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Soulquarians
The Soulquarians were a rotating collective of experimental Black music artists active during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Members of the collective included singer and multi-instrumentalist D'Angelo, drummer and producer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, producer J Dilla, singer-songwriter Erykah Badu, trumpeter Roy Hargrove, keyboardist James Poyser, singer Bilal, bassist Pino Palladino, rapper-producers Q-Tip and Mos Def, and rappers Talib Kweli and Common. Prior to its formation, Q-Tip, Common, Mos Def, and Talib Kweli were members of the Native Tongues collective. Stylistically, the collective's music has been variously described as neo soul, alternative hip hop, progressive soul, avant-garde, soul, conscious rap, and jazz fusion. Their members often collaborated on each other's recordings, holding extensive and innovative sessions at Electric Lady Studios in New York, which produced several well-received albums. Questlove of the hip hop band the Roots acted as the "musical po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bilal (American Singer)
Bilal Sayeed Oliver (born August 23, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is an independent artist, noted for his wide vocal range, work across multiple genres, and intense live performances. Starting out at a major label, Bilal debuted with his popular R&B single "Soul Sista" in 2000, but turned to playing jazz venues and recording more progressive soul music in subsequent years. He has commercially released four albums to critical success, while his unreleased but widely leaked second album '' Love for Sale'' also found wide acclaim among critics and listeners. He was a member of the Soulquarians, an experimental black music collective active from the late 1990s to early 2000s. He has been well received, both nationally and internationally, with an extensive list of collaborations including Kendrick Lamar, Common, Erykah Badu, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Guru, Kimbra, J Dilla, Robert Glasper, and The Roots. In August 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, Bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common (entertainer)
Lonnie Rashid Lynn (born March 13, 1972), known by his stage name Common (formerly known as Common Sense), is an American rapper and actor. He debuted in 1992 with the album ''Can I Borrow a Dollar?,'' and gained critical acclaim with his 1994 album ''Resurrection.'' He maintained an underground following into the late 1990s. He achieved mainstream success through his work with the Soulquarians. His first major-label album, '' Like Water for Chocolate'' (2000), received commercial success. In 2003, he won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for the Erykah Badu single " Love of My Life". His 2005 album '' Be'' was also successful and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2006 Grammy Awards. He received his second Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Southside" (featuring Kanye West), from his 2007 album ''Finding Forever''. His best-of album, '' Thisisme Then: The Best of Common'', was released in late 2007. In 2011, he launched Think Common Entertain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common (rapper)
Lonnie Rashid Lynn (born March 13, 1972), known by his stage name Common (formerly known as Common Sense), is an American rapper and actor. He debuted in 1992 with the album ''Can I Borrow a Dollar?,'' and gained critical acclaim with his 1994 album ''Resurrection.'' He maintained an underground following into the late 1990s. He achieved mainstream success through his work with the Soulquarians. His first major-label album, '' Like Water for Chocolate'' (2000), received commercial success. In 2003, he won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for the Erykah Badu single " Love of My Life". His 2005 album '' Be'' was also successful and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2006 Grammy Awards. He received his second Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Southside" (featuring Kanye West), from his 2007 album ''Finding Forever''. His best-of album, '' Thisisme Then: The Best of Common'', was released in late 2007. In 2011, he launched Think Common Entertainmen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electric Lady Studios
Electric Lady Studios is a recording studio in Greenwich Village, New York City. It was commissioned by rock musician Jimi Hendrix in 1968 and designed by architect John Storyk and audio engineer Eddie Kramer by 1970. Hendrix spent only ten weeks recording in Electric Lady before his death that year, but it quickly became a famed studio used by many top-selling recording artists from the 1970s onwards, including Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, and David Bowie. At the turn of the 21st century, Electric Lady served as a home for the innovative Soulquarians collective, but fell into financial hardship and disarray in the 2000s. Taken over and renovated by investor Keith Stoltz and studio manager Lee Foster, the studio returned to form as a popular location for mainstream artists of the 2010s, such as U2, Taylor Swift, and Lady Gaga. Site Before it became Electric Lady Studios, the building housed The Village Barn nightclub from 1930 to 1967. Abstract expressionist artist Hans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Questlove
Ahmir Khalib Thompson (born January 20, 1971), known professionally as Questlove (stylized as ), is an American musician, record producer, disc jockey, filmmaker, music journalist, and actor. He is the drummer and joint frontman (with Black Thought) for the hip hop band the Roots. The Roots have been serving as the in-house band for ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' since 2014, having the same role in ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon''. Questlove is also one of the producers of the cast album of the Broadway musical ''Hamilton''. He is the co-founder of the websites Okayplayer and OkayAfrica. Additionally, he is an adjunct professor at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University. Questlove has produced recordings for artists including Elvis Costello, Common, D'Angelo, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Bilal, Jay-Z, Nikka Costa, and more recently, Booker T. Jones, Al Green, Amy Winehouse, and John Legend. He is a member of the production teams the Soulquar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erykah Badu
Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut album ''Baduizm'' (1997), placed her at the forefront of the neo soul movement, earning her the honorific nickname "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Neo Soul" by music critics. Badu's career began after she Opening act, opened a show for D'Angelo in 1994 in Fort Worth, Texas, Fort Worth; leading to record label executive Kedar Massenburg signing her to Kedar Entertainment. Her first album, ''Baduizm'', was released in February 1997. It spawned four singles: "On & On (Erykah Badu song), On & On", "Appletree (song), Appletree", "Next Lifetime" and "Otherside of the Game". The album was certified music recording sales certification, triple Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neo Soul
Neo soul (sometimes called progressive 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. Neo soul developed during the 1980s and early 1990s, in the United States and United Kingdom, as a soul revival movement. It earned mainstream success during the 1990s, with the commercial and critical breakthroughs of several artists, including D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell. Their music was marketed as an alternative to the producer-driven, digit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Q-Tip (musician)
Kamaal Ibn John Fareed (born Jonathan William Davis, April 10, 1970), better known by his stage name Q-Tip, is an American rapper, record producer, singer, and DJ. Nicknamed The Abstract, he is noted for his innovative jazz-influenced style of hip hop production and his philosophical, esoteric and introspective lyrical themes. He embarked on his music career in the late 1980s, as an MC and main producer of the influential alternative hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest. In the mid-1990s, he co-founded the production team The Ummah, followed by the release of his gold-certified solo debut '' Amplified'' in 1999. In the following decade, he released the Grammy Award-nominated album ''The Renaissance'' (2008) and the experimental album ''Kamaal the Abstract'' (2009). As an actor, Q-Tip has appeared in various films such as ''Poetic Justice'', ''She Hate Me'' and ''Prison Song'', the latter of which he co-wrote and played the lead role. As a DJ, he has hosted the Apple Music 1 ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy Hargrove
Roy Anthony Hargrove (October 16, 1969 – November 2, 2018) was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved worldwide acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles of jazz in 1998 and 2002. Hargrove primarily played in the hard bop style for the majority of his albums, but also had a penchant for genre-crossing exploration and collaboration with a variety of hip hop, soul, R&B and alternative rock artists. As Hargrove told one reporter, "I've been around all kinds of musicians, and if a cat can play, a cat can play. If it's gospel, funk, R&B, jazz or hip-hop, if it's something that gets in your ear and it's good, that’s what matters." Biography Hargrove was born in Waco, Texas, to Roy Allan Hargrove and Jacklyn Hargrove. When he was 9, his family moved to Dallas, Texas. He took lessons at school initially on cornet before turning to trumpet. He was discovered by Wynton Marsalis when Marsalis visi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
D'Angelo
Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He first garnered attention after co-producing the single "U Will Know" for R&B supergroup Black Men United. His debut studio album, ''Brown Sugar'' (1995), received widespread acclaim from music critics, who have credited the album for ushering in the neo soul movement; and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Its third single " Lady", reached the top ten on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. He would then collaborate with artists such as Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and then girlfriend Angie Stone. His next album, ''Voodoo'' (2000), debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and continued to receive critical acclaim. The album's lead single "Untitled (How Does It Feel)", earned him the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance; likewise, ''Voodoo'' won Best R& ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Poyser
James Jason Poyser is an American songwriter, record producer, musician and current member of the hip hop band The Roots. Poyser has written and produced songs for various legendary and award-winning artists such as Erykah Badu, Mariah Carey, John Legend, Rihanna, Lauryn Hill, Common (rapper), Common, Anthony Hamilton (musician), Anthony Hamilton, D'Angelo, The Roots, Jill Scott (singer), Jill Scott, and Big Sean. During his career, Poyser has toured and played live with distinctive artists such DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Cece Peniston, Jay-Z, Usher (musician), Usher, Queen Latifah, Elvis Costello, Aretha Franklin, and Hezekiah Walker. An active session musician, he has contributed to the works of Adele, Norah Jones, Eric Clapton, Al Green, Nas, Ziggy Marley, Citizen Cope, Yebba, Snoh Aalegra, and Femi Kuti among many others. His work in film and television include composing theme songs for shows such as ''Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas'', ''Hawthorne (TV series), Hawthorn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mos Def
Yasiin Bey (; born Dante Terrell Smith, December 11, 1973), previously and more commonly known by his stage name Mos Def (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. His hip hop career began in 1994, alongside his siblings in the short-lived rap group Urban Thermo Dynamics (UTD), after which they appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. He formed the duo Black Star, alongside fellow Brooklyn-based rapper Talib Kweli, and in 1998 they released their debut album ''Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star'', featuring the singles " Definition" and "Respiration". He was featured on the roster of Rawkus Records and in 1999 released his solo debut, ''Black on Both Sides''. His debut was followed by ''The New Danger'' (2004), ''True Magic'' (2006), and ''The Ecstatic'' (2009). About.com listed him 14th on its "50 Greatest Rappers of All Time". His hits include " Oh No", "Ms. Fat Booty", and "Mathematics". He was a child actor in television films, sitcoms, and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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