Neo Soul: Where It All Started
The smooth sounds of neo soul bring an intimate feeling of love, comfort and connection to the listener. This is done through embracing the sounds of jazz, R&B, and hip-hop to create a sonic experience beyond compare. Raphael Sadiq, D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, and Lauryn Hill were some of the first to explore the genre. The origins of the sound that they chased comes from the likes of George Duke, Prince, Anita Baker, Gil-Scott Heron and Roy Ayers.
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The musical beginnings of neo soul endeavored to revive the acoustic sound of R&B. It contrasted the era of the drum synthesis, samples, and more producer driven music of the 80s. Neo soul marked the return of the acoustic rhythm section, often enhanced with warm synth work and sampling. There were instrumentalists and producers in these collectives who helped define the essence of the genre.
The Soulquarians were extremely essential to the development of neo soul. As a multifaceted collective of individuals, each of their skill sets and artistry were fundamental to the process. They worked on each other’s projects throughout the 1990’s and early 2000s. The Soulquarians recorded out of New York at Electric Lady studios. Producer J-Dilla was a producer who redefined the use of the sampled drum break, and gave listeners a completely different time feel that they have never experienced before. It derived from him playing these drum samples manually on his cherished AKAI MPC 3000, which allowed for this laid back time that always placed the snare behind the beat for this infectious swing feel that emphasized swinging the sixteenth notes. J-DIlla made his acoustic drummer contemporaries strive to play like his drum programming. Questlove was one of those drummers he inspired. This style of playing created a new rhythmic language for musicians to interact with one another. If Questlove was the driver of the bus, Pino Palidino was the groove’s suspension and created melodic bass lines that kept the idea strong no matter where the band decided to go musically. James Poyser had the harmonic fuel that allowed the chord progressions to burn ever so slowly. Let us not forget the late Roy Hargove who was like the oil that kept the engine churning with his tasteful stacked trumpet lines throughout the music. These gentlemen contributed to some of the greatest neo soul projects in history from artists like Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Common, Bilal, Q-Tip, Mos Def, Talib Kwali, and The Roots.
There are other notable creatives in the genre during its inception. Raphael Saddiq was ahead of his time when he formed the group Tony! Toni! Tone! in the early 90s. You can hear snapshots of what later becomes core elements of the neo soul sound. Maxwell is defined as one of the smoothest crooners in the genre. When he and saxophonist Stewart Mathewman got together to produce Urban Hang Suite, the magic was undeniable.They created a very pivotal record that crafted this sound which is characterised by the strong femine energy of the male falsetto. Lauryn Hill really brought the genre into the realm of popular music with her iconic record The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. This album had the best commercial success for a neo soul record at the time. It included strong roots in hip-hop with all of the sonic gold of neo soul. Entering the early 2000s, an angelic and deeply soulful voice was introduced to the world. Jill Scott would bring open-ended songs seamlessly transitioning from singing to spoken word in a pure bliss of musical expression. Musiq Soulchild gave neo soul some of the most profound love ballads of triumph and pain with his silky smooth vocals. These are only a fraction of the genre's indispensable contributors.
To commemorate the influence that neo soul has had on music over the last thirty years, ILIO has curated a playlist of artists who use some of the products we distribute, and have also made wonderful recordings within the genre. At this point, most mainstream R&B artists have visited the neo soul landscape during their careers. From Moonchild to Beyonce, H.E.R. and Thundercat, you’ll hear a wide range of sonic interpretations of neo soul in the ILIO Neo Soul Playlist.
