Monday, October 13, 2008

Neo-Soul Part 1


Someone once told me that music is what feelings sound like. The instruments represent the atmosphere, the beat represents the mood, the voice represents the emotion and the words represent the action. This philosophy stuck with me for a long time for it's accuracy and understanding of the complex simplicty that is Music. However there was another philosophy that stood by me and as a result became the core of this question...

If music is life's soundtrack, what does Neo-Soul represent?

Amongst all forms of feelings, emotion and action, Neo-Soul to me is parallel to Relaxation and Tranquility. Never has there been a form of music that has allowed me to Zone out from the normalities of what's around me and help me to relax and just do me. The blend of a soulful and meaningful voice over a melodic and comforting beat meditates my thoughts and actions; and from there I'm able to clear my head and eventually take advantage of my serene state.

You take a stressful activity like studying (lol) and defuse it with Neo-Soul and that will be the formula to success. Doing a 10,000+ word essay in conjunction with other school modules can ONLY be persisted well by being in a relaxed state of mind. I created a playlist especially for Uni along with Jill Scott's third album The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol.3 (if you dont have it or aint heard it, where have you been?) This subconsciously helped me through assignments and projects on the journey towards graduation. So if you're studying or working on a project with a deadline I recommend this playlist to you.

Part 1 - The Study Guide

Faith Evans - Catching Feelings
Anthony Hamilton - Charlene
Calvin Richardson - More Than A Woman
Maxwell - Sumthin' Sumthin'
Corrine Bailey Rae - Seasons Change
Goapele - Closer
Floetry - Somestimes You Make Me Smile
Jill Scott - Comes to the light (Everything)
Vanessa Marquez - Want You To Know
Faith Evans - Stop'N'Go
Anthony Hamilton - Can't Let Go
Floetry - Feelings
India Arie - Get It Together
Jill Scott - Easy Conversation
Slum Village- Tainted

Make that playlist, go work and tell me your results. Neo-Soul Part 2 coming soon...


1 comments so far....:

Eb the Celeb said...

Love this post... and yes... neosoul has to be one of the most endearing subgenre's of music...

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