K-Ci & JoJo and Mayer Hawthorne make the kind of music that never goes out of style

Soul and R&B music has outlasted every trend. Wonder why?

The reason is tied directly to the way it makes you feel. When it’s done well, it can bring you joy, break your heart, help you heal or make you dance — sometimes in the same song.

While stylistically the sound has changed with each decade, the expressiveness is a constant. The best music of every era has been filled with earnestness, emotion and sensuality.

Two artists who exemplify this notion (albeit in separate eras) are set to take the stage in Vegas this weekend, K-Ci &JoJo of Jodeci and Mayer Hawthorne.

K-Ci and JoJo (aka Cedric and Joel Hailey) changed the game in the early ’90s with Jodeci on songs like “Feenin’ ” and “What About Us.” They went on to realize even more acclaim as a duo in the latter part of that decade, singing on 2Pac’s hit “How Do U Want It” and later with their own smash single “All My Life.”

Jodeci’s lustful lyricism and hip-hop-inspired beats and style defined an era and paved the way for the R&B artists who followed. A film recounting the act’s story is currently in development. Ideally, says JoJo, the movie will see a theatrical release like “Straight Outta Compton,” the acclaimed N.W.A. movie.

The group has a stirring tale to tell, starting with how it got its record deal.

The Hailey brothers grew up singing in a gospel group called Little Cedric and the Hailey Singers. Influenced by New Jack Swing-era acts like Guy, the brothers linked up with another pair of sensational siblings, Donald (aka “DeVante Swing”) and Dalvin DeGrate, and formed Jodeci.

The quartet showed up unannounced at the offices of Uptown Records in New York with a demo in hand. After auditioning for influential record exec Andre Harrell, the guys scored a deal. (DeVante had unsuccessfully tried the same thing a few years earlier on his own, delivering his demos to Prince’s studio in Minneapolis.)

Perhaps the scene that stands out the most from that fateful day in New York was stopping on the way to buy sunglasses. “We figured we needed a look,” JoJo explains. But the foursome only had enough cash to buy three pairs.

Hawthorne (aka Andrew Cohen) — whose stage name combines his middle name and the street where he was raised — was equally ambitious when he moved from Michigan to Los Angeles to make music. A DJ and multi-instrumentalist, Hawthorne headed to the West Coast to try to make it with a rap group he had formed.

That act’s sound relied on sampling music from other artists. When gaining permission began to pose problems, Hawthorne started making his own music to sample. Eventually, Stones Throw founder Peanut Butter Wolf heard those tunes and offered Hawthorne a deal. His first set of songs came out in 2008.

In nearly a decade since, Hawthorne has established himself as one of the most compelling singer-songwriters in contemporary R&B. His vocal ability is stunning, and his musicality and sensibilities recall greats like Marvin Gaye.

The singer’s fourth album, “Man About Town,” is a love letter to Los Angeles and his most personal work, says Hawthorne. “It’s my story of my lonely search for love in a huge city. It’s about trying to find that one person in a sea of 10 million that you can spend the rest of your life with.”

Hawthorne conveys this desire best on tracks such as “Love Like That,” with lines like “I know down deep inside that I want a love like that,” one that’s “strong like a heart attack.”

K-Ci &JoJo told their story from a little farther down that same road, with lines such as “all my life I’ve prayed for someone like you” and “I thank God that I finally found you,” from their biggest hit, “All My Life.”

Unlike Jodeci’s songs, which were saturated in sensuality, K-Ci and JoJo’s songs were more heartfelt. The progression was purposeful. “None of our records had ever crossed over with Jodeci,” says JoJo. “We had to find a way to do it without jeopardizing who we were and keeping our sound.”

It also reflected where they were at as people. “We were grown, and it was me writing, not DeVante,” says JoJo. “When we’re doing K-Ci and JoJo, we’re singing from our perspective.”

That’s the thing about R&B that keeps everybody coming back, artists who can pour out their heart without pouring water on the party — something Hawthorne excels at.

“I take the music very seriously,” he says. “But I try not to take myself very seriously, as a person. It’s still about having fun. I want people to party to my music.

“I intentionally make it fun, but if you listen to the lyrics on this album, in particular, lyrically, it’s pretty melancholy. But it still feels fun.

“These stories have been some of the hardest to tell. Even now, months later, when I’m singing ‘Fancy Clothes,’ it takes me there, and I remember the story, and it’s emotional.”

That’s part of the music’s the timeless appeal. After all, who hasn’t experienced longing and heartbreak?

Read more from Dave Herrera at reviewjournal.com. Contact him at dherrera@reviewjournal.com and follow @rjmusicdh on Twitter.