Naima Cochrane

Then in 96, this beautiful man here dropped one of the sexiest albums we'd seen in ages, and we realized something was happening.pic.twitter.com/IH58VVBb7D

Maxwell, and his hair, and his voice, and his moves.... Just EVERYTHING. A vibe. A mood. A kickback. A session. A cypher. All of it.pic.twitter.com/3OvN6C17u4

And just BEAUTIFUL songs. Max had transcendent songs. Just hitting you all in your soul songs.pic.twitter.com/JyAq5UYgBl

Kedar Massenberg, the Motown exec who managed D'Angelo during Brown Sugar and signed Erykah, coined the phase Neo Soul specifically to market her. Because there was no other descriptive that properly described her sound. Clearly, the moniker eventually grew and caught on.pic.twitter.com/5WWF5unZRa

Erykah dropped Baduizm in Feb and the live album in the fall, between that and the next musical event, it marked 97 and the *official* introduction of Neo Soul.pic.twitter.com/q2miBoOnCZ

And then, before the phrase Neo Soul had the chance to become a thing, the first (and honestly maybe *only*, on this level) neo soul soundtrack dropped, for the net-soul-esque movie that ya'll negroes on here love to hate pic.twitter.com/EjNr9ZVC2d

In my top 4 (5 if you count The Bodyguard) 90s soundtracks, Love Jones had jam after jam after mood after jam, and an early taste of what Lauryn was about to come with for her solo album.pic.twitter.com/RQyD9c7xc3

Shout out to a time when Lauryn and D'Angelo on a song together didn't feel like a musical unicorn. We had no idea. Also, this song is fcking perfect (and I've told ya'll I have a thing for snap tracks)pic.twitter.com/4XDHEpQnTx

D'Angelo, Max, Erykah and Lauryn are the 4 Horsemen (Horsepersons?) of Neo Soul, but there were a few other artists in the vanguard who often get left out of the convo. DeBarge was possibly the best R&B group of all time, but young Chico also had a moment in this space.pic.twitter.com/lKGK5E5Lnv

Chico did a whole album about being your ex man who got locked up, came home, disrupted your whole life, and then sang sweetly in your ear about how romantic it was that he ain't have no money, but ya'll were gonna make it. And it was a bop. And I played it non-stop.pic.twitter.com/ZurZnv6wQL

Davina was signed to Loud, which was very much *not* an R&B label. She was talented as hell though; wrote and produced the whole album herself (I need to check on whether she kept writing). Side note, is it just me, or is the "BET Lounge" like, empty? LOLpic.twitter.com/DjBmpiFWNa

I'm going to focus a lot on ballads tonight, bc that was my pocket for Neo Soul. Them wayyyy down deep in your feelings songs. This genre is perfect for them.pic.twitter.com/BD7gejsprj

And people didn't really start paying attention to Eric Benèt until his second album, which was....99? But his first joint was earthy and conscious and incensey and all that good stuff. I actually think this might be his only album I own.pic.twitter.com/xSUlDABrei

And because we all just revisited the blue-eyed soul sermon yesterday with Toto's original "Georgie Porgie" (w/ Cheryl Lynn on backing vox)... let's take a look at Eric & Faith's.pic.twitter.com/hruUV8aUFH

In 2000, Philly came back to grab the soul music crown. If people weren't clear already that neo soul was a more than just a passing sound, now they knew. Leading the charge (that you're getting in the way of): Jilly from Philly. THIS is how Shirley shoulda came at Barbara.pic.twitter.com/JO8gpmFJtp

Mary mixed street with soul in a way we hadn't before seen yet at the time, but this was something COMPLETELY different. It was different even than what Lauryn was giving us. Jill and this 132 octave operatic range, her ACTUAL, physical presence, her LYRICS...whew...pic.twitter.com/pILxa7FFAP

And even now, nobody can quite write/sing about love - current or past, physical or emotional (or sh*t, spiritual) - like Jill. Like, this song will have you calling people you legit have no business calling.pic.twitter.com/UpHfMCZ0mk

Ya'll know who comes after Jill... Bum da bum ba ba naa...bum dum dummmm...pic.twitter.com/dNNlmB6BTh

By now Def Jam had a soul imprint (clearly necessary to stay competitive). Musiq, Case, Montell and later Patti Labelle (which is still to me, but whatever) where signed to Dej Soul. Musiq had HARCORE street ninjas out here singing their hearts out about LOVE. Loudly.pic.twitter.com/45iGlZ3lZI

Moving away from Philly for a hot second (we'll be back), another label staking a heavy claim in neo soul was then still-new J Records. Angie Stone (who we had NO idea was connected to D'Angelo until later), came with serious retro vibes, vocals and feel.pic.twitter.com/8bQabuepeH

Angie gave us grown up two step bops with these red cup & BBQ samples.pic.twitter.com/CZHF9EkbCC

I should also mention here that neo soul started to become a catch-all phrase for almost any R&B that 1. was going back to live instrumentation (or the FEEL of it), and 2. Had STRONG vocals plus 3. Had a throwback but street feel to it. Clive's marquee artist encompassed all thatpic.twitter.com/WytNiSgOHG

AK proved Clive still had the touch to discover/develop massive female talent. Again, an artist actually PLAYING was a big thing, even 6 years after D'Angelo sat down at a hammond organ blowing blunt smoke. One time for the stalker anthem (and John Legend on bgv). RIP Pan Pan.pic.twitter.com/eiMXbU6CRN

Staying with J Records for a minute, thank you, #BlackTwitter, for helping me realize this song was a call for help.pic.twitter.com/iN9bfC0DqQ

Oh, wait bishes. I almost forgot my favorite AK song out this mug. With a son of soul/father of neo soul, Dwayne Wiggins. (Although one of her backing vocalists is on this live version)pic.twitter.com/Uv33AHeg5v

Before I get too much further ahead chronologically, I gotta stop at Bad Boy. Like I said, neo soul was kind of becoming a catch-all phrase, so it might be debatable whether Carl *really* belongs here, but for the sake of tonight, he does. LOOK AT ME, I CAN'T STOP CRYIN...pic.twitter.com/FNMRv8peQk

Here's a fun fact: They were revising and making changes to the Emotional album for like a year before it was released. Anybody remotely affiliated with Bad Boy had been rocking it since Summer 99 (it came out in Spring of 2000). I have at least 2 versions. At LEAST.pic.twitter.com/3vqD6nd80a

We both in the club high, singing off key...pic.twitter.com/Qp59JvRBfs