4Batz and D’Angelo: The Same?

For the past few years, the R&B world has been looking for a new male heir to the throne for when The Weeknd retires (who took the crown from Frank Ocean). And, there have been many artists that are up to the challenge: Bryson Tiller, Brent Fiyaz, Don Toliver, etc. Then, in late 2023, a random artist named 4Batz dropped his first two singles on streaming services. Almost immediately, he blew up, but not because of his music. Well, somewhat. 4Batz became viral due to his “From The Block” performances and his “On The Radar” freestyle, where he looks like a drill rapper, with a ski mask and a cup of lean in hand, but sings his heart out instead of rapping. This whole 4Batz saga reminds me of a former king of R&B: D’Angelo.

D’Angelo got his start in the mid-’90s, where Hip-Hop was all over the streets. A Tribe Called Quest, Biggie, 2Pac, Wu-Tang, Snoop Dogg, and a lot more were getting increasingly successful year-by-year, and were inspiring the sound of R&B. A great example is “Freak Like Me” by Adina Howard, which sounds like an early-’90s Dre beat, and even uses the term “Pump Pump”, a term that was the title of the last song on Snoop’s Doggystyle album. So, when D’Angelo rolled around, he wanted to look different, so he looked like a rapper, with his gold chain and leather jacket. His instrumentals were also similar to ‘90s hip-hop beats, but he didn’t rap, he sang. 

But, don’t get it twisted: just because 4Batz and D’Angelo have similar career paths early on (R&B artists that look like rappers but make really chill music and have great vocal cords), does not mean their music has the same quality. 4Batz recently dropped his debut album U made me a st4r, and it is not even close to as good as Brown Sugar (D’Angelo’s first album). But, to be fair, Brown Sugar is indisputably a top 200 album of all time, so topping or being as good as it is pretty difficult. But, U made me a st4r isn’t even good. The songs become monotonous, with all songs sounding the same after “act iv” (the album falls into the age-old trap of the best songs being singles). Compare that to Brown Sugar, which has classics like the title track, “Cruisin’”, “Lady”/the primo remix, and “Higher”. All sounding completely different from one another and having complex topics instead of just women problems.

So, to wrap this up: are 4Batz and D’Angelo one and the same? Short answer: no. Yes, they do have striking similarities, and they both make chill R&B. But, D’Angelo has way better music, and he isn’t an industry plant, like 4Batz. But, I do think that 4Batz has a great chance of becoming the new king of R&B, with Drake, Ye, and Timbaland all co-signing him. I can’t predict the future though, and I hope 4Batz works on his craft and hopefully makes music as good as D’Angelo, without us as fans having to wait over a decade for new music.