Neo soul
Encyclopedia
The term neo soul was originally coined by Kedar Massenburg of Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...

 in the late 1990s as a marketing category following the commercial breakthroughs of artists such as D'Angelo
D'Angelo
Michael Eugene Archer , better known by his stage name D'Angelo, is an American R&B and neo soul singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is known for his production and songwriting talents as much as for his vocal abilities, and often draws comparisons to his influences,...

, Erykah Badu
Erykah Badu
Erica Abi Wright , better known by her stage name Erykah Badu , is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Her work includes elements from R&B, hip hop and jazz. She is best known for her role in the rise of the neo soul sub-genre, and for her eccentric, cerebral musical...

, Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress.Early in her career, she established her reputation as a member of the Fugees. In 1998, she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of...

, and Maxwell
Maxwell (musician)
Maxwell , is an American R&B, funk and neo soul musician. He played an important role in the development of the soul sub-genre, neo-soul.-Early life:...

. The commercial breakthrough of D'Angelo's debut album Brown Sugar (1995) has been regarded by several writers and music critics as inspiration behind the term's coinage. While some artists have ignored the label, others have received the designation with controversy, viewing that it can be seen as contrived by music audiences and implies that soul music had ended at some point in time. In a 2002 interview for Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

, Massenburg expressed his view on the backlash and intentions of marketing the neo soul term, stating:
In a 2010 article for PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...

, music writer Tyler Lewis elaborated on the term in retrospect, stating "The term 'neo-soul' has been the subject of intense debate ever since Kedar Massenburg coined it as a way to market Erykah Badu's Baduizm 13 years ago. Given the way black music has been named by (usually) outsiders ever since the blues, the reaction to the name by artists who ostensibly fit into the 'neo-soul' category represents a wonderful example of black self-determination in an industry that is still defiantly wedded to narrow definitions and images of black folks". Jason Anderson of CBC News
CBC News
CBC News is the department within the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on CBC television, radio and online services...

 compares the etymology of "neo soul" to that of "new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

" and comments, "As imperfect as the term may be, neo-soul is still an effective tag to describe the mix of chic modernity and time-honoured tradition that distinguished the genre's best examples. Neo-soul artists tried to look both backward and forward, acting in the belief that a continuum might exist".

Characteristics



Despite some ambivalence from artists, the term ultimately received widespread use by music critics and writers who wrote about artists and albums associated with the musical style. African American studies professor Mark Anthony Neal
Mark Anthony Neal
Mark Anthony Neal is Professor of Black Popular Culture in the Department of African and African-American Studies at Duke University, where he won the 2010 Robert B. Cox Award for Teaching...

 has described neo soul as "everything from avant-garde R&B to organic soul... a product of trying to develop something outside of the norm in R&B". According to music writers, the genre's works are mostly album-oriented and distinguished by its musicianship and production, incorporating "organic" elements of classic soul music with the use of live instrumentation, in contrast to the more single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

-oriented, hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

-based, and producer-driven sampling
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...

 approach of contemporary R&B. In her book Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction, music author Anne Danielson writes that neo soul toward the end of the 1990s exhibited a musical development that was part of "a remarkable increase in musicians' experimentation with and manipulation of grooves at the microrhythmic level - that is, the level in played music that is usually understood in terms of phrasing and timing."

Noting that most of the genre's artists are singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

s, writers have viewed neo soul artists' lyrical content of as more "conscious-driven" and having a broader range than most other R&B artists. Allmusic calls it "roughly analagous to contemporary R&B". Dimitri Ehrlich of Vibe comments that neo soul artists "emphasize a mix of elegant, jazz-tinged R&B and subdued hip hop, with a highly idiosyncratic, deeply personal approach to love and politics". Music writers have noted that neo soul artists are predominantly female, which contrasts the marginalized presence of women in mainstream hip hop and R&B. Jason Anderson of CBC News
CBC News
CBC News is the department within the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on CBC television, radio and online services...

 calls neo soul a "sinuous, sly yet unabashedly earnest" alternative and "kind of haven for listeners turned off by the hedonism of mainstream hip-hop and club jams."

According to music writer Peter Shapiro, the term itself refers to a musical style that obtains its influence from more classical styles, and bohemian musicians seeking a soul revival, while setting themselves apart from the more contemporary sounds of their mainstream R&B counterparts. In a 1998 article on neo soul, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

journalist Christopher John Farley
Christopher John Farley
For the late comedian and SNL actor, see Chris Farley.Christopher John Farley is a Jamaican-born American journalist, columnist, and author.-Early life and education:...

 wrote that neo soul artists such as Lauryn Hill, D'Angelo, and Maxwell "share a willingness to challenge musical orthodoxy". In citing Tony! Toni! Tone! as progenitors of the genre, Tony Green of Vibe has viewed that the group pioneered the "digital-analog hybrid sound" of neo soul and "dramatically refreshed the digitalized wasteland that was R&B in the late '80s". Neo soul artists during the 1990s were heavily inspired by the eclectic sound and mellow instrumentation of Gil Scott-Heron
Gil Scott-Heron
Gilbert "Gil" Scott-Heron was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author known primarily for his work as a spoken word performer in the 1970s and '80s...

's and Brian Jackson's collaborative work in the 1970s. All About Jazz
All About Jazz
All About Jazz is a leading jazz music website for enthusiasts and industry professionals based in Philadelphia in the United States.Founded by Michael Ricci in 1995, the Web-Site is maintained by a volunteer staff of writers, editors, and musicians, and provides coverage of all genres of jazz from...

has cited Jackson as "one of the early architects" of the sound and his early work with Scott-Heron as "an inspirational and musical Rosetta stone
Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest Ancient Greek...

 for the neo-soul movement".

1980s–1990s: Origins and breakthrough

Neo soul's musical development occurred during the 1980s through to the early 1990s with the work of musical acts such as Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

, Tony! Toni! Toné!
Tony! Toni! Toné!
Tony! Toni! Toné! is an American Soul/R&B group from Oakland, California, popular during the late 1980s and early to mid 1990s. During the band's heyday, it was composed of D'wayne Wiggins on lead vocals and guitar, his brother Raphael Saadiq on lead vocals and bass, and their cousin Timothy...

, Terrence Trent D'Arby, Joi
Joi (singer)
Joi Elaine Gilliam , better known by her stage name Joi, is an American R&B/Rock singer, songwriter and record producer associated with the Dungeon Family collective based in Atlanta, Georgia, and as such often performs with OutKast, the Organized Noize production team, and Goodie Mob Joi Elaine...

, and Mint Condition, whose music deviated from the conventions of most contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...

 at the time. Tony! Toni! Toné!-member Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Saadiq has been a standard bearer for "old school" R&B since his early days as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! He also produced songs of such artists as TLC, Joss Stone, D'Angelo, Mary J...

 later embarked on a solo career and produced various works of other neo soul artists. Influential to neo soul, UK act Sade
Sade (band)
Sade is a British smooth jazz band that formed in 1983, named for Nigerian lead singer Sade Adu. Their music features elements of R&B, soul, jazz, and soft rock....

 achieved success in the 1980s with music that featured a sophisti-pop
Sophisti-pop
Sophisti-pop was a sub-genre of pop that flourished in the UK between the mid-1980s and early 1990s, incorporating elements of soft rock, jazz, and blue-eyed soul. The genre made extensive use of electronic keyboards, synthesizers, and polished arrangements, particularly horn sections. Acts were...

 style, incorporating elements of soul, pop, smooth jazz, and quiet storm. The band was part of a new wave of British R&B-oriented artists during the late-1980s and early 1990s that also included Soul II Soul
Soul II Soul
Soul II Soul are a British group that was created in London in 1988. They are best known for their 1989 UK chart-topper and U.S. Top 5 hit, "Back to Life ".-Career:...

, Caron Wheeler
Caron Wheeler
Caron Wheeler is a two-time Grammy Award winning British R&B/soul singer, who gained fame by writing and singing the lead vocals on the two biggest hits for Soul II Soul Caron Wheeler (19 January 1963) is a two-time Grammy Award winning British R&B/soul singer, who gained fame by writing and...

, The Brand New Heavies, Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai is a British jazz funk and acid jazz band formed in 1992. Jamiroquai were initially the most prominent component in the early-1990s London-based acid jazz movement, alongside groups such as Incognito, the James Taylor Quartet, and the Brand New Heavies. Other Acid Jazz artists such as...

, and Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Stansfield is an English singer and songwriter.-Early years:Stansfield was born to Marion and Keith Stansfield in Heywood, Lancashire, in England, where she attended Redbrook School, Rochdale. Her first television appearance was on a talent programme in the Granada TV area in 1982...

. Allmusic's Alex Henderson writes that, "Many of the British artists who emerged during that period had a neo-soul outlook and were able to blend influences from different eras". Other British progenitors of the neo soul movement at the time included Young Disciples
Young Disciples
Young Disciples was a British / American acid jazz band, formed in London in 1990 by Carleen Anderson , Marc Nelson plus Femi Williams ....

 and Omar Lye-Fook
Omar Lye-Fook
Omar Lye-Fook and known as Omar, is an internationally acclaimed British soul singer, songwriter and musician. Omar grew up in Canterbury, Kent. He learned his craft classically, playing the trumpet, piano and percussion. Omar also spent two years at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, and...

, the latter of whom has been cited as "the father of British neo-soul" and an influence on many later neo soul artists. During the early to mid 1990s, the neo soul movement continued to grow with releases by Zhané
Zhane
Zhané was an American R&B/hip hop soul duo, best known for their 1994 hit "Hey Mr. D.J.", which reached #6 in the U.S. Other popular hits include "Groove Thang" and minor hit "Sending My Love," both released in 1994...

, Groove Theory
Groove Theory
Groove Theory is an American R&B duo, with former member, singer-songwriter Amel Larrieux and songwriter/producer/actor, Bryce Wilson. The group is best known for their 1995 pop/R&B hit, "Tell Me," which reached the top five of Billboard 's Hot 100 and the US Billboard R&B chart.-Early years:The...

, Joi
Joi (singer)
Joi Elaine Gilliam , better known by her stage name Joi, is an American R&B/Rock singer, songwriter and record producer associated with the Dungeon Family collective based in Atlanta, Georgia, and as such often performs with OutKast, the Organized Noize production team, and Goodie Mob Joi Elaine...

, Tony Rich, and Me'Shell NdegéOcello
Me'shell Ndegeocello
Meshell Ndegeocello is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, bassist, and vocalist. Her music incorporates a wide variety of influences, including funk, soul, hip hop, reggae, R&B, rock, and jazz. She has received significant critical acclaim throughout her career, and has had ten career Grammy...

. Christopher John Farley writes that, "before there was a name for it, Prince had been carrying a torch for neo soul for decades, refusing to make R&B that played by the rules or fit into comfortable formats. In the mid-'90s, he was suddenly joined by a host of other soul artists who also wanted to break boundaries".
The success of Tony! Toni! Toné!'s 1993 album Sons of Soul
Sons of Soul
Sons of Soul is the third studio album by American R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné!, released June 22, 1993, on Wing Records. It was produced entirely produced by the group, who intended to pay homage with the album to their musical influences. Recording sessions for the album took place at various...

has been viewed as a precursor to the soul music revival in the mid 1990s. In a 1997 article for the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

, music journalist Cheo Hodari Coker cited the album as having "largely sparked the soul music revival that has opened the door for a new generation of singers who build on the tradition of Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....

 and Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...

". Allmusic editor Leo Stanley writes in retrospect that by the release of Tony! Toni! Toné!'s follow-up album House of Music
House of Music
House of Music is the fourth studio album by American R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné!, released November 19, 1996, on Mercury Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at various recording studios during 1995 to 1996, with production handled primarily by the group members...

in 1996, "their influence was beginning to be apparent, as younger soul singer/songwriters like Tony Rich and Maxwell
Maxwell (musician)
Maxwell , is an American R&B, funk and neo soul musician. He played an important role in the development of the soul sub-genre, neo-soul.-Early life:...

 began reaching the R&B charts. Like Tony! Toni! Toné!, Rich and Maxwell relied on traditional soul and R&B values of songwriting and live performances, discarding the synth-heavy productions of the late '80s and early '90s". Malcolm Venable of Vibe cites the early recordings by hip hop group The Roots
The Roots
The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...

, who used live instrumentation, as a precursor to neo soul's commercial breakthrough in the mid 1990s.

Music writers have credited the breakthroughs of D'Angelo
D'Angelo
Michael Eugene Archer , better known by his stage name D'Angelo, is an American R&B and neo soul singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is known for his production and songwriting talents as much as for his vocal abilities, and often draws comparisons to his influences,...

's Brown Sugar (1995), Erykah Badu
Erykah Badu
Erica Abi Wright , better known by her stage name Erykah Badu , is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Her work includes elements from R&B, hip hop and jazz. She is best known for her role in the rise of the neo soul sub-genre, and for her eccentric, cerebral musical...

's Baduizm
Baduizm
Baduizm is the debut album of R&B and neo soul musician Erykah Badu, released February 11, 1997 on Kedar Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during January to October 1996 at Battery Studios in New York City, Sigma Sounds & Ivory Studios in Philadelphia, and Dallas Sound Lab in...

(1997), Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite is the debut album of American recording artist Maxwell, released April 2, 1996 on Columbia Records in the United States. Recording sessions for the album took place during 1994 to 1995 at Electric Lady Studios, RPM, Sorcerer, and Chung King Studios in New York City and...

(1996), and Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress.Early in her career, she established her reputation as a member of the Fugees. In 1998, she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of...

's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is the debut solo album by American musician Lauryn Hill, released August 25, 1998, on Columbia Records. Recording sessions for the album took place from late 1997 to June 1998, and were held primarily at Tuff Gong Studios in Jamaica...

(1998) with shaping and raising the neo soul movement to commercial visibility into the late 1990s. According to Farley, D'Angelo's album "gives a nod to the past, [...] mints his own sound, with golden humming keyboards and sensual vocals and unhurried melodies [...] His songs were polished without being slick and smart without being pretentious", while Badu "brought an iconoclastic spirit to soul music, with her towering Afrocentric headwraps, incense candles, and quirky lyrics". Baduizm sold nearly three million copies and won Badu two Grammy Awards. Hill's debut featured her singing and rapping, with deeply personal lyrics, and was one of neo soul's primary successes, achieving massive sales, critical acclaim, and five Grammy Awards. Subsequently, other female neo soul artists broke through with their debut albums, including Macy Gray
Macy Gray
Macy Gray is a Grammy Award-winning American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress, famed for her distinctive raspy voice, and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday and Betty Davis.Gray has released five studio albums, with her fifth studio album, The Sellout,...

, Angie Stone
Angie Stone
Angie Stone is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She has been nominated for three Grammy Award. She is more successful on the charts R&B charts, with four Top 10 albums, forms including a number one album and 10 singles on the R&B chart,...

, and Jill Scott
Jill Scott
Jill Scott is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter, poet, and actress. In 2007, Scott made her cinematic debut in the films Hounddog and in Tyler Perry's feature film, Why Did I Get Married? That year, her third studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3, was released on...

. The 1997 film Love Jones capitalized on neo soul's success at the time with its soundtrack album
Love Jones (soundtrack)
Love Jones: The Music is the original soundtrack to the 1997 film Love Jones.-Track listing:#"Brother to the Night - Darius' Poem" — Larenz Tate – 3:18#"Hopeless" — Dionne Farris – 3:53...

, which impacted the Billboard charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...

 and featured artists such as Hill, Maxwell, The Brand New Heavies, Me'Shell NdegéOcello, Groove Theory, and Dionne Farris
Dionne Farris
Dionne Farris is an American female R&B/soul musician who sang on three songs with the hip hop group Arrested Development...

.

According to music journalist Greg Kot
Greg Kot
Greg Kot is an American writer and journalist. Since 1990, Kot has been the music critic at the Chicago Tribune, where he has covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and business issues...

, musical collective Soulquarians
Soulquarians
The Soulquarians is a neo soul and hip hop-informed musical collective with members from Philadelphia, New York, Detroit, Richmond, Brooklyn, Chicago, Dallas, and Oakland. The collective formed during the late 1990s, continuing into the early 2000s, and produced several well-received albums...

, consisting of such artists as D'Angelo, The Roots, Erykah Badu, Bilal, Mos Def
Mos Def
Dante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...

, Common
Common (rapper)
Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. , better known by his stage name Common , is an American hip-hop artist and actor....

, James Poyser
James Poyser
James Poyser in Sheffield, England is a multi-Grammy winning songwriter, musician and multi-platinum producer.Poyser has written and produced songs for various legendary and award-winning artists including Erykah Badu, Mariah Carey, John Legend, Lauryn Hill, Common, Anthony Hamilton, D'Angelo,...

, and Q-Tip
Q-Tip (rapper)
Kamaal Ibn John Fareed , better known by his stage name Q-Tip, is an American hip hop artist, producer, singer, and actor from St. Albans, Queens, New York, part of the critically acclaimed group A Tribe Called Quest...

, contributed significantly to the neo soul movement during the late 1990s to the early 2000s with its members' "organic soul, natural R&B, boho-rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...

". The collective developed through the production work of The Roots' drummer and producer Questlove. Following a minor decline in its hype, neo soul's mainstream popularity increased in the late 1990s with the successes of Hill, Maxwell, Eric Benét
Eric Benét
Eric Benét, is an American singer. His duet with Tamia, "Spend My Life With You" was a number one song for three weeks on the US Billboard R&B chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2000....

, Raphael Saadiq, and Les Nubians
Les Nubians
Les Nubians is an R&B Grammy-nominated duo composed of sisters Hélène and Célia Faussart from Paris, France. In 1985 the sisters moved with their parents to Chad. Seven years later, they returned to Bordeaux, France, and began singing a cappella, producing poetry slams in Bordeaux and Paris, and...

. It impacted more mainstream-oriented R&B radio, while influencing contemporary R&B acts, such as R. Kelly
R. Kelly
Robert Sylvester Kelly , better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. A native of Chicago, Kelly began performing during the late 1980s and debuted in 1992 with the group Public Announcement. In 1993, Kelly went solo with the album 12 Play...

 and Aaliyah
Aaliyah
Aaliyah Dana Haughton , who performed under the mononym Aaliyah , was an American R&B recording artist, actress and model. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 10, she appeared on the television show Star Search and performed in concert alongside...

, to incorporate some of its textural and lyrical elements. In his song "When a Woman's Fed Up
When A Woman's Fed Up
"When a Woman's Fed Up" is an R&B song by R. Kelly from his 1998 double album, R. The song reached number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart. The video, directed by Kelly, features Kelly's protege Sparkle as the woman who's fed up...

" (1998), R&B recording artist R. Kelly
R. Kelly
Robert Sylvester Kelly , better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. A native of Chicago, Kelly began performing during the late 1980s and debuted in 1992 with the group Public Announcement. In 1993, Kelly went solo with the album 12 Play...

 incorporated a more soul-based sound and referenced Erykah Badu's 1997 song "Tyrone" in the lyrics.

2000s: Apex and mainstream decline

A production of the Soulquarians, D'Angelo's acclaimed 2000 album Voodoo has been viewed by writers as a masterpiece and peak of the neo soul genre. Ben Ratliff of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

called the album "the succes d'estime that proves the force of this new music: it is a largely unslick, stubbornly idiosyncratic and genuinely great album that has already produced two hit singles". By the time of her second album Mama's Gun
Mama's Gun
Mama's Gun is the second studio album by American recording artist Erykah Badu, released November 21, 2000, on Motown Records. Recording sessions for the album took place from 1999 to 2000 at Electric Lady Studios in New York City...

(2000), Erykah Badu had been dubbed by writers as "the queen of neo-soul". She has said of the honorific title
Honorific titles in popular music
Honorific nicknames in popular music are often religious, familial or royal and aristocratic in nature and are used as a form of expression in the media, or to identify the significance of an artist by fans...

, "I hated that because what if I don’t do that anymore? What if I change? Then that puts me in a penitentiary." Subsequently, other neo soul artists attained success in the early 2000s, including Bilal, Musiq Soulchild, India.Arie
India.Arie
India.Arie is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter and record producer . She has sold over 3.3 million records in the U.S. and 10 million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards from her 21 nominations, including Best R&B Album.-Background:Simpson was born in Denver, Colorado...

, and Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...

, who broke through to broader popularity with her debut album Songs in A Minor
Songs in A Minor
Songs in A Minor is the debut studio album by American recording artist Alicia Keys. It was released in the United States on June 5, 2001 by J Records. After graduating from high school, Keys signed with Columbia Records to begin her music career. She recorded an album in 1998 under the label,...

(2001). Hip hop artists such as The Roots and Common, associated with the Soulquarians, released albums that incorporated neo soul, Phrenology
Phrenology (album)
Phrenology is the fifth studio album by American hip hop band The Roots, released November 26, 2002, on Geffen Records and MCA Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during June 2000 to September 2002...

(2002) and Electric Circus
Electric Circus (album)
Electric Circus is the fifth studio album by rapper Common, released December 10, 2002 on the now-defunct MCA Records. The album was highly anticipated and praised by many critics for its ambitious vision. However, it was not as commercially successful as his previous album, Like Water for...

(2003).
However, the 2000s decade later saw a decline in output by neo soul recording artists, with many of them failing to make a commercial impact and previous successes not releasing a follow-up album. Erykah Badu's commercial viability decreased as each of her releases following her debut Baduizm departed further from that album's music. Lauryn Hill followed-up her 1998 debut, considered the best-selling neo soul album, with the 2002 live album MTV Unplugged No. 2.0
MTV Unplugged No. 2.0
MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 is a live album by American hip hop/soul artist Lauryn Hill. The performance comes from her 2002 MTV Unplugged special recorded on July 21, 2001 at MTV Studios in Times Square, New York City. The album has sold over one million copies in the United States and over 1.5 million...

, a combative, confessional work in which she expresses her misgivings about fame. Melena Ryzik of The New York Times wrote in a retrospect of that "era of left-of-center black singer-songwriters", stating "many of them struggled to keep their creative momentum, conflicted about their early mainstream success." In a 2003 interview, music publicist John Constanza said that "The neo-soul movement is still there, but it's been underground, and it's trying to get the attention of the mainstream again". Producer and Soulquarians member Questlove elaborated on the artists' regression from the mainstream, saying "I think most of us went through our psychosomatic, quasi-self-saboteur stage. Once we got that first taste of success, I think just the pressure of reacting got to all of us. Some of us released some of the craziest records of our career." Other artists such as D'Angelo and Lauryn Hill went on indefinite hiatus from the music scene. Music writer Tyler Lewis of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...

 attributed the decline to "the downside of [the] rejection of the term ['neo soul']", writing that:
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...

s Renée Graham wrote of the artists' ambivalence towards the term in a 2003 article on neo soul's standing, "Despite its critical success, if neo-soul had an initial failing, it was the media-created label itself - a term that the artists, whom it was meant to represent, generally rejected". Mark Edward Nero of About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....

 stated, "In general, neo-soul has remained almost exclusive to R&B outlets such as urban radio
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...

 and Black Entertainment Television
Bet
Bet or BET may refer to:* A wager in gambling* Basic Economics Test * Bet , the second letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Syriac* Brunauer-Emmett-Teller isotherm. See BET_theory...

 [...] the majority of neo-soul artists have yet to crossover to mainstream American music listeners, partially because the music's sound generally focuses on artist expression, rather than popular appeal". During the mid-2000s, emerging artists such as Heather Headley
Heather Headley
Heather Headley is a Trinidadian-American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She has won one Tony Award and one Grammy Award.-Personal life:...

, Anthony David
Anthony David (singer)
Anthony David Harrington , better known as Anthony David, is an American R&B singer-songwriter. He is best known for his 2008 song "Words", a duet with contemporary R&B singer India.Arie.-Biography:...

, J Davey
J Davey
J*DaVeY is a multi-genre duo from Los Angeles, CA whose sound can be described as a combination of alternative hip hop, alternative rock, soul, electronica, fusion, jazz, punk, funk, new wave and R&B futurists...

, Eric Roberson
Eric Roberson
Eric Roberson is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter from Rahway, New Jersey, United States. He is sometimes referred to simply as Erro....

, and Ledisi
Ledisi
Ledisi Anibade Young is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Her first name means "to bring forth" or "to come here" in Yoruba. Ledisi is known for her jazz influenced vocals. In 1995, Ledisi formed the group known as Anibade. After unsuccessfully trying to get the group signed to a major...

 signed to independent soul labels and received exposure through independent retailers, neo soul-oriented web sites, college and public radio stations, city club venues, cable networks such as Music Choice
Music Choice
Music Choice is a United States company that programs music and produces music-related content for digital cable, cell phones, and cable modem subscribers in the US. Music Choice programs dozens of audio music channels for digital cable subscribers, as well as programs and produces music-related...

 and BET J
BET J
Centric is a spin-off cable television channel of BET , created originally to showcase jazz music-related programming, especially that of black jazz musicians. It is now a general interest channel geared towards African-American adults...

, and publishing deals as writers and producers for major label-recording artists. Erykah Badu and Maxwell returned from their respective hiatuses and released well-received albums, her New Amerykah
New Amerykah
New Amerykah may refer to two albums by US soul singer Erykah Badu:* New Amerykah Part One * New Amerykah Part Two...

albums and his 2009 album BLACKsummers'night
BLACKsummers'night
BLACKsummers'night is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Maxwell, released July 7, 2009 on Columbia Records. It is the follow-up to his third album Now...

, and they subsequently toured together.

2010s

The more popular neo soul artists in recent years have included John Legend
John Legend
John Roger Stephens , better known by his stage name John Legend, is an American singer, musician, and actor. He is the recipient of nine Grammy Awards, and in 2007, he received the special Starlight award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.Prior to the release of his debut album, Stephens' career...

, Anthony Hamilton
Anthony Hamilton (musician)
Anthony Hamilton is an American R&B, and soul singer-songwriter, and record producer who rose to fame with his platinum-selling second studio album Comin' from Where I'm From , which featured the singles "Comin' from Where I'm From" and "Charlene."-Life and career:Hamilton was born in Charlotte,...

, Jill Scott, Maxwell, Chrisette Michele
Chrisette Michele
Chrisette Michele Payne , known professionally as Chrisette Michele, is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter....

, Leela James
Leela James
Leela James is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter. James cites singers James Brown, Roberta Flack, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, Gladys Knight, Mavis Staples, and Stevie Wonder as her influences...

, and Raheem DeVaughn
Raheem DeVaughn
Raheem DeVaughn is an American singer and songwriter. His debut album, The Love Experience , reached No. 46 on the Billboard 200 album chart. It featured the singles "Guess Who Loves You More" and "You". His second album Love Behind the Melody was released in January 2008...

. DeVaughn has described himself as an "R&B Hippy Neo-Soul Rock Star", viewing it as a reference to his eclectic musical style. In its 2010 issue on critical moments in popular music, Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...

cited D'Angelo's Voodoo and its success as a turning point for neo soul, stating "D'Angelo's pastiche of funk, carnal ache, and high-minded, Afrocentric rhetoric stands as neo-soul's crowning achievement. So unsurpassable that it'd be eight years before we'd hear from Erykah Badu and Maxwell again, while Hill and D'Angelo remain missing. But Alicia Keys, John Legend, and Cee-Lo picked up D's mantle and ran with it".

External links

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