It shouldn’t come as a shock that R&B is in a state of disarray, or at the least that’s what one now disgraced gatekeeper has tirelessly campaigned. Nevertheless, the 2024 BET Awards’ Lifetime Achievement tribute efficiency to Usher demonstrated that R&B is alive and effectively. The style has merely developed for current-day listeners. However should you’re a stickler for the nice ole modern concoctions, staple sounds, or classic voices, Kenyon Dixon is right here only for you.
On July 25, in the course of the Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, and sought-after producer’s The R&B You Love Tour cease at Racket NYC, Dixon laced up his boots, tied his cape additional tight, and dusted off his golden microphone to campaign for the musical tradition he exalts. Dixon’s tour and its namesake album share a singular mission—to hold the torch sparked by generations of musicians lengthy earlier than his arrival. The R&B You Love Tour solidified Kenyon Dixon because the independently established advocate that conventional R&B desperately wants, however the public doesn’t deserve (yeah, I mentioned it).
As noble because the trigger is, this isn’t Dixon’s solely mission, regardless of being the crux of The R&B You Love Tour. He’s an avid champion for artists, educating his friends on the enterprise facet of issues. He’s additionally a proud protector of his hometown, Los Angeles–the actual L.A. The R&B You Love Tour is a end result of every of these items. Higher but, it’s a community-building seminar set to music, the place a PhD in deep admiration of R&B music is the worth of admission. For just below two hours, Dixon took an almost sold-out crowd, made up of supporters from throughout the 5 boroughs and New Jersey, to highschool.
Class begins as quickly as your ticket is bought, the place followers are invited to enroll in a pre-show karaoke. Upon entry into the venue, an overhead sound system shuffled a spotlight reel of every decade’s most influential information, from modern and neo-soul to alt-R&B. With palates already warmed up, the present began with the gang bravely attacking basic tunes, solidifying the household surroundings. The night’s featured visitor, Jack Freeman, a product of Texas, was dedicated to Dixon’s trigger. A showman in his personal proper, Freeman unfold his voice across the room, the place he tapped a number of crowd members as muses to loosen up the sexual pressure within the air. While this marked Freeman’s final cease alongside the tour, it received’t be his closing time on the thoughts of every attendee, due to his nostalgic setlist’s manufacturing, partially crafted by Bryan-Michael Cox.
Regardless of being a good distance from dwelling, Kenyon Dixon discovered a technique to convey it with him, as a pre-recorded message from his daughter welcomed him to the stage the place his band (keyboardists Frank Rose and TreyNemo in addition to drummer Rocko) warmed up the keen viewers. All the pieces after that wasn’t appropriate for youths however superb for baby-making. To open with “In Your Head” was actually a alternative, and primarily based on the gang’s response the suitable one. Dixon’s microphone was one and his pristine voice exhibited the church’s ministry of music affect stays current in R&B. His setlist of a whopping 28 songs, which included fan favorites, cult classics, and covers of holy grain R&B information akin to “Say Sure,” “Whip Attraction,” and “Untitled (How Does It Really feel),” confirmed that he means enterprise. Between dance breaks and non secular sermons, Dixon laid declare to one of many hardest-working impartial acts title.
“So, I’ve been on this journey to point out that in as we speak’s fashionable music house, there’s a approach that R&B you like, and fashionable music can nonetheless co-exist,” he instructed the viewers. “We are able to nonetheless faucet into that feeling whenever you care concerning the artwork that you’re making. The greats and the legends…there are emotions of their songs that hear and simply know that it’s basic R&B.”
After Dixon’s The R&B You Love Tour set at Racket NYC, he indisputably completed that aim. The one evident subject with an in any other case good present was the venue’s manufacturing components. Kenyon Dixon’s tour engineer, Bryson Camper, appeared to do every little thing he might to salvage completely different components within the present, however Racket NYC’s workforce couldn’t get it proper. Though Jack Freeman tried to snort it off, over on the board, the workforce missed a number of audio cues. Microphone points practically bled into Dixon’s set, however an ungainly prolonged sound verify mounted that. Sadly, the home displays had been off as effectively, which a number of ticket holders delivered to the employees’s consideration. Additionally, Dixon’s meticulous onstage presence was muddied with flat lighting. Lighting is at all times a problem for smaller phases. Fortuitously, that isn’t an issue Ratchet NYC struggles with. The venue has the technological capabilities, however for no matter motive, they determined to stay with one-dimensional hues of purple and blue. At one level, Freeman needed to demand pink lighting to set the temper. Whereas for a short time, Dixon was given a correct halo highlight.
Nonetheless, Kenyon Dixon’s R&B You Love Tour managed to forge a group house for tried-and-true R&B lovers for the only objective of elevating the style. Should you requested me, the preservation of the subsequent era of R&B is in additional than succesful arms.
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Kenyon Dixon’s newest album, The R&B You Love, is obtainable for buy right here or streaming in your favourite music platforms, together with Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal.
Setlist:
- “In Your Head”
- “Shine”
- “Getting Late”
- “Marvin Gaye”
- “Say Sure” cowl
- “Love On Replay”
- “Whip Attraction” cowl/medley
- “Good Love”
- “Nearer”
- “Famous person” cowl
- “Laborious Approach”
- “Tithes”
- “Poisonous”
- “Love & Happiness”
- “ISLY”
- “Nonetheless”
- “WYTD”
- “Wait”
- “Go well with & Tie” cowl/medley
Musical Break:
- “If This World Was Mine” by Cheryl Lynn & Luther Vandross
- “Angel” by Anita Baker
Setlist Continued:
- “Can I Have This Groove”
- “On My Thoughts”
- “Untitled (How Does It Really feel)” cowl
- “Fortunate”
- “The Blood Will By no means Lose Its Energy” cowl
- “Get Excessive, Get By”
- “2000s R&B”
- “Be Grateful for What You Bought” cowl
Encore
- “Once more”
