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Plenty of Soul artists out of NY and Jersey. Plus NY hosted all Soul/R&B acts at the Apollo. Still can't believe that Lauryn Hill got booed off stage there.
This is true. The songwriting was also better then. I mean, Ronald Isley says:
"Oh, I believe, you are a rainbow All the Heaven I need to see You're the promise everlasting Where you are I hope to be"
Who writes stuff like that anymore? Nobody. I think only the Neo Soul of the mid to late 90s can give that era a run for its money (and it still loses because the artists from that era weren't nearly as numerous and prolific as the ones from the 70s).
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite is still, imo, the definitive work of the Neo Soul movement. Who's messing with lines like "lose myself inside her ebony" and "flavor with a cocoa kinda flow?" Urban Hang Suite is 11 tracks of pure ectsacy and it stands head and shoulders above all other albums from that period. I'd be willing to put it up against any album of the 70s. It's just that smooth.
I'd also throw Erykah Badu's Mama's Gun into the mix. This album was up there with Michael Jackson's Off the Wall in terms of the quality and thoughtfulness of its composition. ?uestlove and J. Dilla did a brilliant job with it. All 14 songs are so deep and rich (some don't like Penitentiary Philosophy, but I do). But Orange Moon, Didn't Cha Know, Time's a Wastin, Kiss Me on My Neck, and Bag Lady just pushed this album into the stratosphere. Then there's that ballad with Stephen Marley that's simply sublime. Again, I'd put this up against anything (if not above) from the 70s.
Same thing with Baduizm. Only I think Mama's Gun is a better album from front to back.
Brown Sugar, while good, was not as good as VooDoo, imo, and I can think of a ton of albums from the 70s that were better. It's still one of the definitive albums of the movement though.
Who Is Jill Scott? rounds out my Neo Soul canon. I'd also put this up against just about any album from the 70s.
I agree with almost everything here... between 1995 and lets say 1998 was the epitome of the Neo-Soul movement. Dont forget Mint Condition's Definition of a Band or Tony Toni Tones House of Music which dropped only months apart in the fall of 1996. Retro, raw, soul music. I hate the term "neo soul" since these guys, Maxwell, Erykah, Eric Benet, D'Angelo etc were just making natural, soulful, raw soulful music with less "pop" or electronic elements and more natural instrumentation and bringing back their roots. To me these artists were just making soul music.
I will have to disagree with the Voodoo/Brown Sugar comparison. Brown Sugar is waaay better IMO. He touched different topics, the sound, the instrumentation, the composition, etc. Everything about Brown Sugar was just better. That will always be his best album to me. D'Angelo's tour de france.
Overall good post. Maxwell's UHS is a masterpiece.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BajanYankee
Another album that will stand the test of time is Raphael Saadiq's Instant Vintage. How fitting a title, right?
"You got me wide open, and I'm diggin' you so baby keep it comin.'
Yeah I'm with you on this. Mint Condition has always been my favorite and u send me swingin was mybfavorite from them. Someone to love is rightbaftervthrm. Thy didnt get the popularity as much as Jodeci or Boyz 2 Men. They probably didnt get the popularity if Silk. Not to say any of those were bad groups or anything but Mint just a brought a way different feel to music in the 90s.
Agreed. Mint Condition were always under the radar. I think it has a lot to do with them being a band while 99% of all other r&b outfits were singing groups. From Boyz II Men, to Intro, to Portrait, to Jodeci, to H-Town etc.
But with that said, Mint still got a lot going on in the 90's and didn't fade away like other groups and did their thing with what they had. Boyz II Men had Bivins in their corner, Jodeci ha Uptown Records etc. Mint only had Jam and Lewis on a small label. They were still able to pump out at least one top 40 pop/top 5 rnb Billboard hit and put out a few gold albums and singles, hit up some awards, soul train performances, BET appearances, invited the perform with Black Men United (Stokley), appear in the Panther movie, tour with Janet in 94, tour with Toni Braxton in 96/97 etc. In all they stood the test of time. They did a lot for a black male rnb band in the 90s that didn't have as much as their competition did and especially in a time period where black male rnb bands were a rarity.
I agree that their feel was very different. More grown and mature than just about everyone else. Their music was definitely timeless. Mint can perform "Forever In Your Eyes" when they are in their 60's. And as much as I like Silk, I doubt anyone wants to hear Silk perform "Freak Me" ("let me lick you up and down") when they are in their 60's. lol
Yup.
My fav song by her is "This House" followed by "Tender Kisses". She had a lot of competition in the late 80/early 90s (Jody Watley, Pebbles, Karyn White, Janet, Vanessa Williams, etc)
She faded away quickly after that sophomore album. Remember when she appeared on Family Matters? A lot of people made appearances on that show. New Edition, Shai, Johnny Gill solo, and then with New Edition, Freddie Jackson in that big green suit, Missy, etc.
As corny as the show was looking back (though I did like it when I was younger), lots of musical guests appeared on that show which was cool.
Same here! I really started getting into them seriously with the Life's Aquarium project. Stokley has one of the best falsetto voices in the game hands down; he KILLED "If You Love Me"!
If You Love Me is CLASSIC!! His falsetto on that is incredible. There was an article on yahoo back in the early 2000's where Ginuwine said he wishes he could sound like Stokley. I wish I could find it.
The Life's Aquarium album is underrated. I love "This Day, This Minute, Right Now" and "Tonight".
Man if I wasn't at work I'm posting a lot of music youtube videos right now lol.
Mint Condition is bad! Those cats are tried and true! They have withstood the test of time; and they are still here. If someone has the rest of this B.E.T. concert (see below) and can provide me with it, I'll forever be in your debt! I'd take a pretend, super soft, rubber bullet for you, if you can provide me with the Rahsaan Patterson (The Bronx) concert, from the same show. The one that featured Meshell Ndegeocello on bass! She killed Come Over. The little sista is bad!
I remember when Ready For The World (Flint, MI) dropped Tonight. We all thought that the group Dreamboy had dropped another album. RFTW "copped" Prince's style hard! What can I say? It was a successful formula.
Yes, The Jets are from Minneapolis; I didn't know that! They were talented.
By the way that entire performance is on youtube somewhere (not sure if its still there but I seen it there years ago).
I have the full mp3. They perform Change Your Mind (Def of a bnad), Devotion (From the Mint Factory) Someone to Love (Mint Factory), a mini jam jazzy session with Stokley scatting and vibing with Lawrence El, and finally Breaking My Heart with a nice orchestrated ending. The video has people at the BET planet groove dancing and having a good time.
I agree with almost everything here... between 1995 and lets say 1998 was the epitome of the Neo-Soul movement. Dont forget Mint Condition's Definition of a Band or Tony Toni Tones House of Music which dropped only months apart in the fall of 1996. Retro, raw, soul music. I hate the term "neo soul" since these guys, Maxwell, Erykah, Eric Benet, D'Angelo etc were just making natural, soulful, raw soulful music with less "pop" or electronic elements and more natural instrumentation and bringing back their roots. To me these artists were just making soul music.
I hear what you're saying. I don't really mind the label because the sound is a bit different from classic soul. Yes, there's more natural instrumentation than contemporary R&B, but there's also more of the electronic element than what exists in classic soul. I also think a big aspect of Neo Soul was the concept of "consciousness." Although this concept in music long predates the Neo Soul movement (e.g., Gil Scott-Heron), it seemed to be more of a unifying theme in Neo Soul. That's not to say all Neo Soul was like that, but much of it was.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrjun18
I will have to disagree with the Voodoo/Brown Sugar comparison. Brown Sugar is waaay better IMO. He touched different topics, the sound, the instrumentation, the composition, etc. Everything about Brown Sugar was just better. That will always be his best album to me. D'Angelo's tour de france.
No worries. I have this argument with friends all the time. Brown Sugar is a dope album (favorite song is "Smooth"). But I just prefer Voodoo's sound. And that's probably because ?uestlove, Premiere, J. Dilla and Raphael Saadiq were all involved in the production of that album. "Feel Like Makin' Love," "The Root" and "Send It On" are just smooth as silk. "Left and Right" has this cool sound to it. Then "Untitled (How Does It Feel?)" is one of the greatest baby making songs of all time. I mean, as good as Brown Sugar was, people will always remember D'Angelo for "How Does It Feel?" That was the go-to song for those nights.
Last edited by BajanYankee; 11-06-2013 at 10:17 AM..
Man, lemme tell you. Back when I used to buy CDs (prior to my MP3 pirating days), I RAN to the store to buy Jodeci's Greatest Hits Album.
Anything Teddy Riley puts his hands on is gold. "Before I Let You Go" is a classic.
"Beauty" by Dru Hill is also a classic.
I was never a big fan of Joe, but "All The Things Your Man Won't Do" was a hot song.
Never cared for Mya or Tweet.
Yup Yup. New Jack Swing.
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