NeoSoul
Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe the style of music that emerged from soul and contemporary R&B. Evolving from soul music, neo soul is distinguished by a less conventional sound than its contemporary R&B counterpart, with elements ranging from funk, jazz fusion, hip hop and rock. It has been noted by music writers for its conscious lyrics.
Neo soul developed during the 1980s and early 1990s, by Black-Americans in the United States, as a soul revival movement. It earned mainstream success during the late 1990s, with the commercial and critical breakthroughs of several artists, including D'Angelo, Maxwell, Erykah Badu, and Lauryn Hill. Their music was marketed as an alternative to the producer-driven, digitally approached R&B of the time, although many of them were ambivalent about the term.
Since its initial mainstream popularity and impact on the sound of contemporary R&B, neo soul has been expanded and diversified musically through the works of both American and international artists. Its mainstream presence declined during the 2000s, although newer artists emerged through more independent means of marketing their music. In his book The Essential Neo Soul (2010), music journalist and culture critic Chris Campbell writes that, while the genre has been "woefully misunderstood", there is "a historical and social relevance that validates its designation as the current face of alternative progressive soul music (in both underground and overground circles), complete with a distinct origin and developmental evolution". According to Mark Anthony Neal, "neo-soul and its various incarnations has helped to redefine the boundaries and contours of black pop."
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- 2025-10-20T00:00:00.000000Z
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