
Musiq - not, you’ll be surprised to learn, his real name - very much made his own lane back in the nineties, with the quirkiness of his R&B and soul crossover represented visually by the bizarre, spaceless approach he used to take to naming his albums after his debut, Aijuswanaseing, made his name in the U.S., he followed it up with his first number one LP in his homeland, Juslisen. To a modern audience, the easiest way to describe him would be a mixture of the soulful singing of Frank Ocean combined with the vocal range and relaxed paced of The Weeknd.Īh, Musiq Soulchild a man so smooth that, on his classic ‘143’, couldn’t just say I love you the traditional way, and instead did it numerically, winning the hearts of countless female admirers and forever changing the way I view the south Manchester bus that shares that number. He has been known to incorporate elements of funk into his music, whilst he also claims he has a "hip hop swagger". Although you could vaguely describe his music as either being soul or R&B, he encompasses a wide range of genres that make him stylistically different. Musiq is first and foremost a rather unique singer. Musiq is now a artist signed to My Block Records following his recent departure from Atlantic Records. Having not released a solo album since 2011, Musiq's most recent project was an album entitled '9ine' with Syleena Johnson, although this failed to have any major chart impact. The former album in particular was well received and was awarded with three Grammy nominations. Soulchild went on to release two more number one albums in 20 with "Luvanmusiq" and "OnTheRadio".

Despite not winning the awards, the nominations clearly gave him the encouragement to make better and more soulful music.

Two of his leading singles from his early discography "Love" and "Halfcrazy" were short-listed for the Best R&B Vocal Performance in consecutive years, whilst "Juslisen" was nominated for Best R&B Album in 2002. Both albums received critical acclaim as they gained platinum status, making Musiq a household name after just a few years.įollowing a successful couple of albums, Soulchild was inevitably nominated for many prestigious awards. His début album "Aijuswanaseing" (I just wanna sing) went into the Billboard 200 at number four, whilst his following album, "Juslisen" was a number one hit.
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A stunning double album released in 2017, Feel the Real shows the full range of his ability and imagination, leaving no doubt that this proud child of soul has become a master himself.Unlike most artists who normally have to wait a while before achieving mainstream success, Musiq didn't waste any time.

Collaborations with The Roots on 2002’s “Break You Off” and Swizz Beatz on 2011’s “Anything” prove he’s just as polished when it comes to bangers and club jams. On his further albums with Def Jam and Atlantic, Johnson maintained that close connection to soul’s golden age while skllfully incorporating elements of hip-hop, funk and reggae.

He’s kept that torch burning strongly ever since he scored immediate success with 2000’s Aijuswanaseing (I Just Want To Sing), a deftly handled debut that established him as a leading light of neo-soul. He added Soulchild to honour the many ‘60s and ‘70s heroes that have always inspired him: giants like Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway and Marvin Gaye. Pronounced “music”, the first part of Taalib Johnson’s distinctive moniker grew out of Music Boy, a nickname Johnson gained as a teen who was keen to show off his gifts whether he was performing at open mic nights or beatboxing for local MCs in Philadelphia, where he was born in 1977.
