How Neo-Soul Got Me Out of My Shell

DEF|Y|NE Media founder Matthew Allen reminisces about how the Neo-Soul movement helped him listen to contemporary after years of strictly old-school.

I missed out on a lot of great music in the 1990s, but it was by choice.

I was born in 1982 when Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Prince’s 1999 came out. Although I was very young, I have memories of “We Are the World,” Yo! MTV Raps, Live Aid, etc. I had an eclectic music taste, enjoying Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer” and Phil Collins’ “Take Me Home”as well as Bobby Brown’s “Don’t Be Cruel” and Babyface’s “My Kinda Girl.”

As I stated before, I loved rap, too. I was fascinated by Public Enemy, Heavy D, Special Ed, Eric B., and Rakim. That is until N.W.A. came and messed everything up. In my household, cursing got you in trouble. So, I equated cursing with being bad. N.W.A. was bad to me; surely enough, more rappers started “being bad.” As a result, I retreated into my Michael Jackson and Jackson 5 bubble. Soon, I expanded my bubble to Motown artists from the 1960s and 1970s, Earth,Wind & Fire, The Isley Brothers, and P Funk.

My mom couldn’t understand how I knew all the words to Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You” and Ohio Players’ “Contradiction” while my siblings were listening to TLC, SWV, and R&B Voldemort (the guy who made 12 Play). I missed out on so much great music in real-time: A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory, Biggie’s Ready to Die, Boyz II Men’s II, and on and on.

Now, I was still aware of popular music from a peripheral perspective. Where on the radio, in barbershops, or when my parents brought home cassette singles, like Christopher Williams’ “Every Little Thing You Do,” and Ralph Tresvant’s “Money Can’t Buy Me Love.” My cousins played hip-hop all day, every day.

The way I got out of my old-school-over-everything bubble was Neo-Soul.

One day, BET was on the TV and a music video featuring a shadowy figure in a basement club came on. It was D’Angelo’s “Brown Sugar.” I thought, “This sounds alright. It’s smooth and different from Keith Sweat and Jodeci.” My parents had the CD and played it in the car often. I started digging songs like “Me and Those Dreamin’ Eyes of Mine,” “Alright,” and “Cruisin’.” My only familiarity to jazz was the smooth jazz my dad listened to like Najee and Boney James. I thought that Brown Sugar was a combination of jazz and old-school soul music. At least, that’s how it felt and sounded.

Then one day a year later, I started hearing this song on the radio with a dope bassline and silky singer.

“Shouldn’t I realize/You’re the highest of the high.”

My dad and I got pissed every time the song went off and the DJ failed to name the artist and title. I thought it was a guy from the mid-1970s singing a song called “Don’t Ever Wonder.” After a few months, I shockingly realized that it was a new artist named Maxwell. Once again, my parents got the album, Urban Hang Suite. From the first song to the last, I was smitten, especially with the song “Sumthin’ Sumthin”.
It sounded like all the dope music I loved from the years before I was born. I didn’t even think that music like that could be made anymore because of technology. I figured everyone used synthesizers and drum machines, and they through the old equipment away.

Then, in 1997, I heard Erykah Badu for the first time. “On and On” was all over the radio, and “Next Lifetime” was all over VH1. I was so intrigued by her African dress and her voice. She sang like a lounge singer recording over something that sounded new and old all at once.

Finally, there was music for me! No longer did I have to lean on the 1960s and 1970s music of my parents’ youth. My brothers and big sister had rap & R&B. My little sister had R&B and pop. D’Angelo, Maxwell, Erykah, and later Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild, and Lucy Pearl were more formative music. The Neo-Soul era was a saving grace for me, and my gateway back to all contemporary music. I had to play catch-up with a lot of music, and I kick myself now and again for missing out on hearing De La Soul’s “Stakes is High” for the first time when it first dropped or appreciating Wu-Tang’s “Triumph” whenever the music came on MTV.

Neo-Soul gave me everything I needed: the old-school vibes I loved from my parents’ era, the new school style and attitude of my current era, and the nuance and themes that satisfied my brain and soul. I’m forever grateful to them. I still love me some MJ, though.

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Featured Writer of the Week:

MATTHEW ALLEN

Matthew Allen is an award-winning music journalist and TV producer/director. He’s written for publications such as theGrio, Ebony, Jet, The Root, Village Voice, Okayplayer, and Soulhead. His video work can be seen on PBS/All Arts.

What is DEF|Y|NE Media?

When you DEFY society, you DEFINE culture.

DEF|Y|NE Media is a platform that honors, critiques, explores, and preserves Black America's music history and contextualizes contemporary Black music and culture. It strives to go against the grain, thus building a community. The page’s founder, award-winning music journalist and TV producer Matthew Allen uses this platform to dissect music and reveal personal musings on how music, journalism, and culture have affected him.

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