Mastering Neo Soul: Expert Tips and Advice From 4 Established Artists
Explore Neo Soul with Carmen Hendricks, Angela Librandi, Jude Nicholas, and Jeff Sheppard, as they share their creative journeys, inspirations, and advice for mastering the genre.
Neo Soul became prominent in the late 90's and early 2000's. It had elements of funk, jazz, and RnB mixed with soulful harmonies, silky basslines, and a brand-new beat.
I talked with four artists who had success with this genre of music.
Carmen Hendricks
Carmen Hendricks is a South African singer and musician who has shared the stage with the likes of Kelly Rowland, Kanye West, Rihanna, and Daniel Merriweather.
With her soulful voice full of purpose, she now introducing her unique original sound to the world.
Who was the first Neo Soul artist you heard and how did it impact you?
Miss Jill Scott. Her voice moved my soul. I felt a shift within my musical senses and revolutionary sound was birthed for me.
Your music is influenced by Neo Soul, Jazz, Rn B and Funk. Do you have a process for writing music?
My process has always been hearing a chord progression or turnaround, or just hearing a melody in my head, finding that, and then building the track according to what keeps popping into my head.
My songwriting comes through me, I just pay attention. I don’t force anything, and if nothing comes I shut shop till the ideas start flowing again. This goes for chords/ melodies and lyrics.
Allow for breathing space, and listen listen listen, the track will show you what it needs
Great musician/producer? Questlove was a pioneer for this style of music. He created beats that were so laid back that they changed the groove of the song. How does this approach to a beat affect a vocalist?
I've always felt it created so much space and room to be busy or sparse with our vocals. It was a freedom I embraced.
What advice do you have for musicians who want to create this style of music in the studio?
Less is more. Allow for breathing space, and listen, listen, listen. The track will show you what it needs.
In your opinion, what are the top 5 Neo soul albums?
1. Who Is Jill Scott? - Jill Scott
2. Baduizm - Erykah Badu
3. Brown Sugar - D'Angelo
4. Eric Benét - True to Myself
5. Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
What projects are you currently working on?
Right now I’m getting back to engaging with the live audiences, as our industry has forgotten what it feels like to feel live music performed by artists who are not driven by the machine but who have music running through their veins.
I am creating shows like Music Appreciation which reminds people that music is there from your happiest memory to your darkest day. It carries you through life, it’s a gift to be shared and honored. It is the music!!!! We are only the source of delivery...
Connect with Carmen Hendricks on Instagram
Angela Librandi
Angela Librandi is one of Australia's most in-demand singers. She has developed her own unique style of singing described as neo-soul, RnB with an infusion of jazz.
Angela has worked with Kate Cebrano, Marcia Hines, Jimmy Barnes, and Hugh Jackman.
Who was the first Neo Soul artist you heard and how did it impact you?
The first neo-soul artist may have been Maxwell! I kind of discovered him, Eryka Badu, and D'Angelo around the same time. It literally blew my mind. I fell in love with those artists immediately.
You were at the forefront of the Neo-Soul movement in Melbourne. I remember there being a line around the block to see your band perform with legendary drummer Dave Matthews and Keyboard virtuoso Duncan Kinall. How did this night come about?
The night we started at Alumbra came about because I had fallen in love with this music. I was doing a lot of corporate gigs and wasn't feeling inspired, so I decided to start a night playing all the songs from the new artists with Dave and Mark Amato, as a release.
We didn't know it was going to be that huge. Duncan joined after Mark took a TV gig, and we had that residency for 16 years!!!
Great musician/producer Questlove was a pioneer for this style of music. He created beats that were so laid back that they changed the groove of the song. How does this approach to a beat affect a vocalist?
Pioneers like Questlove changed the way we sang! Singers are so influenced by instrumentalists... we began to sing even more back (I've always sung a little back anyway) and we were able to grow and evolve as singers.
Hearing something so funky, you wanted to sing the way these pioneers were playing. The way people like Questlove played gave us the freedom to improvise in a way we had never done before. The space it gave us vocally, in the way drummers like that played, was incredible.
We felt the freedom to weave and create melodies in such a new way! It was this soulful jazz-infused style of drumming that allowed us to try new things vocally. I've always been influenced by great drummers...it's in my blood. My dad was a drummer, my husband was a drummer. It's kind of hard for it not to influence my singing the way it does.
Singers are so influenced by instrumentalists
What advice do you have for musicians who want to create this style of music in the studio?
My advice to musicians who want to create this vibe: live breathe and eat the live recordings of the artists who created this genre—Badu, Maxwell, D Angelo, Jill Scott, Angie Stone, etc. Listen and study what they did to make them different from soul artists before them.
I studied every single album, live recording, and video I could get my hands on. I was also lucky enough to see D'Angelo twice, Eryka and Jill Scott live!
In your opinion, what are the top 5 Neo soul albums?
Top 5 Neo-Soul Albums. So many great ones narrowing it down is tough, but if I had to, here's my choice:
1. Baduizm - Eryka badu
2. Maxwells Urban Hang Suite
3. Brown Sugar - D'Angelo
4. Voodoo - D'Angelo
5. Who is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Volume 1
I guess for me, these were 5 of the albums I was heavily influenced by.
What projects are you currently working on?
I'm currently freelancing and working so much! I'm actually in the middle of a couple of tours, doing backing vocals for incredible Aussie artists Kate Ceberano and Jon Steven's.
I'm doing a lot of duo gigs with keys, looper, guitar, loops which I love! I also have a vocal group called "United Voices", performing gospel and RNB acapella (sometimes with an accompaniment group). Anywhere from 10-15 singers, which is such a vibe.
Trying to find time amid all the shows to try and write some new material.
Connect with Angela Librandi on Instagram
Jude Nicholas
Jude Nicholas is an in-demand singer, musician, and DJ from Melbourne. He was part of the underground RnB/Funk group 'Lunar' and went on to sing with number-selling artists CDB.
Who was the first Neo Soul artist you heard and how did it impact you?
D’Angelo’s music was something I had never encountered before, seamlessly fusing soul, R&B, hip-hop, and jazz. The release of his Brown Sugar album introduced vibrant jazz-inspired chords and bass lines, complemented by his silky falsetto harmonies and lead vocals that paid homage to classic soul and R&B, revolutionizing the genre.
He infused R&B and hip-hop with new authenticity and credibility, and he continues to be one of my all-time favorite artists. His music had widened my idea of what I could do with my songwriting, allowing me to be more experimental.
I have always had a love for all genres mentioned but never thought about having this collective sound on one track. The game had changed forever!
Neo Soul and RnB music are so closely related. You replaced singer Andrew Desilva in Rnb group CDB who had a number 1 song in Australia. How did this opportunity come about?
The members of CDB and my old band, Lunar, were part of the Midnight crew in Dandenong, a community talent group where we initially connected when they released the hit song "Good Times."
Fast forward several years to when I was on holiday in Sri Lanka with my family; I received a call from Brad Pinto asking if I would like to join the band, as Andy had departed due to health concerns.
Initially, I was hesitant and needed time to weigh the decision, as it represented a significant turning point in my musical career. After discussing it with a few of the band's members, I ultimately chose to join the group.
Less is more, don't complicate the ingredients
Great musician/producer Questlove was a pioneer for this style of music. He created beats that were so laid back that they changed the groove of the song. How does this approach to a beat affect a vocalist?
Questlove and D'Angelo have worked together on numerous projects, with Questlove's thick, rich beats reminiscent of sampled hip-hop rhythms.
His head-nodding, heavy beats, which often have a laid-back vibe, create the perfect space for rhythmic vocals to shine lead and harmonies.
What advice do you have for musicians who want to create this style of music in the studio?
Less is more, don't complicate the ingredients. To me, Neo Soul is hip hop sampled-like beats with a simple, phat bass line that has a little dirt on it, with chords that add that color of soul or funk, topped with soulful tasty vocals.
In your opinion, what are the top 5 Neo soul albums?
1. Brown Sugar - D’ Angelo
2. Baduizm - Erykah Badu
3. Urban Hang Suite - Maxwell
4. Who Is Jill Scott - Jill Scott
5. Bilal - 1st Born Second
What projects are you currently working on?
Right now, I am completely focused on my live gigs and putting a new band together. I really want to get back to the funk and rock out some classic funk, and also revisit some not-so-popular funk tunes that just make you move.
I also have been getting into DJing again, which is where my musical journey.
Connect with Jude Nicholas on Instagram
Jeff Sheppard
Jeff Sheppard is an Australian-based musician, singer, and songwriter.
He has performed on tours with international musicians Justin Timberlake and Lionel Ritchie, amongst many other local artists.
Jeff also won Best Male Vocal for the LA Music Award.
Who was the first Neo Soul artist you heard and how did it impact you?
Eric Benét was one of the first artists I discovered looking through a local CD store. Being from Australia, at that time there were limited local releases in the genre.
If I wanted to discover new music, I had to go to one shop that used to import a lot of the neo-soul/RnB artists before they became more mainstream releases. I even found artists like John Legend there before he started making commercial releases later.
Musiq Soulchild was one of the early discoveries as well. I was mesmerized by his voice.
Do you feel any similarity between chord progressions in Neo Soul music and Jazz music?
I think RnB, neo-soul, and soul all explore similar harmonic choices within the chords. But I don’t feel the connection to jazz as much. I’ve never felt connected to jazz myself.
The rhythmic pulse never excited me musically as much as neo-soul artists did. The vocal harmony layers, instrument choices, and sonic qualities all shape this sound I fell in love with in the neo-soul space.
So, although the harmonic choices of jazz use similar shape chords, the way they are used is reinvented too far to feel the similarities. I guess it’s like comparing two painters using the same color. It’s the choices that go around it that shape it far more than just the color itself.
The vocal harmony layers, instrument choices, and sonic qualities all shape this sound I fell in love with in the neo-soul space
Great musician/producer Questlove was a pioneer for this style of music. He created beats that were so laid back that they changed the groove of the song. How does this approach to a beat affect a vocalist?
I think it allows the ability to be more creative vocally. If you just started singing behind the beat as a singer without the rhythm opening up that flavor, it can throw off the connection to the song, the skill as a singer, or the entire rhythmic flow of the melody & song.
Having the Rhythm section introduce that feel to borrow off melodically and lock into creates a new space to explore musically.
As a feature section or a rhythmic choice throughout the song, it’s a great element to be able to play with musically.
What advice do you have for musicians who want to create this style of music in the studio?
I would say, find the right producer. The right producer will pull apart the ingredients you need to hit the mark.
The musicians. The choices are right across the creative process. I was producing all of my own music, so it took me so much longer to work out how to achieve a sound, the style, the groove.
The right producer could help build the best team to create the sounds you’re chasing.
In your opinion, what are the top 5 Neo soul albums?
Musiq Soulchild was a huge influence on me. I loved his voice, his vocal stylistic choices, and ability, and he had incredible control. Pretty much every album he released was a training session for me to pull apart his voice, production, beats, and chord structure.
So, I could easily list all of his as my top 5. Angie Stone was a fave for a long time too. Her production was so clean. So precise. Stunning sonically.
What projects are you currently working on?
I’m currently expanding into film at the moment. I’ve always had a passion for visual art as well. I work a lot with artists needing film clips.
My background as a performer. songwriter, singer and musician helps me navigate the artist side of creating content for artists, as well as the years of trying to understand publishing and releasing music.
I love helping other artists bring their music to life, and hopefully expanding their music careers too.
Musically, I have been working on some new tunes as well. I’ve been collaborating with some different producers and artists that I’ve loved meeting over the years and through the variety of projects I get to be involved in.
Connect with Jeff Sheppard on Instagram
About Magesh Magesh
Magesh is a musician and producer who has worked with Rihanna, Lionel Richie, Ricky Martin, Chris Brown, The Pussy Cat Dolls, Nelly Furtado, and Vernon Reid of Living Colour.
He released an instructional drumming DVD called "Unique Beats" where he mixed the drum kit with electronics and Indian hand percussion. He recently moved from Australia to the UK to explore new musical opportunities.
Website: mageshdrumteacher.co.uk
Contact Magesh Magesh at magesh.magesh7@gmail.com
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