Neo-Soul: A Love Story, Part 1

Categorizing music has always been a useful tool for those who seek to define music by a particular style or image. It makes it easier for record companies to properly market their product, simplifies the process for us, as consumers, to instantly recognize and describe a particular sound by its aesthetic qualities.

Most, if not all Black music has fit (or has been forced to fit) this model. Labels such as "Gangsta Rap", "Conscious" and "Golden Age", have been used are examples, all titles and monikers given to different types of music that encompasses what we call Hip Hop or Rap.

During the mid-90s, another phrase became apart of the musical lexicon: Neo-Soul. This genre was characterized as a return to the instrumentation, soulful singing and an expansion of the lyrical landscape. It was seen as a departure from the electronic-driven, catchy hooks of the 1980s, personified by pop-soul artists like Janet Jackson, Bobby Brown, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam and other artists that were classified as "New Jack Swing".

This neo-soul movement was led by two important male artists, and an equally-influential female, a groundbreaker in her own right.

The first, an artist from Virginia named D'Angelo, burst onto the music scene in 1994 with Brown Sugar, considered a "throwback" album that featured him on many of the instruments that came to define his sound; not to mention writing his lyrics and producing. Smooth and good-looking, he was an immediate hit to female fans nationwide and has created a devoted fanbase despite releasing only two albums (His Voodoo was released in 2000). Equally as impressive was Maxwell, a mysterious soul singer who wrote thoughtful lyrics, backed by tight instrumentation of a seasoned band. His Sade-like reclusiveness only serves to intrigue his fans more. His debut, Urban Hang Suite, written about a weekend love affair, was released in 1996 and has been considered a classic ever since.

What we call Soul music has always been the forte of female singers. From Billie Holliday to Aretha Franklin, to the aforementioned Sade`, what defines music more than the female voice? A voice used to describe the highs and lows of love, and the pain of loss. When Billie sang about "Southern Fruit", we heard, through her voice, what pain and injustice feels like. At times when they were discriminated against in society and in the home, female artists served as inspiration for their female sistren; a voice to the voiceless.

In 1995 there emerged a female artist, a former schoolteacher from the southwest area of Dallas. She was born Erica Abi Wright, but while singing in the local area clubs, she became Ms. Erykah Badu. It was while singing around her hometown that she caught the attention of Kedar Massenburg, the then-manager of D'Angelo, and the rest as we say, is history.

Few critics knew how to classify her debut album, Baduizm, when it was released in 1995; but those who would become fans nonetheless anointed her as the leading female in the neo-soul movement. Mixing conscious, introspective lyrics about politics and love (more complex than many of the R&B ballads of her day), Badu became the first in a long line of dynamic soul singers, Jill Scott and India.arie to name a few.

These female artists defined a new image for Black women. As the 1980s were symbolized by the importance of music videos, Black female artists were, image-like, close to Jody Watley, Pebbles and Janet Jackson were physically beautiful and ready-made for mainstream mass consumption. Although the mainstream media will most certainly give an inordinate amount of attention to lighter-skinned female singers even in the modern era (Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys for example), artists like Jill Scott and Badu are able to represent a greater cross-section of Black women; women who's everyday beautiful is often not highlighted enough.