2012 is a not so distant memory.  At this early time of the year, we are anticipating the upcoming new releases in music to come. For me, its time to review the previous year and figure out what were my best releases of the year. Today, I will tackle the best R&B releases of the year. All of them are available on iTunes and Amazon.  As I post my various lists some artists and/or the song to sample may be well-known while others may not be. Post your favorite R&B albums or songs in comments. Enjoy!

My top five R&B albums of 2012:

Elle Varner – Perfectly Imperfect – A perfectly creative début. Her voice has a freshness and lusciousness that is addictive.

Melanie Fiona – The MF Life – You feel her raw emotions in each song on this disk. Those emotions are universal and have been experienced by everyone. The MF Life is therapeutic for the soul.

Brandy – Two Eleven – Adult. Mature. Sexy. Fierce. All come to mind when listening to this album. Brandy returned to the scene with exceptional ferocity. She definitely put the youngsters on notice that she’s back making music watch out! This album made me do a double take because it was so whole and consistent. Every song blended with each other to build a musical tapestry that newer artists should pay attention to.

Alicia Keys – Girl on Fire – Alicia Keys can do no wrong! She has never disappointed and on this her   studio album her exceptional musicianship is on display. This disk is pure musical caviar. In this disk we experience her continued growth as a person and I look forward to continued growth along with her. On a future disc I would thoroughly enjoy if she would compose a piano concerto. We have heard tidbits of other famous classical piano pieces in each of her earlier disks, but it would be a treat to hear an original composition. I believe true fans would love it!

Miguel – Kaleidoscope Dream

This was tough to narrow this list down. For me, there were some really good contenders this year. I must give big props to the following artists who had fantastic albums but did not make my top five….

Lianne La Havas – Is Your Love Big Enough?

Tank – This is How I Feel

Leela James – Loving You More, In The Spirit Of Etta James

Me’Shell NdegeOcello – Pour Une Ame Souveraine (For a sovereign soul) – A Dedication To Nina Simone

Estelle – All Of Me