INDYWEEK
Heather Victoria Makes Her Own Lane in a Crowded Field of R&B Soundalikes
It’s increasingly difficult to detect any distinguishing musical characteristics among today’s dominant commercial R&B singers. Summer Walker is as much as SZA’s vocal clone as Queen Naija and Ella Mai are style duplicates; Jorja Smith is a louder Jhene Aiko.
But as irritating as listening to soundalikes might be for anyone who misses the halcyon R&B days of the 1990s—when the only through line of artists such as Mary J. Blige, Janet Jackson, Brandy, and Toni Braxton was an individual dedication to an unmatchable R&B recipe—relief can be found in a handful of singers du jour, such as H.E.R., Solange, and Teyana Taylor, who show reverence for their R&B idols without sounding derivative.
