R.I.P.? The Rise (and Fall) of Neo-Soul

“Soul music is soul music. It can be wrapped up in a neo soul package; it can be called hip-hop soul. But soul is soul, and it’s been around; it will never go away.”

Maxwell, Gulf News

Samples, mixes, electronic bass, high hats, and Motown-esque harmonics underneath idiosyncratic stories of love, politics, and identity positioned neo-soul as an alternative to the decade’s earlier fascination with West Coast gangsta rap by blending elements from various genres to create a new sound: brass horns and improvisation mimic jazz compositions, stacked harmonies and electric guitar melodies replicate 70s soul and funk, and digital beats and storytelling borrow from 80s hip-hop. In the mid-90s, Neo-soul artists seamlessly fused these elements and combined them with original lyrics, branding the genre as a new approach to old conventions.

The term “neo-soul,” universally credited to former Motown Records president Kedar Massenburg, names a space for borrowing and creating. Neo-Soul’s patriarchal genealogy is unclear; some reference D’Angelo’s commercial success with Brown Sugar as his right to the genre’s throne, but others believe Tony! Toni! Toné! front man Raphael Saadiq initially created the experimental space neo-soul now inhabits. Saadiq (and other late 80s/early 90s R&B artists) began experimenting with R&B’s conventions by addressing topics outside love and relationships and mixing electronic elements with live band compositions. The resulting work provided emerging artists creative license while footing them in established soul, funk, and hip-hop roots.

Erykah Badu, neo-soul’s undisputed matriarch, stepped to the mic declaring that her “cypher keeps moving like a rolling stone.” Merging hip-hop (cypher) and soul (Temptations’ “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”), Badu’s 1997 Baduizm presented the definitive neo-soul archetype for artists to-come. Her lyrical content engages love and happiness, familial relationships, political affiliations, and her status as controller of her universe-In, Baduizm’s “Apple Tree,” the songstress makes her position clear: “The world is mine when I wake up/I don’t need nobody rollin’ over lookin’ after me.”

Later neo-soul artists and enthusiasts certainly owe the music’s success to the innovations of Massenburg, D’Angelo, Saadiq, and Badu. Massenburg’s commodification of the sound through the term “neo-soul” packaged the movement for mass consumption, providing fans an accessible product and clearly delineated identity for entertainers. Saadiq’s experimentation acted as the Beta Test for blending diverse sounds. Together with the first accomplishments, the pioneering artists unification of the look and the sound made neo-soul what it was at its height: an intellectual melodic commentary on social, political, economic, and romantic aspects of black realities in the 90s. The music evolved into a lifestyle centered around collective concern for and protection/support of black lives, with an emphasis on interconnectedness through the recognition of individuals as “brothers” and “sisters.”

Though little debate surrounds neo-soul’s impact on Black culture and music in the 90s, recent discussions about its relevance today question how much, if at all, neo-soul exists as an independent genre capable of influencing music trends and lifestyle behaviors. Many artists, both underground and mainstream, take advantage of social media’s ability to instantaneously reach millions of people and receive raw feedback about their work. Where record labels used to primarily discover new talent and market it to the masses, fans now heavily influence artist popularity. Additionally, digital publication allows artists to control their work’s release and opt to expose their albums/mixtapes/singles without corporate backing. Neo-soul, as a publically commodified sound, shifted towards less emphasis on label support and more concern with producing music the fans wanted to hear, and people still want the raw, vulnerable connection to the artists that first made neo-soul popular.

If facts are necessary, the numbers also show that neo-soul remains relevant. Mother Badu boasts an impressive 18-year career, featuring 59 award nominations and 16 wins, 6 albums, 5 number one singles, and a host of features, music videos, and collaborations. Later generations born from the Saadiq-D’Angelo-Badu lineage include artists committed to the self-empowerment and communal love essential to the movement, but they each bring their own flavor to the sound. Those artists include Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild, Lauryn Hill, Anthony Hamilton, Angie Stone, and India Arie (each who achieved commercial success); others, like Dwele, Ledisi, Leela James, Van Hunt, Tweet, and Bilal embody the neo-soul spirit on a smaller commercial scale.

Music’s evolution creates space for innovations and new artists. And established artists are always pursing new sounds (see Badu’s But U Caint Use My Phone, inspired by Drake’s “Hotline Bling” [which is stolen sampled from D.R.A.M.’s “Cha Cha”]) to grow within the field and with the fans. Neo-Soul’s hybrid composition lends itself to the very sampling, mixing, and collaboration used to create the sound. Because so many sounds begin with techniques popular in other genres, it’s tough to mark a definitive end of any era. —Shari Arnold

The People|The Sound|The Influences|