I’ve never been shy about my love for neo-soul and more, jazz-inflected R&B…heck, we already featured two artists in the best of 2024 series that have excelled at this kind of thing for a while now. Still, if you had told me a year ago that come December I’d be listening to the new album from Willow, the daughter of Mr. Jiggy himself, I’d probably laugh and move along. But here we with Empathogen, Willow Smith’s sixth album and return to her initial sound after two albums that stuck heavy to alternative pop/punk and rock. There’s a heavy emphasis on acoustic instruments and her voice, which is lovely whether it’s naked and bare or stacked in lush harmonies. I’m still slightly awed at how much this record speaks to me, and make no apologies for it when the end result sounds as good as this thing does.