Соулкверианы: Нью-Йорк студиясының жаңа толқыны

American musical collective

The Soulquarians were a rotating collective of experimental Black music artists active during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Members of the collective included singer and multi instrumentalist D'Angelo, drummer and producer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, producer J Dilla, singer songwriter Erykah Badu, trumpeter Roy Hargrove, keyboardist James Poyser, singer Bilal, bassist Pino Palladino, rapper producers Q Tip, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, Slum Village. progressive soul, avant garde, soul, conscious rap, and jazz fusion. Their members often collaborated on each other's recordings, holding extensive and innovative sessions at Electric Lady Studios in New York, which produced several well received albums. Reflecting on their recordings, Common told Spin in 2008: "It was one of those time periods that you don't even realize when you're going through it that it's powerful".|Greg Kot

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, members of the collective held jam sessions while recording their respective albums at Electric Lady Studios in New York. The studio was chosen due to its history, having previously been used by Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Wonder, amongst others, and for the collection of vintage equipment available. It also presented new challenges for Questlove, who had to learn how to play drums in a softer style. Some of the equipment used included a Ludwig drum kit from 1968 and bass guitars from the 1950s. Recording sessions began in 1997 when D'Angelo and Questlove prepared to record the former's Voodoo (2000) album at the studio. According to Russell Elevado, the engineer on Voodoo, they used over 200 reels of tape to record in 1997 alone. Questlove served as what Jim DeRogatis called "the musical powerhouse" behind the collective's sessions at the studio. "I tried to do all in my power that I could to bring people together – to bring Common to Electric Lady, have him record here whenever so that he could record with some of these other artists", Questlove explained in 2002. "You'd just come into [the studio's] A Room, you don't even know who has a session, but you call me: 'Who's down there?' 'Common's in there today.' So you come down, you order some food, sit down and bullshit, watch a movie, and then it's, 'Let's play something.' And I say, 'Who wants this [track]?' And it would be, 'I want it!' 'No, I want it!'"

The Soulquarians' period at the studio ended due in part to the experimental nature of some of their recordings becoming commercial liabilities. Common's similarly experimental Electric Circus sold disappointingly, which discouraged MCA Records, Common and the Roots' label, from letting the artistically free environment at the studio continue.<blockquote>The Vibe magazine photo was the beginning of the end. Because when that issue came out, motherfuckers were angry. The issue started out as a feature about me. The people at Vibe had a clue that I was working on D'Angelo, Erykah, The Roots, Jill Scott, Bilal, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, Slum Village, and Nikka Costa's records. At the height of everything, I was working with 17 different artists. I was really gun shy on any unwelcomed praise. I came from a commune. It wasn't a one man act. I was very uncomfortable accepting a title or praise. I insisted to Vibe that they could get the story, but they had to make it about the family and not one person. The thing was we never had a title, but because the journalist was hanging with us the whole time, they were like you guys keep saying Soulquarians all of the time. I explained the difference. I said that the Soulquarians were me, James, D'Angelo, and J Dilla. The Soultronics was the group we were putting together with D'Angelo. So when we took the photo and then I saw the Vibe cover it said The Soulquarians. I was in Chicago when I saw it, and I said, "Oh shit. This is bad." The next thing you know, every phone call that came in people were saying, "Yo, man. It looks like I'm working for you. I'm not an Aquarian. I'm my own person." Literally, that's when it all fell apart. This was interpreted as a silent breakup of the outfit. However, according to an interview with Common (circa 2005), the collective continued to exist. In February 2006, founding member J Dilla died of cardiac arrest after prior health issues. That same year, Bilal's Love for Sale leaked and was indefinitely shelved by his label, although it developed an underground following and wide acclaim over the years. – vocals, production