BLACKsummers'night

Ending an agonizing eight-year musical hiatus, the neo-soul icon returned with the first installment of a highly anticipated conceptual album trilogy. The record entirely avoids contemporary hip-hop drum programming or heavy synths, relying exclusively on an incredibly tight, live studio band to deliver impossibly smooth, organic R&B grooves. Earning two Grammy Awards, it re-established him as an unrivaled master of deeply romantic, mature soul music.