Neo Soul — All Formats  

Brilliant work from Adriana Evans – quite possibly her greatest record so far, and that's saying a lot, given how much we've loved everything she's done! There's a perfect, professional vibe to the whole set that's really amazing – soul music like soul music's supposed to be done – tight, yet never commercial – and peppered with these very slight, subtle 60s influences on some of the horn parts and other instrumentation, while still getting bumped along by some modern rhythms at the bottom. The depth to this record is astounding – and we're even more in love with Adriana's music than ever, and bet you'll be too, after hearing this wonderful album. Titles include "Waiting", "Suddenly", "Midnight", "Let You Get Away", "Weatherman", "El Sol", "Sooner Or Later", "Never Thought", and "Set In Stone".

Badu is back with some of the deepest, funkiest and best music of her career – a mindblowing treatise for a New Amerykah – and what we'll consider an instant classic whether the world at large catches on or not! Erykah steps up this time with a set that balances the wilder impulses of her criminally underappreciated Worldwide Underground and more of a hip hop based, righteously grooving style – but still bursts with a freshness that's unrivaled to say the least. From free spirited soul, to sparse hip hop funk this record is both blunt and beautiful – with a slow-building emotional resonance that'll reach the most jaded souls. Modern soul music of the first order that gives us goosebumps from the first spin to the last beat! The album kicks off with Erykah riffing on and remixing Ramp's "American Promise" as an intro – and it just gets deeper from there. Producers/collaborators include Madlib, Sa-Ra, Karriem Riggins, James Poyser and ?uestlove. Amazing!!! Titles include "The Healer", "Me", "My People", "Soldier", "The Cell", "Twinkle", "Master Teacher", "The Hump" and "Telephone". The 9th Wonder produced single "Honey" is an unlisted bonus track.

Wonderful grooves from trombonist Jeff Bradshaw – arguably one of the only artists to keep the Hidden Beach sound going this strongly over the years! The album's a double-length set – which means even more magic than usual from Jeff – still plenty of those sweet instrumental numbers, with lots of funky undercurrents, and great trombone solos in the lead – and also some great vocals on a few numbers – thanks to contributions from Raheem DeVaughn, Kindred The Family Soul, Maysa, PJ Morton, and others! Titles include "Til Tomorrow", "All Day Lovin", "Looking For Love", "Wait Around Love", "Searching", "So Thankful", "I Don't Know How", "He Is", "So Rare", and "Steppin Out".

Dwele returns with a thematically ambitious effort – a 3 section album divided into W.ants, W.orld and W.omen – and it pays off very well and actually works as cohesively as anything he's done to date! Wisely, Dwele doesn't veer to hard stylistically from one section to the next, a solid modern hip hop soul sound on the production tip, and we're not hearing any short sighted bows to current trends or throwback soul. It's honest and real, just as we'd hope from one of Detroits brightest graduates of the neo soul scene – with guests David Banner, Slum Village, Raheem Devaughn & others. Titles include "Wants (Intro)", "I Wish", "Grown", "Dodgin Your Phone" feat David Banner, "Dim The Lights" & Smoke Up The Back (Interlude)" feat Raheem DeVaughn, "World (Intro)", "How I Deal" feat Slum Village, "My People", "Women (Intro)" feat Kindra Parker, "I Understand", "Love You Right", "I Wanna" feat DJ Quik, "What's Not To Love" and more.

The Floacist, sounding better than ever – in a record that may well top any of her previous work – and maybe even music by Floetry too! The set begins with a wonderful duet with Raheem Devaughn on the cut "Start Again" – a cut that feels like some lost treasure from the 70s, maybe a Marvin Gaye duet from the I Want You period – which then sets the stage for some perfect Floacist numbers that have a wonderfully righteous feel! Her solo identity is really coming together here – bold and proud, and never too smoothed out for commercial ends – on tracks that include "Children Of The Sun", "Slow Down", "Could It Be You", "Speechless", "Roots Of Love", "This Love", and "Start Again".