The Best Male R&B Singers Of 2023

Jared Baly
Updated September 16, 2023 1.2K votes 208 voters
Over 200 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Best Male R&B Singers Of 2023

If there ever was a year for male R&B singers, it's 2023. From Chris Brown's epic comeback to Gen Z singer-songwriter Steve Lacy's sudden rise to fame, this year's current roster of R&B male artists only continues to melt hearts across the globe. Crossover Billboard charts royalty The Weeknd, Khalid, and John Legend never cease to curate our weekly playlists with their catchy hit singles, and Heartthrobs GIVĒON and Lucky Daye consistently deliver premium content throughout their latest records. Maryland native superstar Brent Faiyaz indisputably defies “gravity” since releasing his sophomore album WASTELAND; and 2022 Album of the Year Grammy recipient (and Oscar winner) Jon Batiste has finally become a household name (with hopefully more film scores in the works).

Which trending male R&B singers are you most excited to see live, and whose records are you currently listening to? Vote below for the best male R&B artists of 2023, and be sure to also check out this year's top new R&B songs afterwards.

Most divisive: Duckwrth
Ranked by
  • Bruno Mars
    1

    Bruno Mars

    103 votes
    Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and dancer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical styles, including R&B, funk, pop, soul, reggae, hip hop, and rock. Mars is accompanied by his band, The Hooligans, who play a variety of instruments, such as electric guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, drums, and horns, and also serve as backup singers and dancers. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Mars moved to Los Angeles in 2003 to pursue a musical career. After being dropped by Motown Records, Mars signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records in 2009. In the same year, he co-founded the production team The Smeezingtons, responsible for various successful singles for Mars himself and other artists. Mars rose to fame in 2010 with the release of the successful singles "Nothin' on You" by B.o.B and "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy, both of which featured his vocals on the hooks. His debut studio album Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010), peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States and reached number one in Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It spawned the international number-one singles "Just the Way You Are", "Grenade", and "The Lazy Song". The former won a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. In 2011, Mars recorded the single "It Will Rain" for the film The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011). Mars' second album, Unorthodox Jukebox (2012), peaked at number one in the US, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and the UK, winning a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. Its singles "Locked Out of Heaven" and "When I Was Your Man", reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 2014, Mars collaborated with Mark Ronson on "Uptown Funk", which topped many music charts worldwide, including the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK. The song won Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the Grammys. In 2016, Shampoo Press & Curl replaced The Smeezingtons on the composition of Mars' third studio album, the R&B-focused, 24K Magic. The record debuted at number two in the United States, Canada, France, and New Zealand and received seven Grammy Awards, winning the major categories of Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year. The album yielded the successful singles "24K Magic", "That's What I Like", and "Finesse". Mars has sold over 200 million singles and 26 million albums worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. He has released seven number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 since his career launched in 2010, attaining his first five faster than any male artist since Elvis Presley. As a songwriter, he was included in Music Week and Billboard magazine as one of the best songwriters of 2011 and 2013, respectively. Mars has received several awards and nominations, including 11 Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, nine American Music Awards, 10 Soul Train Awards and holds three Guinness World Records. He has appeared in Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2011 and Forbes magazine's lists of '30 under 30' in 2013, the world's most powerful celebrities in 2014, and Celebrity 100 in 2018 and 2019.
  • Bryson Tiller
    2

    Bryson Tiller

    82 votes
    Bryson Djuan Tiller (born January 2, 1993), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. Tiller initially gained notable recognition following the release of his debut single, "Don't", and his debut studio album, Trapsoul.
  • Brent Faiyaz
    3

    Brent Faiyaz

    102 votes
    Christopher Brent Wood (born September 19, 1995), better known by his stage name Brent Faiyaz, is an American singer from Columbia, Maryland. Faiyaz began uploading his experimental music (Black Child EP) onto SoundCloud in 2014 and moved from his hometown Columbia, Maryland to Charlotte, North Carolina before settling in Los Angeles, California to further his music career. On September 19, 2016, his 21st birthday, he released his debut EP, A.M. Paradox, which received positive reviews from music critics. He is currently working on a new album, titled Make It Out Alive, which is in the early recording process. On July 1, 2021, Faiyaz released a new single, "Wasting Time" featuring Drake. Following this, he appeared on tracks from Baby Keem's The Melodic Blue ("Lost Souls") and Tems's If Orange Was a Place ("Found"). On December 3, 2021, Faiyaz released the single "Mercedes", after having teased a project titled Wasteland on Instagram.
  • Daniel Caesar
    4
    Ashton Simmonds, better known by his stage name Daniel Caesar (born April 5, 1995) is a Canadian R&B and soul singer-songwriter. After independently building a following through the release of two critically acclaimed EPs Praise Break and Pilgrim's Paradise, Caesar released his debut album Freudian in August 2017, which also garnered widespread critical acclaim. His breakout single "Get You" amassed over 10 million streams on Apple Music since its October 2016 release. According to his management, the singer's catalog has garnered over 20 million global streams on Apple Music and 68 million streams on Spotify, with a listener-ship of over 4,000,000 per month.
  • GIVĒON
    5

    GIVĒON

    103 votes
    Giveon Dezmann Evans (born February 21, 1995), known as GIVĒON, is an American R&B singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence with his collaboration with Drake on their 2020 single, "Chicago Freestyle". That same year, Giveon released the EPs, Take Time and When It's All Said and Done, the former being nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, and the latter reaching the Top 10 on the US Top R&B Albums chart. He released "Heartbreak Anniversary", as the second single from Take Time, which reached the Top 40 in the US and was certified Platinum by RIAA. In 2021, GIVĒON was featured alongside Daniel Caesar on the Justin Bieber single "Peaches", which debuted at number one on the Billboard Global 200 and US Billboard Hot 100 charts.
  • Miguel
    6

    Miguel

    77 votes
    Miguel Jontel Pimentel (born October 23, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Raised in San Pedro, California, he began pursuing a music career at age thirteen. After signing to Jive Records in 2007, Miguel released his debut studio album, All I Want Is You, in November 2010. Although it was underpromoted upon its release, the album became a sleeper hit and helped Miguel garner commercial standing.After Jive's dissolution in 2011, he moved to RCA Records and released his second studio album, Kaleidoscope Dream, in 2012 to critical acclaim. In June 2015, Miguel released his third studio album, Wildheart, which also received critical acclaim. In 2017, his fourth studio album War & Leisure was released to further acclaim. Miguel incorporates R&B, funk, hip hop, rock and electronic styles into his music, and has been compared to vocalists Babyface and Prince.