Detroit Free Press Kelley L. Carter Column: Musiq Soulchild Evolves
By Kelley L. Carter, Detroit Free Press
Feb. 9–Musiq Soulchild, the man who loves to love the ladies, is back, and he plans to rock the city crazy in a sold-out show Saturday at the Fine Arts Theatre in Detroit.
With a hot new single that radio can’t stop playing, “Buddy,” he’s ready to release “Luvanmusiq,” due in stores March 13. The album will be released on his new label, Atlantic, and it’s his first since “Soulstar” in 2003.
I recently chatted up the singer and songwriter, and we talked about his new album, his new label and his old-school love affair with real-good, feel-good music.
QUESTION: We last talked in 2002, right as “Juslisen” was coming out. What’s been the biggest change for you since then?
ANSWER: The most significant change that has transpired since we last spoke is making the transition from being a very passionate artist to being a very well-informed and intelligent business person.
Q: Like what?
A: Well, it was basically the state of the industry. A lot of things came up that just … demanded of me to respond accordingly. It was either that or get out of the game. And simply off of the fact that I want to have a long career and a very prosperous career, and one of the main ways of securing that idea and living up to that dream is by getting certain things under my belt and getting certain perspectives and having the knowledge to help me create the situation where I have the potential to stick around for a while. It has a lot to do with compromising and sacrificing and putting my artistic feelings aside and using my business sense to make sure it gets done.
Q: Is that why you waited so long to release some new material?
A: That wasn’t the intention, and I apologize for having y’all waiting. But in this business, a lot of things come up, and you would like for things to go a certain way. My last album, “Soulstar,” I had to go out and work that album. Then I started working on the new album in 2005, and then somewhere along the line, I made the switch to a new label, and that takes time and a lot of paperwork. Then I worked with a lot of producers. Then I had to maintain myself by going out on the road. Then I did a play at the top of 2006. So I’ve been really busy.
Q: Is there much pressure being on the new label?
A: I guess you could say that. But I don’t assume the pressure. I recognize that there is a certain amount of pressure, but I don’t allow that pressure to be weighted down on me. I work good under those circumstances, but I work better now acknowledging that. There’s always going to be pressure, criticism and expectations. You’re not going to be able to please everybody.
Q: That’s a nice little tribute to De La Soul on the new single. What’s the inspiration behind it?
A: Lately I have been working to contribute to hip-hop as substantially as I could. At the same time, I have to be mindful that people know me for a certain thing, and I didn’t want to stray too far from that. When you come from a different angle — I didn’t want to scare people off, but at the same time, I wanted to introduce it to people as something that I wanted to do.
As far as musically, the topic came about first. The person that I wrote the song with, we were talking about it, and it organically came to be that we chose to dig back to who’s done it before and it was De La Soul. And everything just made sense, using the track. But as far as the delivery and the subject matter, that was a matter of me wanting to contribute to a realistic perspective with the matter of relationships.
Q: What went into making this entire album? Did you want to put out a new vibe?
A: I can only move as fast as my audience will allow me to. There are many genres out there that people contribute to every day. It’s just frustrating because in black music, when you’re known for doing one thing, people expect you to keep doing it. If you do something else, you lose their attention.
People have a right to want what they want. But at the same time, I want to do my best to introduce the idea. Just because you know me for doing R&B music or neo soul music, there is way more to my aspirations in music than doing R&B and neo soul. I also want to continue to give you the same style of music that you know and love me for. I got to put it out there and see how people respond to it.
Q: So what can we expect here in Detroit?
A: I’m just letting people know that I’m reintroducing myself. … When I perform, I like to get my audience involved, sing along with me and have a good time.
Contact KELLEY L. CARTER at 313-222-8854 or kcarter@freepress.com
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Copyright (c) 2007, Detroit Free Press
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