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. Soul music became popular for dancing and listening, where U.S. record labels such as Motown, Atlantic and Stax were influential during the Civil Rights Movement. Soul also became popular around the world, directly influencing rock music and the music of Africa. It also had a resurgence in the mid-to late 1990s with the subgenre neo-soul, which added modern production elements and influence from hip-hop.
Neo soul is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contemporary R&B. Heavily based in soul music, neo soul is distinguished by a less conventional sound than its contemporary R&B counterpart, with incorporated elements ranging from funk, jazz fusion, hip hop, and African music to pop, rock, and electronic music. It has been noted by music writers for its traditional R&B influences, conscious-driven lyrics, and strong female presence.
Peter O. Phillips, better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American music producer, DJ and rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongside DJ Premier, RZA, and Q-Tip as one of the mainstays of 1990s East Coast hip hop production. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth. Early on in his career, he was also famed for his remix work.
Raphael Saadiq is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to fame as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! In addition to his solo and group career, he has also produced songs for such artists as Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Total, Joss Stone, D'Angelo, TLC, En Vogue, Kelis, Mary J. Blige, Ledisi, Whitney Houston, Solange Knowles and John Legend. Music critic Robert Christgau has called Saadiq the "preeminent R&B artist of the '90s".
Brown Sugar is the debut studio album by American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist D'Angelo, released on July 3, 1995, through EMI. The album was recorded during 1994 and 1995 in sessions at Battery Studios and RPM Studios in New York City and at the Pookie Lab in Sacramento. Its production, instrumentation, arrangements, and songwriting were primarily handled by D'Angelo, who employed both vintage recording equipment and modern electronic devices. The songs feature earnest lyrics about love and romance, set against a fusion of contemporary R&B and traditional soul music with elements of funk, quiet storm, and hip hop music.
Teedra Shenita Moses is an American R&B and soul singer.
Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music in a recording studio. While the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music creation, including recording the rapping of an MC, a turntablist or DJ providing a beat, playing samples and "scratching" using record players and the creation of a rhythmic backing track, using a drum machine or sequencer, it is most commonly used to refer to recording the instrumental, non-lyrical and non-vocal aspects of hip hop.
Phonte Lyshod Coleman, known mononymously as Phonte, is an American rapper, singer, and producer. He is also a member of Team Supreme, that co-hosts the Questlove Supreme podcast.
Jun Seba, better known by his stage name Nujabes, was a Japanese record producer, audio engineer, DJ, composer and arranger best known for his atmospheric instrumental mixes sampling from hip hop, soul, and jazz, as well as incorporating elements of trip hop, breakbeat, downtempo, and ambient music.
Miles Bonny is a record producer, singer-songwriter, trumpeter, and DJ. Originally from New Jersey, Bonny began producing and creating hip hop while living in the midwest in the late 1990s, and founded the hip-hop group SoundsGood with rapper Joe Good in 2000. He has released a number of solo albums, and has collaborated with musicians such as Deep Thinkers, Ces Cru, and Sage Francis. He operates the record label InnateSounds, and in 2010 Bonny won the Pitch Music Award for DJ Hip-Hop in Kansas City. Currently based in New Mexico, Bonny frequently tours as a DJ and performer.
Instant Vintage is the 2002 debut album by American R&B singer and record producer Raphael Saadiq. It was his first full-length solo album after spending much of his post-Tony! Toni! Toné! career as a session player and producer. The record was a critical success but underperformed commercially, leading to Saadiq's departure from Universal Records.
Calvin Richardson is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter. In 1999, he released his debut solo album Country Boy.
House of Music is the fourth and final album by American R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné!, released on November 19, 1996, by Mercury Records. It follows the success of the band's 1993 album Sons of Soul and a hiatus during which each member pursued individual musical projects.
The Way I See It is the third album by American R&B singer, songwriter, and producer Raphael Saadiq. It was released on September 16, 2008, by Columbia Records – his first for the label. Prior to signing with Columbia, Saadiq had independently released his 2004 album Ray Ray, recorded with the songwriting and production duo Jake and the Phatman. He developed a creative partnership with their colleague, audio engineer Charles Brungardt, who shared Saadiq's fascination with historic recording techniques and equipment. In 2008, the singer returned from a vacation that had inspired him to pursue classic soul music and recorded The Way I See It primarily at his North Hollywood studio with Brungardt.
Ray Ray is the second studio album by American R&B singer, songwriter, and producer Raphael Saadiq. It was released October 5, 2004, by his record label, Pookie Entertainment. After being dropped from Universal Records, Saadiq formed the label and recorded the album. He pursued a 1970s-inspired musical direction that was looser than his 2002 debut album, Instant Vintage, and produced Ray Ray with Michael Angelo, Jake and the Phatman, and Kelvin Wooten.
Wes Felton is an American singer/poet/actor/emcee born and raised in Washington DC.
Stone Rollin' is the fourth studio album by American R&B singer, songwriter, and producer Raphael Saadiq. It was released on March 25, 2011, by Columbia Records and recorded at Saadiq's studio Blakesee Recording Company in Los Angeles over the course of a year.
Cadillactica is the second studio album by American rapper Big K.R.I.T. It was released on November 10, 2014, by Cinematic Music Group and Def Jam Recordings. The album features guest appearances from Raphael Saadiq, E-40, Wiz Khalifa, Kenneth Whalum III, Mara Hruby, Rico Love, Bun B, Devin the Dude, Big Sant, Jamie N Commons, Lupe Fiasco and ASAP Ferg.
Darshan is an American Jewish alternative hip hop group from Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 2008, the group primarily consists of rapper Eprhyme and singer-songwriters Shir Yaakov and Basya Schechter. Its debut album, Deeper and Higher, was released in 2015, followed by a second album, Raza, in 2017.
Progressive soul is a type of African-American music that uses a progressive approach, particularly in the context of the soul and funk genres. It developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s through the recordings of innovative black musicians who pushed the structural and stylistic boundaries of those genres. Among their influences were musical forms that arose from rhythm and blues music's transformation into rock, such as Motown, progressive rock, psychedelic soul, and jazz fusion.
