| TRUE SPIRIT |
| CHINA |
| Musical genres, like city streets, need names to make things navigable. Artists rage against categorization, but it's a useful tool to define the boundaries of a given phenomenon. Neo-Soul is the best name to call the latest emerging genre. Simply defined, neo-soul describes artists like song-stylist Erykah Badu, who combine a palpable respect for and understanding of the classic soul of the '60s and '70s with a healthy appetite for '90s sonic experimentation and boundary crossing. Neo-Soul artists tend to create music that's a good deal more deal, a good deal more edgy than the packaged pop of, say, teen-oriented groups like the Spice Girls and Cleopatra. And they tend to write lyrics that are more oblique and yet more socially and emotionally relevant than those of gangsta rappers. Neo-Soul is not an entirely new musical category. The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, for example, has been creating experimental R&B for two decades. And remember Terence Trent D'Arby? No? Well, he was that guy...never mind. The point is, in the '90s the face of cool in R&B has been the face of a gangsta. Puff Daddy, Dr. Dre, Master P and the like dominate the aesthetic space in black music. Boyz II Men may sell more albums, but when you think of what's hot, what's hip, what's real, what's representative, new jack swing and rap have symbolized the cutting edge of R&B. Then in 1995, the world's soul music scene has been changed completely when a gentleman called D'Angelo arrived. With his debut album, Brown Sugar, the 21-year-old D'Angelo crashed down some of those barriers. D'Angelo concentrates on classic versions of soul and R&B, but unlike most of his contemporaries, he doesn't cut and paste older songs with hip hop beats; instead, he attacks the forms with a hip hop attitude, breathing new life into traditional forms. His music is clearly different than the traditional soul or R&B music. It is not new jack swings or straightly jazz. It contains a little bit of hip-hop, rap, soul, R&B, afro-beat or whatever you call. It is NEO SOUL. A new term for this kind of music has been defined. Since D'Angelo, a wave of neo soul artists crash into the music industry. In 1997, a new name, Erykah Badu, with her Afrocentric head wraps, sensuous grooves and searingly beautiful voice, captured the attention and imagination of record buyers, selling more than 3 million copies of her debut album "Baduizm" and an handful of Grammy awards, she has become one of the most influential female singers at the end of the century. Similary, to the legions of R&B listeners during the mid-'90s, Maxwell presented a new option: the tenderness of true romance, instead of the fleeting joy of sex. With his debut album, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite, Maxwell united the psycho-sexual funk of Prince with Marvin Gaye's idea of the romance concept album. He became an overnight sensation with the release of "Sumthin' sumthin'", the first single dropped from his debut album. Soul music has never sounded so groovy, so mellow and smooth. Maxwell wants to draw you in, cast a spell, and by singing in falsetto, by crooning and cooing, by whispering his way through songs, he forces listeners to really listen, to confront the emotions in his songs rather than avoid them through the cathartic escape hatch of volume. He, alone, represents the master of romantic neo soul. Angie Stone, ex-girlfriend of D'Angelo, ex-member of soul rap group, The Sequence and Vertical Hold, finally released her long awaited debut solo album titled "Black Diamond". The album went platinum and sprung three hit singles. Her second release "Mahogany Soul" further established her as one of the most influential neo-soul legends. In the next few years there will be a flood of neo-soul artists on mayor record labels. Most notable are Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Bilal, India Irie, Sunshine Anderson, Omar, Musiq, Soulchild, Remy Shand, Glenn Lewis, Jill Scott, Rahsaan Patterson, Amel Larrieux, Pru, Grenique (what happens to her?) Adriana Evans (what happens to her also??), Hil St Soul, Tweet, Raphael Saadiq, D'Wayne Wiggins (don't forget Tony Toni Tone) as well as Jaguar Wright. Because of the commercial success of these neo soul artists, some independent artists such as Ledisi, N'Dambi (background singer of Erykah Badu), Monique Miller, Ian, Tonya Reed, Kofy Brown, Kara as well as YahZarah also enjoy considerable amount of international success. There are also three things in common among these neo soul artists. First of all, they tend to support each other intensively such that a neo soul community is formed between artists themselves. You can see Erykah Badu appears on D'Angelo's music video and D'Angelo produces Angie Stone's album. Angie Stone duets with Omar and Musiq Soulchild while Musiq Soulchild collaborates with Bilal and India Arie. Raphael Saadiq duets with D'Angelo and lends his helping hand on Sunshine Anderson. The second fact is that these neo soul artists all pay heavy tribute to their soul heroes in the '70's. Names such as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin are all their sources of influence. The third point is these neo soul artists all enjoy considerable amount of marketing efforts behind them. They tend to dress nice and unique. Their albums are fully packed with beautiful artworks and covers. All of these new concepts have never been experienced in the traditional soul/R&B artists in the past. No longer, Hill, D'Angelo and Maxwell are distinct performers, but they share a willingness to challenge musical orthodoxy. For too long, the music industry, taking the public with them, have looked to rock, teen pop, and gangsta rap to fill the gap of pop heroes. But there was once a time in the music history when Marvin was asking what's going on, when Stevie was singing songs in the key of life, when Aretha was demanding respect, when Donny was crying out for the ghetto and when James Brown was shaking up his sex machine. This season, with the appearance and continue development of a new generation of neo-soul stars, the past may be present again, and, hopefully, the future may be opening up. Raymond, TRUE SPIRIT CHINA |
| I'm really proud to introduce you one of China's leading experts and connoisseurs of todays black music, Raymond. He's also working for the successful ALLMUSICSHOP.COM and is running an excellent website for Phyllis Hyman. |
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| Story of Neo Soul |