>I'm having trouble with the differentiation between
>'neo-soul' and 'hip hop soul' though I think it's
>interesting/useful to think about. And back when it was
>happening....I gotta say that I KNEW the difference without
>being able to explain it.
>
>There's a part of me that thinks there's a huge elephant in
>the room....the 'neo-soul' contingent didn't have real skills.
> Mary Blige and Blackstreet could really sing and were still
>rooted in traditional gospel roots. N'dea Davenport and Badu?
> Not so much. Though D'angelo seems to have stridled that
>line a bit more which makes the distinction more complicated.
>

Yes me too sometimes I think that the difference really is only marketing ( neo soul- boho earthy, hip hop soul - urban), both are made by artist who grew up on hip hop and therefore produce music from that mindset but heavily borrow from traditional soul/r&b, maybe it's just the artist that influenced them. neo tended to be more influenced by Stevie, Donny, jazz, Prince, uk soul, where hip hop soul was more influenced by Michael, Charlie Wilson, Isley brothers, jam& lewis,, but of course that gets complicated.