but more in the sense of "after the existence of hip-hop and living in a world where you must address its impact, whether positively or negatively"

So yeah... reaction, in a sense. Though I don't like "reaction" because that sounds confrontational and I don't think D and Badu were "confronting" hip-hop as such. They were kids who had hip-hop in their veins who just happened to decide to take a crack at soul. So their approach to soul couldn't help but be informed in some way by hip-hop ethos and attitude even if they weren't singing over "beats."