NeoSoul: mesmerizing, genre bending, soul drenched, grooved filled music

What defines NeoSoul? The question has not been clearly answered. But Neosoul is what the name implies: Neo meaning "new" plus soul music. If we start from that simple proposition instead of what some fans and aficionados and even industry insiders post, we have to define soul music, before we can even get to NeoSoul. 

According to Wikipedia, "Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African-American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues." Now that we have that out of the way, we can begin to talk about the evolution of NeoSoul, or "new" soul music that started being produced and recorded in the mid-to-late sixties.

Who were the top five major Black musical talents or influences in the mid-sixties: Ray Charles, Gladys Knight, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, and  Marvin Gaye. All of these artists had careers that spanned decades and, more importantly, bent and merged different musical genres (Country and Western in the case of Ray Charles; Gospel in the case of Gladys Knight; Rock & Roll in the case of Michael Jackson; Disco in the case of Diana Ross. Finally, the soul-drenched lyrics with beautiful orchestration that is the true genesis of Neo Soul in the case of Marvin Gaye to produce hit after hit that defied conventional wisdom. Gaye's hit protest album "What's Going On" was his eleventh studio album. It was released on May 21, 1971. 

Marvin Gaye's album remains significant to the evolution of Neo Soul because like Gaye's album, Neo Soul was born out of protest. The protest by artists with over-commercialization, predatory contracts, bad management, cookie-cutter, follow-the-bouncing-ball, formulaic lyricism that tamped creativity, quelled originality, and stymied exploration. During the 1960s, the Black Civil Rights and, lesser known, Black Liberation Movements were rapidly coming to the fore in what was to become a violent culture clash. Young Black folks primarily in high (but some still in middle) school, college, and the 'hood, began to rebel against the racist status quo that characterized America during this period.

So was Sub-Saharan Africa where young, daring, bold European and American educated African leaders were trying to throw off the shackles of Colonialism - often by armed resistance. These young leaders were watching our protests. Their musicians were listening to our music. South African jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela accidentally released a song entitled "Grazin In The Grass" from the album The Promise of a Future, which just needed another three minute track before being released in May 1968. The song was a hit in the American radio market. Grazin In The Grass sounded like it could have been recorded in the famed Sigma Studio in Philly, not in Joburg (South Africa).

Meanwhile, 7,000 miles north, a young, talented Yoruba musician named Fela Anikulapo-Kuti from Nigeria was knocking the ball out of the park, releasing hit after hit after hit singing primarily in Yoruba, in a career spanning from the late 1950s to the late 1980s. Fela's music was an ad hoc mixture of complex African polyrhythms seasoned generously with R&B and simmered by an expansive horn section that was firmly rooted in American soul music. So much so that his music, which came to be known as "Afropop" can be considered to be a direct descendant, a progenitor, of what we now know as NeoSoul here in America and the UK. Fela had too many hits to properly attribute. But two that "cross over" to the American pop and R&B charts were "Water Get No Enemy" off of his Expensive Shit album that was released in 1975, and "Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense," which was released in 1986 off of a studio album entitled by the same name.

The influence of Fela on the evolution of Afropop and Neo Soul, its American cousin, cannot be underestimated. It can still be heard to this day in evocative music by Neo Soul fixture Micah Davis. Known professionally as Masego, Davis records as a leader and collaborates extensively with other Neo Soul artists as a sideman. The single "Tadow" off of his Lady Lady EP released in 2018 is emblematic of his work.

Back home, the Disco era was waning. R&B was slowly returning to vogue, trying to regain a toehold in the African American aesthetic. Diana Ross revived her career with a crossover hit that skillfully blended Disco and R&B in the song, "Love Hangover" recorded in 1975. It was released as a single on March 16, 1976. "Love Hangover' quickly rose to number 1 on the R&B charts. The song has now become a dance classic. 

Meanwhile, Rap was still a local Bronx phenomenon. It was only being played underground. But more about Hip Hop later. Many established R&B groups experimented with different sounds like disco, funk, and jazz. Kool and the Gang was one, the band almost got there first with their hit "Summer Madness" from the album, Light Of The World, which was released in 1974. It was a lush instrumental that seamlessly melded contemporary Jazz with funky bass-driven R&B, punctuated by a rousing synthesizer playing a simple arpeggio, showcasing the band's bona fides as session musicians. 

But a little-known Afro-Latino group out of the Bronx set the entertainment business abuzz when they released their debut album in 1976 entitled Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band. It was a fiesta of sound: an infectious mixture of '30s swing music with a Disco backbeat. Every song on the album may have been a hit. No one had done anything remotely close before or as daring after. Then comes along Roy Ayers' Ubiquity, the unbelievable "Running Away" album released in August 1977. It was a mind-blowing, genre-bending, orgasmic blend of complex African polyrhythms, dance, R&B, jazz and soul. The extended version of the title song "Running Away," like Diana Ross's "Love Hangover," released a year earlier, also became a club staple.

Michael Jackson fresh off of his role as the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, which he starred in alongside Diana Ross was not to be outdone. He wrote and sang lead on "That's What You Get (For Being Polite)" on the Jacksons Destiny album, which was released in 1978. The music was not there insofar as how we now hear Neosoul. The following year Jackson recorded "She's Out Of My Life" from his Off the Wall album released in 1979. Jackson blends old-school R&B with Rock in two of his mega-hit albums that were produced by the legendary composer, arranger, and trumpeter Quincy Jones. Jackson's willingness to experiment with different genres is what makes his music notable. But it never evolved into Neosoul.

The 1980s was a throwback to the 1960s in that a fledgling Black label out of Philly called Philadelphia International Records was putting out music that was closer to Neo Soul than Motown, Epic, or Stax combined. Phillis Hyman, Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes, Teddy Pendergrass, The Three Degrees, The Intruders, The Jones Girls, and even the Jacksons (before Michael split) to name a few of the labels' more well-known singers and groups. 

A personal favorite was a singer who could easily fit into any NeoSoul line-up. The singer's name was Jean Carne. Her first hit with PIR, "Free Love" released in 1976 augurs what is to come as she matured as a singer and performer. Her powerful, sultry delivery backed by the label's famous house band, MSFB, was pure soul. She recorded numerous other hits with the label along with her label mates like Phyllis Hyman and Teddy Pendergrass who all began to capture the essence of Neo Soul as we moved deeper into the 1980s.

Not to be left out, our cousins across the pond were mixing and sampling soul, jazz, disco, and R&B creatively heating the airwaves. Heatwave hit the UK music charts with their first hit song "Boogie Nights" off their debut album Too Hot to Handle released in 1977. Heatwave followed up the success of the dance classic with a ballet entitled "Always and Forever," which was certified Platinum. Heatwave's second album Central Heating was released in April 1977 producing "The Groove Line," which became a club classic.

On the other side of London, a young, bi-racial designer, fashion model, and part-time singer has gotten the attention of Epic’s records A&R. They quickly signed her to a contract. Her name was Helen Folasade Adu. She formed the group Sade’ after signing with Epic.  It immediately released “Diamond Life,” which became one of the era's best-selling albums and the best-selling debut by a British female vocalist in July 1985. Sade's unique sound was jazz-infused R&B, which represented the earliest emergence of Neo Soul.  

Another British R&B group was hitting the charts sideways with a string of hits. Loose Ends "Hangin' on a String (Contemplating)" is the seventh single by Afro-British soul band Loose Ends from their second studio album, So Where Are You? It was released in February 1985 to critical acclaim reaching number 1 on the US Billboard chart. Loose Ends followed up their success with the 1986 hit "Slow Down" before recording their final hit in 1988 with "Watching You (Watching Me)." 

Loose Ends music endured but their celebrity faded. Another Afro-British band named Soul II Soul was waiting impatiently in the wings, however. Their arrival on the UK music scene was announced by two sonic hits: 1989's UK number five and US number eleven "Keep On Movin'", and its follow-up, the UK number one and US number four "Back to Life".  

There was a radio personality in Philly gaining notice around this time in the mid-to-late 1980s named Bahiyyah Clark. Clark was born Wendy Clark. She is better known by her stage name Lady B. She now hosts the afternoon drive on Classix Philly 107.9 (WPPZ-FM, which is a Radio One-owned property). But her claim to fame was being one of the first DJs to play Hip Hop on the radio outside New York. Lady B was playing artists such as Will Smith, Run-DMC, Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, and Public Enemy as they began their celebrated journey into Hip Hop history.

No other R&B or Adult Contemporary stations were programming Hip Hop, which was still raw, crude, and amateurish, during this time. The major R&B stations were still programming a sub-genre of R&B known as funk, which gained popularity in the late '70s, and early '80s. But groups like Lakeside, Brick, Dazz Band, Gap Band, The Whispers, Con Funk Shun, Mtume, Bar-Kays, Brass Construction, Parliament Funkadelic, Kool and the Gang, Earth, Wind, and Fire, the Commodores, The Brothers Johnson, SOS Band, Shalmar, Heatwave, L.T.D., Cameo, and Slave to name a few were still in heavy rotation.

Hip Hop began to emerge commercially in the early 1990s (some say it is arguably the golden era for the genre). After Lady B started playing major MCs, the influential New York radio market quickly followed suit. The brash, new kid on the block, Hip Hop, was influenced heavily by the OGs. There was a tremendous amount of sampling (and back then outright piracy) of old soul music. A lot of James Brown's music in example (who did not make our initial list).

The '90s brings into focus a nascent sub-genre of R&B (NeoSoul finally emerged from the shadows) that evolved as a sidekick resulting from innovative collaborations between Hip Hop artists and young (and not so much so) R&B singers looking for their next hook. Al B Sure and Slick Rick had one of the first R&B and Hip Hop collaborations with "If I'm Not Your Lover (1988)." Joyce "Finderella" Irby and Doug E Fresh with "Mr DJ (1989)," and Jody Watley and Rakim with "Friends (1989)." Janet Jackson hooked up with Heavy D on the remix to "Alright With Me" on her Rhythm Nation 1814 album which was released in 1990. 

Thirsty, talented, new singers, immediately saw an opening for their music by dropping the MC. However, most were unable to gain the attention of the major labels, managers, or agents. A few started the old-fashioned way by forming independent record labels (or indie labels). Some invested in cheap DAWs, added vocals, and instrumentals, and uploaded their un-mastered Extended Plays (EP) to Soundcloud where their music languished in obscurity. Until, if they were fortunate and talented enough, Saffron Records, AAE Music, or NeoSoul Cafe Radio caught one of their pop-up shows, and either picked them up, or put their music into rotation.

Neo Soul is unlike commercial R&B, where backup singers playing for scale, with the looks, the body (and count), and the financing can get airplay. Neo Soul artists, except those who began their careers as R&B singers, like Erykah Badu, Raheem DeVaughn, Maxwell, D'Angelo, Floetry, Kindred, Musiq Soulchild, Raphael Siddiq, Jill Scott, Lauren Hill, Ledisi, Angie Stone, Anthony Hamilton and a few others, before being liberated by commercial success, often cannot get their music into rotation on iHeart, Cumulus, Cox, or RadioOne, however. Singers like Madison McFerrin, Robert Gasper, Snoh Aalegra, Keiyaa, Dwele, Erro, Tweet, Geopele, SiR, Blu Cantrell, Eric Lau, The Internet, The Heavy, Vivian Green, Seinabo Sey, Lindsey Wagner and far too many others to name that have remained true to their craft by stoking memories, evoking emotions, becoming vulnerable, exposing their souls in the creative process. The distinction between commercial R&B and critically acclaimed NeoSoul is heard in the music. It is why we love this genre and shun commercial R&B.