What I really like about modern RnB music is the way chord progression are used. It's a new approach. 

Very few chords are played and they are repeated in a loop. The progression is very ambiguous and unstable. For the listener it means it means hanging in uncertainty. A feeling of something really close without the possibility to catch it or hold it. For musician it means using modes, clever modulations, hiding strong and obvious harmonic functions like the tonic or disguising it as a dominant. 

An amazing…