Nu Soul Special on the Radio

StevieG

"I think i need a cup of tea, the world keeps turnin
oh what a day, what a day, what a day"

The great Erykah Badu is one of the many artists who will feature on this weeks Black on Red music special. As usual, you can call it many things, but i'm gonna use the term Nu Soul to categorise the soulful renaissance that took place in the 1990's and brought us such artists as Adrianna Evans, Erykah Badu, D'angelo, Musiq Soulchild, Raphael Saddiq, Dwele, Jill Scott, Angie Stone and lots lots more.

In truth, soul has always been soul and "real soul music" never went away. As far as i'm concerned the great tradition of soul went from the Sam Cookes and Jackie Wilsons to the Marvins and Stevies right on to the Joyce Sims and Soul 2 Souls and the Mary J Bliges and Zhanes. In truth, this new scene that emerged in the mid 90's was always there and it was certainly there with artists such as Sade, Soul 2 Soul, Loose Ends and Omars well before the spotlight fell on the United States in 1996.

But as D'angelo, Erykah Badu, Adrianna Evans et al emerged at the same time it was inevitable the media would latch onto it and create a scene so to speak. Soon this music was being separated from the more street orientated r&b and swing that was suddenly beginning to dominate radio in the U.S. But again, i think some of this was music snobbery. A lot of music people were uncomfortable with the fact that young artists like Aaliyah, Brandy, Monica and SWV were popular with teenage girls. Personally, i don't think that made them less soulful but thats an argument for another day and i've recently covered this era with a hip-hop/soul special.

Erykah Badu and her peers were shooting from the leftfield. A UK singer called Jhelisa had dome it a few years before on Dorado but by 1997 there was no denying that "Baduizm" and "Brown Sugar" were crossing into territories soul music hadn't dreamt about for years. It had hip-hop for the hip-hoppers, jazz for the jazz heads and perhaps more importantly soul that even the most hardened soul purist couldn't but help to acknowledge. The floodgates were open and suddenty the deeply soulful Lauryn Hill could have a mega-hit with the incredible "Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" while 7 years later John Legend (a player on that album) can penetrate the mainstream with a similarly deep debut "Get Lifted"

Raphael Saadiq ripped off the shackles of Toni Tony Tone and became Lucy Pearl and then himself, young Joss Stone forgot about silly Your-a-Star-like competitions when it became apparent her voice was far far better than manufactured pop, Angie Stone forgot about years in the wilderness and became a star, as did the quirky Macy Gray and the outstanding young Jill Scott. Soul was back with a bang and even veterans like Aretha, Solomon Burke, Al Green and the Isleys benefited from its so-called renaissance. But in truth, the soul never went away.

This special is probably the one that means most to me personally as it was a time when there were new artists coming out left right and centre every week and i was priveleged enough to be at the crux of passing their music on.

I was lucky enough to give the likes of Alicia Keys, Amerie and Jill Scott their first reviews in Blues and Soul and there first plays over here. Years later this music is as healthy and stong as ever and yet it still exists largely outside the public eye. Whoever says soul is dead i challenge them to argue with the two hours i present on Saturday night between 8 and 10PM. The first hour at 7 will be the big current r&b and hip-hop numbers while from 8-9PM i will be playing the current big Nu Soul tracks before delving back to the 90's soul era and the influential tunes from then after 9PM

Black on Red RedFM 104-106 :cool:
Saturdays 7-10PM
www.redfm.ie

StevieG

Expect to hear
Jill Scott
Angie Stone
Sade
D'Angelo
Dwele
Kelis
Maxwell
Davina
Raphael Saadiq
Erro
Erykah Badu
Lauryn Hill
Musiq Soulchild
Sunshine Anderson
Angela Winbush
Soul 11 Soul
Teddy Pendergrass
Adrianna Evans
India Arie
Beverly Knight
Masters at Work/India
Brand New Heavies
John Legend
Akon
Tiombre Lockhart & The Platinum Pied Pipers
Raheem DeVaughan
Mario
Joss Stone
Teedra Moses
Alicia Keys
Bobby Valentino
Amerie
Syleena Johnson
Alphonso Hunter
Corina Joseph
Myron
Tha Rayne
Plant Life
Amp Fiddler
Bilal
Sa-Ra
Pharell
Omar
Glenn Lewis
Dwayne Wiggins
Jhelisa
Aretha Franklin
Young Disciples
Amel Larieux
Carl Thomas
and so much more!
:cool: