEEKLY refreshes every Friday with the newest R&B worth hearing, and CLASSICS, SLOW JAMS, and RISING are live on Spotify and Apple Music.
NEXT WEEK
Lucky Daye releases ALOUD!, his fifth studio album, on Friday, October 16 via Warner Records. It's 15 tracks, including “Talk to Me,” and it's his first full-length since leaving RCA. The same day, K. Michelle releases Jesus & Whiskey, her first country album and her seventh studio LP.
ON STAGE
Ledisi stars in Wanted on Broadway, opening November 8 at the James Earl Jones Theatre. Tanerélle appears in Passing Strange at Pasadena Playhouse from November 4 to 29.
See you Friday.