{"id":5157,"date":"2025-05-01T17:59:32","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T17:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edito.houseofliteral.com\/?p=5157"},"modified":"2025-05-10T19:44:42","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T19:44:42","slug":"old-souls-young-voices-neo-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edito.houseofliteral.com\/en\/old-souls-young-voices-neo-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"Old Souls, Young Voices: Neo-Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Note: Welcome to Edito, the written space of Literal Radio that centers music-shaped, evolving, and deepening cultures. Every two weeks, you’ll be invited into the stories behind genres, scenes, and sounds. Enjoy the read.<\/sub><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before we shake the dust off the musical past and revive it in our memories, there\u2019s an important point that must be made: R&B in the mid-1990s did not need saving. With its growing commercial power that would soon dominate the mainstream, R&B was in a phase one could only describe as thriving. Aaliyah was releasing songs that made everyone smile, while Mary J. Blige was bottling her pain in hip-hop. In the \u201990s, the “cool” image in R&B was the work of gangsters, and that image was shaped by a wave of innovative producers. Names like Teddy Riley, Babyface, Jermaine Dupri, and Timbaland functioned as the quality control unit of Black music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"This<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Soul on the Rise<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, while these producers crafted a glossy, commercial R&B sound, a deeper voice began to emerge\u2014one that would breathe new life into a long-standing tradition. Against the mainstream narratives that dominated the radio, neo-soul artists stepped onto the scene to create a contemporary variant of the ’70s soul aesthetic, blending it with influences from other traditions. Neo-soul nodded back to the era when Marvin Gaye channelled social unrest into personal expression and vice versa. This new sound wasn’t foreign; it was rooted in progressive soul and jazz-funk. By the 1990s, it had been nurtured by British soul artists like Sade, Soul II Soul, and Omar, as well as American pioneers such as Prince, Tony! Toni! Ton\u00e9!, and Me’Shell Ndegeocello. Many of those who pioneered neo-soul were children raised within the consciousness of the Black Power movement and a rich soul heritage. This cultural legacy would inspire the perspectives and creativity of D’Angelo, Maxwell, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Jill Scott.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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D’Angelo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re Not Back, We\u2019ve Just Arrived Anew<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Artists like D’Angelo, Maxwell, and Badu released landmark albums\u2014 Brown Sugar,<\/em> Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite<\/em>, and Baduizm<\/em>, respectively\u2014anchored by vocals that echoed the greats of the 1960s. Their success proved that this emerging consciousness was not a niche genre, but a critical and commercial force. The term “neo-soul” was coined by Motown Records executive Kedar Massenburg, who sought to market this forward-looking attitude that paid homage to music\u2019s soulful past. Massenburg, who worked behind artists like Badu and D’Angelo, tried to define this blend of soul, R&B, jazz, and funk. However, as the music industry made room for this retro sound, Pitchfork<\/em> writer Clover Hope criticised<\/a> the framing of new soul<\/em> artists as saviours returning R&B to its “roots,” a view that ignored how much of the genre had always been shaped by innovation. Contrary to that narrative, for many, neo-soul was simply a continuation and expansion of an existing tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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