PARTYNEXTDOOR
Jahron Anthony Brathwaite, born in 1993 in Mississauga, Ontario, became the first artist signed to Drake's OVO Sound imprint in 2013, arriving with a smeared, nocturnal take on R&B that fused hushed, drugged-out balladry with Caribbean dancehall cadences absorbed from his family's Trinidadian roots. As prolific behind the scenes as in front, he co-wrote massive hits for other artists, including Rihanna's 'Work,' while his own singles like 'Recognize,' 'Come and See Me,' and 'Not Nice' helped set the template for the moody, sing-rap alt-R&B that defined the mid-2010s. His murmured, Auto-Tune-glazed vocals and after-hours atmospheres made him a quiet architect of the era's sound.
In a Fader cover story PARTYNEXTDOOR named Jodeci among the R&B his father played constantly around him, and during a Nardwuar interview he was gifted a vintage Jodeci single; you can hear that early-90s, church-schooled bedroom R&B in the way he stacks pleading, harmonized ad-libs beneath a bleary lead.
listen forThrow on Jodeci's 'Come & Talk to Me,' with its aching, gospel-soaked lead riding hushed keys, then cue PARTYNEXTDOOR's 'Recognize' — hear how both wrap a wounded, begging vocal in soft harmony instead of pushing it out front.
PARTYNEXTDOOR has cited 112 as one of the R&B groups from his father's rotation that shaped his taste; their high, boyish tenor leads and feathery close harmony echo in his own habit of floating a thin, pitched-up falsetto over sparse production.
listen forPlay 112's 'Cupid,' with its light, youthful tenor gliding over a soft groove, then put on PARTYNEXTDOOR's 'Break from Toronto' — notice how both lean on a high, delicate register that sounds almost too young for the grown subject matter.
Some of PARTYNEXTDOOR's earliest recordings, circulated on an unofficial compilation of his teenage work, include covers of Aaliyah, and her cool, breathy, rhythmically clipped phrasing over spacious beats is audible throughout his catalog's moodier, dance-leaning corners.
listen forCue Aaliyah's 'Are You That Somebody,' with its whispered, percussive delivery sitting in the gaps of a stuttering beat, then play PARTYNEXTDOOR's 'Not Nice' — both keep the vocal cool and unhurried, letting the negative space and the dancehall lilt carry the tension.