When Did You First Fall in Love with R&B?
For me, it was when I was nine years old at my first New Edition concert. The lights dropped, the crowd screamed and when those harmonies hit? It was over!!!
Maybe your story started on a Saturday morning with your mom cleaning the house, music turned up so loud the whole block was vibing. Or at a family reunion when "Before I Let Go" came on and everybody, from your uncles to your little cousins, hit the dance floor at the same time.
R&B is more than a genre. It's the music that lives in our bones. Sunday mornings. Summer cookouts. First crushes. Last dances. The songs that say what we can't always put into words.
And guess what? There's finally a book that brings the music to life for kids.
The ABCs of R&B is the first A-to-Z children's book celebrating the legends of rhythm and blues and it's about to become your family's new favorite read. This book takes children on a soulful journey through music history with rhyming verses that bounce off every page and vibrant illustrations by XPayne.
We're talking Motown royalty like Stevie Wonder and the Temptations. 90s icons like Aaliyah, Prince, and Mary J. Blige. Today's stars like SZA and H.E.R. Every artist who shaped not just music, but culture. Every voice that made us move, made us think, made us feel seen.
Each page feels like a front-row seat at a sold-out show.
But here's where it gets even better. The book includes a QR code linking to a curated playlist of classic and contemporary R&B hits. Your kids can actually listen to the music while they read. So they're not just learning about these artists; they're experiencing them. Feeling them. The way R&B is meant to be felt.
And listen, this book hits different for adults too. You get to relive the songs and memories that shaped you while passing them down to the next generation. That's generational wealth right there.
So whether you're a parent who wants your kids to know where "the culture" comes from, an aunt or uncle looking for the perfect gift, or an educator building a classroom library that reflects your students, this is the book you've been waiting for.
Let's get this show started.