NeoSoul is Dead? Is she for real?

[Asani]

Im sure many people have heard and/or seen Marsha's mixtape that came out in Nov. I was kinda shocked.
You can see the soulbounce.com review here http://www.soulbounce.com/soul/2007/11/marsha-ambrosius-declares-th...
What do you think about it?

[Dee_M]

I've heard this ep....I'm glad I didn't pay for it! Dre took the Label's money on this one- Why have Marsha sing over
classic Gangsta rap tracks? That's just laziness on the part of the producer & the Artist...And why cuss? What? Just to prove you can? Why go backwards when you have an established Audience? Besides, Marsha don't have any Rap/street cred.

Pure Waste....nothing cutting edge or outstanding about this direction musically speaking...Better stick with the Floetry formula 'cause that worked for Both of those ladies ( Natalie ain't doing so hot solo-style either...) Nothing says you can't keep the Floetry act together And do solo stuff ( Look at Phil Collins & Genesis...)

[Asani]

Recently she went on tour with a "new" Floetry without the Floacist, instead it was(Not knocking her or her talent in anyway) Amanda Diva avVJ for MTV2. In future showa on that tour Natalie's lyrics will be replaced by Amanda's.
I just want to know what happened.

[Dee_M]

Yeah...it does seem a little extreme...almost like Nat Quit the partnership, since M is still touring as Floetry........

[Asani]

I wonder if the people who was at the first show got what they expected of the groups name?

[Dee_M]

How so? It's not the tag "Neo Soul" that restricts the music-some Brilliant, ground breaking stuff has been & is still being made under the Neo Soul tag.........It's the Mainstream Media/Major Label machine that will only play hip hop & pop based
weak "Kiddy" type music on "Urban" Radio( this is the term that needs to Die...) instead of quality hiphop/r&B/Soul that's
not necessarily targeted at the Teen market.....Black folks 25 & up still want to hear new music too, not a bunch of ol'school funk , Luther & Anita Baker reruns all day....

[Dee_M]

You don't understand what I'm saying....Terms don't mean S#!@....it's the industry itself that I feel has too much of a control on what "Black Music" is & what is played on the air...Tags & Terms don't restrict anything-it's the marketing machine behind it.....I like the term R&B myself- It just doesn't have the same vibe Musically today as it once did from 1970-'93, just like Hip Hop don't ....it's the Suits at these mainstream media conglomerates that control Black music, radio, tv, & film & profit the most from Black images....and I think that's wrong. It's why you have "Terms" in the first place....When We start controlling Our representation in the mainstream media that will change....

[Dee_M]

(Sigh)...You don't get it..."We" (the Public & especially me 'cause I am a musician/songwriter) didn't Label anything- The "Industry" did that, & the Terms
stuck with the people who went to the stores & street corners, open mics, Gigs & internet sites- namely the "Consumers" (another "Term", huh?), music lovers, whatever you want to call them...And, most of the Musicians & Artists now & over the years that I've interacted with don't really care what you call their music as long as you like it & in the best appreciation "Buy It", Neo/Nu Soul included!! Again, it's Marketing 101-this is a corporate philosophy-Blame the Mainstream Media Gatekeepers...Kedar Massenburg could have called Ms.Badu's musical vibe something else but he didn't & the name stuck with the public...Again, "Terms" don't mean Sh_T....Prior to 1994 the term didn't even exist, but Neena Cherry & Omar Lyefook were putting it down very Soulfully back in the U.K. prior to the American version-Nobody knew what to call that kind of Soul unless you use the phrase "Alternative R&B" ( another "Term"???).....
Needless to say, I really believe that if Neo-Soul/Alt-R&B/ Nu-Soul/ DC Go-Go/
Country Soul-Folk Soul/ Spoken Word Soul ( see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoken_word_soul) artist got the Airplay That They Deserve On American (Black or is it Urban?) Radio & could get paid as a result of increased sales & visibility in the Media Machine you wouldn't hear Any of these artist complaining about "Marketing terms" at all!!

Hell, if I go to Yahoo, or to an Honest to God Brick-and-Mortar store to buy a hardcopy CD of some of the artists you mentioned ( which, by the way I own copies of all their CD's) with the intent on buying their music, it would help me and the Search engine-store clerk to know "what to call the stuff" ( Even if the artists name wasn't all that familiar it helps to have a Category...)

By the way, Martin Luther sounds more "Funk Rock" to me....

Dee M/Cincinnati

[Lee]

I prefer to be called "Black Music" rather than "Neo Soul" because unfortunately it has a stigma to it much the same way that "rap" and "Hip Hop" do. One could argue that we need to own these terms as artists. But unfortunately I believe strongly that these are labels that are cast on us to marginalize us and what we do. We make MUSIC. We make Black Music. If anything call it Soul. But there ain't nothing Neo about what we do anyway.

Most of the "neo" stuff tends to be genre-bending anyway. So to that point stop letting radio be lazy or even retailers.

I remember when De La Soul's album came out (3 Feet High And Rising) and all the info I received at the time was to file it under "Pop." I was relieved because I often feel like we limit ourselves and our audiences by letting old dudes in suits dictate what demo they think will dig our music.

I can't argue for the old days because I know we romanticize a bit. But I think back and remember Monterey International Pop Music Festival with Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Ravi Shankar as some of the major acts. No one seemed to care about "genres" - or so I imagine. It was music. As an artist I try to reach back to those days.

It's the names that we allow people to put on stuff that sets up barriers for us. I have situations where rap cats don't play me because I am "too neo soul" and neo soul cats don't spin me because I am "too rap." So as an artist that leaves me in no man's land. And this all seemed to come about when radio and executives found it necessary to put us deeper into boxes. So now we are stuck.

FYI the used to label De La Soul and Arrested Development as "Alternative Rap." Please.

[L Turner of LVJ Associates]

Preach! brother preach!

[NubianMonarch]

THANK YOU, Dee_M regarding the issue about radio and hearing the same songs everyday because If I hear "Before I Let Go" one more time, I'm gonna...... I don't listen to the radio no more- that''s another topic that I need to start up.

I'm neutral on the tag of "Neo Soul" but it does provide the listener that it's an "alternative" to what you're trapped to listen to on the radio. "Quality" music is what lacking on the airwaves and it's evident in so many ways. I'm a bit nervous to hear Marsha's mixtape because she can really sing as evident in her live performances w/Natalie.

[Dee_M]

See-You know & understand where I'm coming from...you can call it what you want, but it's all music that is primarily created by/for & that appeals Black folk......Quality music like a lot of the stuff we hear & discuss on SoulCommune, myspace, soultracks.com, etc. that don't get the airplay they deserve, & this is due to corporate control of Labels & Mainstream Media....period....

[starchild7]

and herein lies the problem: we consider the greats "old school", while our white counterparts consider their greats "legends", which they are as are ours.

as soon as we change that mode of thinking, then we can truly create new and innovation music, and not just borrow (literally...and some cases steal) from our legends.