Sabrina Carpenter’s and Chapelle Roan’s sexy pop hits have roots in the bedroom ballads of Teddy Pendergrass and Philly soul

Growing up in Philadelphia in the 1990s, I listened to soul singer-turned-R&B sex symbol Teddy Pendergrass and other artists who defined the Sound of Philadelphia. Now, as a professor of ethnic ...

Elle Varner’s “Refill” Remains A Masterclass In Emotional R&B

Elle Varner hooked listeners with Refill’s fiddle-driven R&B, blending vulnerability and groove into a timeless slow jam that ...

R&B's next vibe shift is here. These 2025 albums are proof

Ironic, then, that such a shift seems to have been ushered in by a death — not of R&B proper, mind you, but of one of its greatest modern pacesetters: The Weeknd. Since 2011, the persona inhabited by ...
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Sabrina Carpenter’s and Chappell Roan’s sexy pop hits have roots in the bedroom ballads of Teddy Pendergrass and Philly soul

Growing up in Philadelphia in the 1990s, I listened to soul singer-turned-R&B sex symbol Teddy Pendergrass and other artists who defined the Sound of Philadelphia. Now, as a professor of ethnic ...