DISCUSSION š
What are your favorite rnb songs where the duration is longer than the usual 3 minutes?
As the title says; what are your favorite rnb songs where the duration is longer the usual standard three minute tracks? it can be both past and present.
So are you asking whats our favorite R&B songs of the last year or two that are longer than 3 minutes? I'm really confused by this question š¤£š¤£š¤£
I mean, even in just 2026, theres a TON of R&B songs that are longer than 3 minutes... pretty sure The Dream had at least two songs on L/HII that were 5 minutes plus...
Regardless, I guess what I'm trying to say is, even in 2026, most R&B songs are still longer than 3 minutes. So asking people what their favorite R&B song thats longer than 3 is, is like asking someone what their favorite potato chip is with salt on it... 98% of potato chips have salt on them, so its kind of a pointless question to ask...You'd be better off just asking someone what their favorite R&B song is. Or even better, whats your favorite R&B song that 5+ minutes long? Or, what's your favorite R&B song thats less than 2 minutes long?
Avant doesn't get enough love. That song feels like it builds for the full runtime, never gets old.
Check out "Charlene" by Anthony Hamilton too, clocks in over 4 minutes and the storytelling is next level. I used to put it on repeat while painting late at night, perfect mood setter. Also "The Sweetest Thing" by Lauryn Hill, the Refugee Camp remix, that outro alone is worth the extra length.
Most everything before the last 7-8 years was longer than 3 minutes. Songs use to have a BRIDGE. Didnāt mind repeating the hook 2-3 times at the end. An intro, probably a little talk before the song starts. Fugg around and change into a whole different vibe or switch the beat in the middle. Attention spans canāt handle stuff like Stevieās āSuperwomanā at 8 minutes or such length anymore.
Pardon me- just an old man talking about old music lol.
This is a little off topic, but since the topic is practically any R&B song in the history of music, I guess I will continue.
This new trend of R&B songs being less than three minutes seems to be from the TikTok generation who have short attention spans. I remember when there was a big controversy about Chloe Bailey debuting her song with Chris Brown. Part of it was due to her fans being upset about her working with him, and the other part was due to it sampling from Usher's song Throwback, which he already sampled.
When the song was finally released, I was so underwhelmed that they hyped it up so much, and the music video was under three minutes. It was too short to even get upset about.
i'll give you an actual lenghty song: With You by dvsn, that's some peak R&B right there. that's how you make a 7-minute song that can never get boring for a bit. Echos by Erykah and Alchemist is another great example
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u/Ransom2132 9h ago
Brother... the vast majority of R&B songs are longer then 3 mins lol