King of Soul

Got a call from Cody ChesnuTT last night; it was brief, he wanted to tell me that he just saw an ad for Robin Thicke's new album which highlighted a quote from the LA Times calling him the new King of Soul music. The New King of Soul Music? Have I died and gone to hell? I've listened to the Robin Thicke album and unfortunately its not bad; it sounds like a Marvin Gaye tribute album, but its actually listenable. Is he the new King of Soul? Well, I think that's a ridiculous notion since there are people like Al Green still alive and making music but I understand marketing spin. The fact that his marketing folks could say that without being boycotted is a testament to where black music and artistry is today. Where is D'Angelo when you need him? D'Angelo please come back and shut this dude down; this is embarrassing.

My friend Josh sent me a link to this an old Omar video from 1994; I remember when I first found Omar. It was at a record store in Atlanta, I was in my first year of graduate school in South Carolina but I used to make several trips to Atlanta to see friends that were still at Morehouse and Spelman. Anyway, I think I was at Best Buy and I saw the For Pleasure album; being featured as a new release. I don't know why I bought it, I can't remember if it was in a listening station or not. What I do remember is that after one listen, he was my favorite artist at the time and I told all of my friends about him. Now Omar had already released 2 albums since 1990 in the UK, but it was his US debut that turned me on to him. It was For Pleasure in my opinion, even though it was not a smash hit sales wise, that spawned the Neo Soul movement in America. D'Angelo is often given the credit with his 1995 release Brown Sugar, because it eventually hit the mainstream in 1996 with the hit song Lady. But in London, Omar and his crew were dubbed the creators of what was called neo-classic soul before D'Angelo had a career. Well as fate would have it; Omar and all of his genius, never translated here in the US and D'Angelo is a legend. So here we are today and this discussion about two modern day soul geniuses doesn't matter because Robin Thicke is on tour with Mary J Blige and is the reigning "King of Soul," go figure.