If the 2000s were best known for anything, it's for the dominance of a handful of women on the R&B charts. Destiny's Child (and later Beyonce), Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey and Alicia Keys were the decade's biggest artists, and consistently put out some of the decade's best music. They're all represented on our list of the best singles of the 2000s, as are other incredibly talented male singers like Maxwell, Anthony Hamilton and D'Angelo. So without further ado, here's About.com's picks for the 20 best R&B/Soul singles from 2000-2009.

• Best R&B/Soul Songs of the 2000s
• Best R&B/Soul Songs of 2009
• Best R&B/Soul Songs: 2008

Have you ever had some lovin' so good that it makes you break out yodeling? Well, apparently R. Kelly has, because on his latest single, "Echo," Kellz gets his yodel on while singing about his anticipation of romantic encounter. "I hope you're ready girl, to scream and moan like yo lay oh lay ooh hoo hoo," he sings. "Echo" is the third single off Kelly's chart-topping 10th studio album, Untitled, which dropped earlier this month. You can stream the song by clicking the link below. And feel free to yodel along, if you want.

• "Echo" audio stream (RealPlayer)
• Review: R. Kelly - Untitled

On his fourth album, Sex Therapy (released in the U.S. on Dec. 15, 2009), Blue-Eyed Soul crooner Robin Thicke lets his inner freak out and gets a little wild. Anything else you've heard by him is tame compared to most of the material on this album. Where before he was known as a thoughtful gentleman, this time out he's got a one track mind and is singing about things like stealing other mens' women, the joy of sex in the morning, and trickin' in clubs. Yes, people: Robin Thicke is singing about trickin' in clubs. Although it's great that Thicke's expanding his horizons, Sex Therapy isn't completely what the doctor ordered. For more, click the link below to read the full review of Robin Thicke's Sex Therapy.

• Review: Robin Thicke - Sex Therapy
• Artist bio: Robin Thicke

As this is being written, 2009 is almost over, so it's time to look back at some of the best album covers of the year. Although other music genres have been known to rely on abstract images and photographs as cover art, R&B and Soul music have always been known for their warm, intimate portraits of artists as covers. And in 2009, there were over a dozen covers that stood out as being above the rest. So this best covers gallery, which features Amerie, Trey Songz, Mary J. Blige and many others is dedicated to them.

• Best R&B/Soul Album Covers of 2009
• Best Covers of 2008
• Best Covers of 2007
• Best Covers of 2006