First of all:

Thank you for taking the time to post on this forum.

Second of all:

I have been influenced and inspired by your music both as a performer and a thinker. I have struggled to negotiate being a musical artist in an academic setting. Increasingly, I have grappled with constructions of genre and categories as ways of trying to explain or represent music, often obscuring the human realities behind the art. Simultaneously, I struggle constantly with the dilemmas of trying to produce music that can have a positive social impact. My personal interest has driven me to pursue these questions in an academic forum. As an artist that I respect and admire, one that does not fit easily into conventional boxes of genre, and whose song messages are both thought-provoking and socially important, I find you to be a compelling example through which to explore these subjects. This semester I have undertaken this exploration in the context of a project questioning “Neo-soul” as a genre. I give a lot of weight to artist’s own representations of themselves, and though it is often necessary, I find it difficult at best to discuss musical artists without being able to hear many things in their own words. I have attached my proposal (which I threw together last minute) and I would really appreciate any comments or ideas that you can offer on these themes.

Paper Proposal:

Kedar Massenburg, the president of Motown Records from 1997 to 2004, coined the term “Neo-soul” to describe novel trends emerging from the influences of hip-hop and jazz. The term has come to represent a large body of work by a diverse group of artists (Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Meshell Ndegeocello, Jill Scott, and others). The movement is characterized by hybridity and innovative negotiations of genre conventions. Within this movement, there is a great deal of collective projects and collaboration. Beneath the broad stroke of coherence uniting artists labeled as being a part of the “Neo-soul” movement, there is a great deal of diversity. There are radically different approaches to tradition, instrumentation, production, and live performance. Many artists active in this movement are using their music as a form of social critique and radical intervention in discourses on race, sexuality, and gender. Collaborating artists often individually promote strongly contrasting value systems. By examining different approaches to musical experimentation, divergent discourses on race, gender, and sexuality, debates over authenticity and representation, and collaboration I am questioning the coherence of “Neo-soul” as a movement and the limits of this categorization.

To explore these questions I will rely on primary sources like musical pieces, lyrics, liner notes, interviews, and music videos. In addition I will look at secondary sources that take a musicological and sociological perspective on this movement, such as Jeff Chang’s “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation” and Lori Burn’s “Disruptive Divas: Feminism, Identity and Popular Music”. I will be using Okayplayer.com as a source that represents an innovative blend of artist’s personal accounts and commentary, news, fan and public perspectives, critical reviews and discussions. This forum represents an active online community that connects fans and artists, and it will be an interesting place to study.