THINK!
Two sides, one issue.
Is Neo-Soul a Bad Word? No.
By ANGELA BRONNER
Published: March 24, 2008
Universal / Aftermath / Jive
Rock is dead. Hip-hop is dead. And now, according to Marsha Ambrosius, Neo-Soul is Dead. Yadda, yadda, yadda. In 2005, Jaguar Wright even proclaimed she was “divorcing” the genre. And I hear that - to an extent. With any artistic endeavor, you don't want to box people in. However, we name things for a reason. A Martin Luther or Dwele could never be an Usher or a Chris Brown, nor could they be an Al Green or a Sam Cooke. The term neo-soul denotes a musical style in and of itself.
 And so, what is soul? Soul is plantations and juke joints. It is first bones and fish bones, lynch and grandmother's cooked food, church and James Brown, grits and spirit. In essence, soul is an integral part of our journey in America - a slicked-up version of the blues and gospel that recalls roots, blood, fire, and dance. By definition, soul is old. Neo-soul is a predominance of natural hair and positivity. It's soul music incorporated with funk, jazz, a little hip-hop, and some house. Think Floetry, head wraps, blue lights, Raphael Saadiq, Maxwell, the underground, and Angie Stone. Neo-soul is not mainstream or young but "grown folks music," to employ another hackneyed (but useful) term.
So, what makes people run from a totally legitimate way of defining a slice of black music? In the end, it comes down to the almighty dollar. What neo-soul has not been -- with the possible exception of a Macy Gray and Erykah Badu -- is a million dollar business. It's not platinum, and certain artists (ahem, Jaguar Wright) want to make some more cash - or at least be recognized on the street. Being stuck in the box of neo-soul limits their earning potential. What does bug me is that the style seems very much defined by externals rather than the music itself. Would India.Arie be neo-soul if she had started out with a perm? Would R. Kelly if his songs were more like "I Believe I Can Fly?" and not "Thoia Thoing"? Prolly not.
There was no one like Soul II Soul or Loose Ends in the late '80s, and that was a beautiful thing. Neo-soul is merely an evolution - the new sister in a pretty blue dress and some musk oil. It distinguishes new soul singers from those of the '60s and '70s and mature songs from those rife with rap samples, insipid lyrics, and overly computerized voices. Some artists may want to distance themselves from the genre in order to top the charts, but don't throw out the baby with the rose-infused bath oil just yet. Neo-soul is very much alive, thank goodness.
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