The Song Planner

Bedroom R&B

tagStarted 2015Peak 2017-2022Last big hit still active

Located in 2 routes

R&B / Soul → Modern R&BAlternative / Indie → Alt-R&B / Indie R&B / PBR&B

Lo-fi, self-produced R&B made on laptops and phones in the bedroom: warm tape hiss, gently detuned guitar, soft drum machines, fuzzy bass and unpolished, close-miked vocals. Intimate and DIY by design, it trades studio gloss for a homemade warmth and immediacy, blurring into bedroom pop with a soulful, groove-forward backbone.

History

Grew out of SoundCloud and the post-Internet/Steve Lacy moment in the mid-2010s, when cheap software let teenagers track full songs alone. Steve Lacy famously cut 'Dark Red' (2017) on an iPhone; Brent Faiyaz, Omar Apollo and Mac Ayres carried the homemade, guitar-leaning aesthetic into a recognizable lane.

Defining artists

Essential listening

← Explore R&B / Soul

Sources

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedroom_pop
  • https://pitchfork.com/
  • https://www.thefader.com/
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Lacy_(musician)