Modern R&B

The first decade of the 21st century has seen R&B build on the hip-hop, soul, and dance fusions of the '90s to become a rich and fragrant melting pot, so full of flavour we can barely contain it within this single, platinum-coated list of Essentials. Taio Cruz, with Luciano guesting, demolishes generic boundaries en route to the dance floor with "Come On Girl", Kanye West embraces electronica for "Flashing Lights", and Timbaland overhauls the rock ballad to produce "Apologize". That girl who wouldn't go to rehab — you'll find her in Next Steps.

Turn back the clock four decades and R&B was all about the pain and the soul, much of which was served up by Motown — and it took Amy Winehouse (in collaboration with producer Mark Ronson) to perfect a fresh take on that era with Back to Black. Twista and Trey Songz name-check Marvin Gaye on "Girl Tonite" (even if their brand of sexual healing is a tad more explicit than their hero's) and Fergie samples a brassy chunk of Little Richard's "The Girl Can't Help It" on "Clumsy". Soulja Boy marches to the beat of steel drums, Deep Cuts.

Whether you want to juice up the party, or bring it down slow and low, all your R&B needs are covered here. Soulja Boy adds southern snap and steel drums to the good-time hollering of "Crank That", and Usher ropes in Lil' John and Ludacris for the cast-iron floor-filler "Yeah!". Want to change the tempo? American Idol winner from 2004, Fantasia is happy to oblige with the slow-burning "When I See U" while Ledisi pours honey on "Joy".

R&B was always an exercise in fusion, bringing together elements of jazz, gospel, and blues in the late '40s and early '50s, but now there's so much more to add to the mix. Years of cross-pollination with hip-hop, soul, electronica, and dance — not to mention the vast array of splinter genres, such as neo-soul and 2-step — have brought us to these Essentials, where Kanye West rubs shoulders with Craig David, Alicia Keys shares space with Missy Elliott, and Justin Timberlake joins forces with Beyoncé. The phat and the smooth, the fast and the loose, the dope and the deep — modern R&B shows its myriad colours right here.