Kelly as the balladeer to beat of his generation. Lyrically rooted in relationship realism with emotionally compelling hooks, either can take its place among a list of great songs that made Musiq second only to R. Both gossamer ballads are classic Musiq Soulchild. The follow-up single for MusiqintheMagiq seems to be the deservedly exalted “Yes,” but bloggers have also latched on to “Dowehaveto” with good cause. Long-time Wyclef Jean producer, Jerry “Wonder” Duplessis, gets credit for properly lacing the “Walking into Sunshine” soft funk around Musiq’s signature sing-talk style, providing a much needed two-step break in an album heavy on mellow, mid-tempo grooves.

But both up-tempo jams work much better in the context of their albums. Swizz Beatz, may have seemed a fairly routine radio release when it first hit the marketplace, in much the way Jaheim’s “Ain’t Leavin’ Without You” did last year. The Central Line sampled lead for the project, “Anything” feat. In contrast, MusiqintheMagiq finds the Philly Soul Prince resuming his chase of trendy elements on the album cuts, but blessedly staying true to what fans most love about Musiq on the project’s singles. Despite this indefensible blip in judgment, Musiq’s last album, OnMyRadio, marked a return to the kind of music that made Aijuswanaseing and Juslisen the neo-soul standards for which all his subsequent releases are forever measured. As the album sales declined (his last failing to reach gold), Musiq has moved further away from making whole albums of amazing songs and begun to chase fleeting radio trends, culminating in the universally panned single “Radio” in 2008. Too hip hop soulful for crossover pop, Musiq has still earned industry bonafides through two platinum and two gold albums and an eye-popping 11 Grammy nominations. He has had all but two albums peak at #1 on the Billboard R&B charts.

There’s even a good song or two to spare.ĭespite eight Billboard Top 10 R&B and three Top 40 hits, Musiq has never had a #1 hit R&B or pop hit (no, not even “Love”). MusiqintheMagiq, his sixth studio album is no exception to this rather underwhelming rule, but the four songs selected by Atlantic Records to promote are actually each worth their hype.

Since Soulstar (some may argue since Juslisen), Musiq’s latter career albums have fallen more in line with his contemporaries by dropping blazing radio singles but albums dominated by tepid and utterly forgettable filler. Historically, Musiq Soulchild bucked these trends, but with the notable exception of his last gem of an album, OnMyRadio, he too has joined the bandwagon. Much like the 50s and early 60s halcyon days of hit 45s and afterthought albums loaded with uninspired filler, if customers get four or five good songs on a 10 to 18 track R&B album, they are expected to be happy. A lyrically strong rapper who could also cook up radio records.With singles and ringtones dominating the market over the last several years, it hasn’t been an album game for a long time so, artists are no longer expected to deliver whole albums of brilliance. The vibe he landed on with 'What Means The World To You' wouldn't work the same if it wasn't for a sample of a guitar riff from The Police's 1978 hit 'Roxanne.' Blending rock and rap wasn't a new idea in 2000, but the way it was used so perfectly here by producer Armando Colon cast Cam'ron in a new light. The song's pace and laidback vibe coupled with Cam's technical talents and fast-paced rapping gave the track a 'pull and push' feeling. Throughout hip-hop's history, there are a lot of well-known rock songs that get sampled in some of the genre's best music, becoming integral parts of beloved rap songs.īack in 2000, Cam'ron dropped the single 'What Means The World To You,' from his album, S.D.E. Over time, that evolved into changing the pitch and reworking the sounds entirely, which has become part of rap's evolution. At first, sampling was vocal and instrumental clips of songs that were chopped and reused on another track. Hip-hop as a genre has benefitted largely from sampling sounds of the past while also totally reimagining what sampling sounds like today. Styles of singing, instrument playing, production and more have been modified over the years, bent and transformed into whatever they needed to be to create a masterpiece at the time. Music genres have always borrowed from each other because the magic and science of sound are interconnected.

Musiq soulchild albums