....the one that blew the doors open and sounded the alarm that there was something genuinely refreshing and new (that clearly stood out from what ELSE was mostly going on at the time) yet it also felt retro in an honest and unforced way...

for me hands down it goes to Meshell Ndegeocello's 1993 Plantation Lullabies...

sure, there may have been tracks here and there by others who hinted as well, but i clearly recall in 1993 putting the cassette in for that Plantation album in for the first time sitting in my car in the parking lot almost listening to the WHOLE thing because i was SO thrilled by what i was hearing...sounds weird but it kinda felt like i could finally 'exhale and relax a bit' cuz i was thinking "YES! THIS is what i've been WAITING for in a modern R&B release for a long long time. finally someone has lifted the baton and started to run with it again......"