Introduction

Originally posted: Saturday August 30th, 2008

With the rapid popularity of celebrity, flashy jewelery and showmanship, music is on the brink of being lost forever to video hoes, spinning rims and party beats. As Leela James put it, ‘Where’s the music gone?’

America’s commercial success of glamorized gangsta rap is influencing everyone around the world, so it’s no surprise that the UK is well on its way to copycatting blingin’ chains combined with shallow lyrics. That’s not to say that we should condemn those party tracks - we all love to hit the club and dance to hot tracks that feature Lil’ Wayne. But, how about the times when we need a little more substance?

Being a lover of true lyricism, soul music (encompassing all it’s varieties of neo-soul to conscience rap) is what I feel is the obvious choice of music. However, despite hip hop artists’ transition to commercial platforms – such as Common’s acting stints, Kanye West’s mixture of party beats and inspiring lyrical content, and even Mos Def’s co-star comedy act, soul music is still surprisingly, for lack of a better word, underground. Artist’s such as Talib Kweli, Dwele, Slum Village, and Music Soulchild (to name a few) are somewhat heard of, but not close to being appreciated as much as they should. And that’s in the States, a place where varied music is more encouraged than in London. With pop and indie stifling our airwaves, it’s not surprising that Floetry, and even Joss Stone, had to pave their way to success in America in order to make their music heard.

On that note, I have begun a Soul Search in order to find and create awareness for the talented artists that London has to offer in the attempt to help soul become a greater, and more appreciated, music in our increasingly fickle pop culture.