Muni Long Wants R&B To Tap Back Into Emotion And Fun

Muni Long believes R&B would benefit from more people “exploring sounds and getting vulnerable.” On Tuesday (Feb. 18), the “Time Machine” singer joined fellow vocal powerhouses Kehlani, H.E.R. and Victoria Monét, among many others, in discussing the genre’s new golden era.

In conversation with The New York Times Style Magazine, Long spoke about how R&B keeps reaching back while searching for where it needs to go. “Let’s make some wedding songs. Some party songs would be fun, you know, things that they would play in the club,” she said.

One example, in particular, that really drove the point home was her Grammy Award-winning “Hrs & Hrs.” Long even recalled hearing the record in rotation with Hip Hop acts like Sexyy Red and XXL Freshman Class pick BossMan Dlow in the club. “Everybody, including the men — thugged out; I’m talking about all types of chains and gold teeth and all that. Everyone was singing my song,” she explained.

Interestingly, R&B seems to be one of those genres that people love to box in, especially because it is so deeply tied to Black culture. The second an artist experiments too much, their work may get pushed into “alternative” or “pop” — but sometimes the complete opposite happens as well — as if the art form itself is not allowed to evolve. “R&B is pop music,” she emphasized. “They took the sounds, and they took the swag, and they made it mainstream.”

Long’s most recent full-length project was Revenge, which landed Rap-Up’s Best R&B Albums Of 2024 list. Spanning 14 songs, the LP saw her testing her vocals against GloRilla’s bars on “Leave My Baby Tonight,” celebrating self-worth on “The Baddest” and even rapping on the high-energy “Bessie.”

If last year’s breakout stars were anything to go by, R&B in 2025 should have plenty of exciting new music on deck. For instance, Jordan Adetunji skyrocketed into popularity with “KEHLANI,” many people were introduced to the mask-wearing 4batz and plenty more fresh faces made their mark.