Raheem DeVaughn - Decade Of A Love King (2018)

Raheem DeVaughn has been many things to contemporary music culture and his ever-expanding core audience, for which he’s amassed a combination of prestigious award honors/nominations and multiple chart-topping releases. “There’s a lot of talk about ‘King of R&B’ and ‘King of Soul,” but I’ve got enough music for the next ten years,” says the three-time Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter. “I literally have enough music for the decade to release. If I stopped recording now and said I wouldn’t record for five years, I’ve got enough music for ten. So I can’t wait, because I’m just warming up.”

In a current music climate seemingly fixated on other genres, Raheem DeVaughn has carved an impressive niche for himself which boasts a faithful core audience, respect from music critics/taste-makers and multiple Billboard chart hits. Come to find out, it has everything to do with Raheem being guy-next-door relatable and truly knowing his audience.

“I wanted to make something geared towards the millennials, but also to bridge the gap with my obvious demographic,” he explains on the process of recording Decade of a Love King.

“I notice when people come to see my live performances, it’s a very interesting audience.” As it turns out, his sultry ‘n soulful blend of boudoir-ready slow jams and romantic mid-tempo grooves often result in live audiences comprised of three generations, many of whom he regularly meets at after-show meet-n-greets. “We live in an age now where “urban AC” is playing Biggie and Common, so I definitely wanted to incorporate that” Raheem shares. “I approached this project how I would have approached making a mix-tape [mentally], but from an original music standpoint. So I really approached every song as if this was a mix-tape, because of the tempos and the bpms. I was the first solo R&B artist to make mix-tapes; I made that blueprint which will go down in history as part of my legacy.”