The award was later changed to Best Progressive R&B Album in 2020, but that and the music from the last decade is a testament to how neo-soul changed popular music forever.īlackness is not monolithic and these four essential neo-soul albums started a genre that many of the biggest artists in the world still draw from to make the music of the future. in 2012 and had neo-soul offsprings such as Frank Ocean, Jhene Aiko, The Internet, King, Anderson Paak, and SZA earning some of their earliest Grammy nominations. Teyana Taylor recently collaborated with Erykah Badu on “Lowkey,” a sensual sequel of sorts to Badu’s epochal “Next Lifetime.” It borrows elements from the original’s chorus and has Badu giving sage wisdom to a young Teyena going through the same love conundrum Badu was on the original from 23 years earlier. To prevent them from being lost in the shuffle of misunderstanding, neo-soul was created and a movement was born, a movement that would not only unite obscure artists in a shared love of pushing musical boundaries but also inspire generations of artists to come.įrank Ocean’s rare song “Voodoo” was recorded during the making of his 2012 debut album, Channel Orange, and is a pseudo-tribute to D’Angelo, from its esoteric metaphorical lyricism down to its name being borrowed from D’Angelo’s classic sophomore album. Products 1 - 40 of 1000+ Shop for R&B and Soul: Vinyl Records in R&B / Soul Music on CDs & Vinyl Records. Two of the artists he managed - D’Angelo and Erykah Badu - were putting out music around that was growing in popularity. Voodoo DJ Soul Essentials is an EP by R&B and neo soul musician D'Angelo, released in 2000 on Virgin Records.1 As part of the promotional efforts by the. The name was coined by former Motown Records president William “Kedar” Massenburg in the late 1990s as an attempt to market a growing form of Black music that blended disparate genres into a sound uniquely Black, but uncategorical. The genre incorporates elements of jazz, R&B, soul, hip-hop, rock, funk, and blues. Neo-soul gave those artists protection by building a community of outsiders that made music so undeniable they became tastemakers of a sound that has lasted for more than 20 years. That sort of freedom to create is often stifled by mainstream audiences that typically rewards conventional sounding music. Neo-soul is a style where Black artists are free to make music only bound by the vastness of their influences. Neo-soul is a music genre built on freedom and protection.

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