Loving Musiq

I don't know about y'all, but I cannot WAIT to get my hands on the latest CD by Musiq Soulchild. For those Musiq fans who may not have known, his fourth CD “Luvanmusiq” just came out Tuesday.

(If you’re a fan and didn't even know he dropped a new CD, don’t feel bad. As usual, the good stuff always flies under the radar. I just happened to hear it on Wendy Williams when he was on there for an interview. Oh, and if you have NO IDEA who I’m even talking about, you might want to stop reading now…)

I’d already been jamming to his latest single, “Buddy,” for months, despite its cheesy name.
(I mean, maybe I’m missing the deeper meaning, but I hadn’t heard the word “buddy” used in common vernacular since, like, middle school. Even then, it was only used in reference to someone who was uncool. But I digress…)

But thanks to a throwback beat, smooth flow and tight hook, the song won me over so much that I made it the current song on my myspace page. Truthfully, I’m such a fan that he could be singing the alphabet and it would be my JAM. I’ve already seen him in concert twice – the same number of times I’ve seen my absolute favorite current artist, John Legend.

For me, Musiq’s musical style just personifies coolness and his songs always make me think of good times. His first album was practically the soundtrack to my senior year of college.

I remember when I first heard his debut single “Just Friends (Sunny).” It was the fall of 2000 and I was a college senior attending a mass com conference at Howard University. We were riding around D.C. when the song came on the radio and I remember thinking “Who is this guy singing all behind the beat in that low voice?” Before I knew it, I was bobbing my head going “Hmmm, I think I like it.” It was so different from anything I’d heard in R&B at the time and I’ve been hooked ever since. And so was everyone else: His first two albums went platinum, while the last one was gold.

Even the way he spells his album titles are cool, though they might drive an English teacher crazy: “Aijuswanaseing” (translation: I Just Wanna Sing); “Juslisen” (translation: Just Listen;) “Soulstar” (translation… Well I think that one’s pretty obvious;) and of course his latest “Luvanmusiq” (translation: Love and Musiq.)
Not only is his musical style unique, but so is his fashion sense. I remember so many folks trying to rock his trademark headscarf thing that he used to wear when he first came out. There was one guy who actually tried to transform himself into Musiq Soulchild, which was kinda weird, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.

Some folks call his style neo soul, but ultimately it’s just good music, period. And just like most performers of good music, he doesn't usually get the props he deserves.

Anyway, it’s been WAY too long - 4 years to be exact - since he released an album, making this latest CD one of my MUST-HAVE purchases for the week and I’m just hoping it doesn’t disappoint. He usually doesn’t.