This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. (April 2008) This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this if you can. (November 2008) This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. (April 2008)

Musiq Soulchild
Musiq Soulchild at WGCI Coca Cola Lounge
Background information
Birth name	Taalib Johnson
Also known as	Musiq Soulchild
Born	(1977-09-16) September 16, 1977 (age 35) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Genres	Contemporary R&B Neo soul
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Def Soul (2000–2005) Atlantic (2006–present)
Website	www.musiqsoulchild.com
Notable instruments
Vocals

Musiq Soulchild or Musiq (pron.: /ˈmjuːsɪk/; born Taalib Johnson on September 16, 1977) is an American R&B/soul singer-songwriter whose style blends contemporary R&B, soul, funk, alternative, blues, jazz, some gospel influences and hip hop.

Biography [edit]

Musiq was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is the oldest of nine children. At an early age, Musiq left home and dropped out of school at the age of 17. It was during that time Musiq started to build a reputation for being musically gifted, beat boxing for MC's, free styling on the open mic circuit, scatting at a jazz club, or just performing a cappella in the streets of Philadelphia, which is where he got the name "Musiq" and later added "Soulchild", which is intended to respect and represent the legacy and traditions of past soul artists. He cites as his inspiration such icons as Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Patti LaBelle, Billie Holiday, Sly & the Family Stone and Ray Charles.^[1][2]

Musiq Soulchild has had 2 platinum albums, 2 gold albums and 7 hit singles. He has received awards from Billboard, BET, ASCAP, BMI, and Soul Train.^[1] He has also earned award nominations from MTV, the American Music Awards, the NAACP, and 11 Grammy nominations, including 3 for his 2007 album Luvanmusiq.

Name origin [edit]

"There were people who knew of me but they didn't really know me; they just knew me as 'that music dude.' So after getting that so much, I was like 'Just call me Musiq.' It was so fresh to me because if I had to be called anything, I would have wanted to be called Music. That's how much I dug it; when you see me, I want you to automatically think of music."^[1] The nickname Soulchild came from two ideas. Musiq quotes it as, "Musiq Soulchild is technically two ideas. 'Musiq' is the front man and 'Soulchild' is the idea behind it. It's basically me as an artist in this generation, representing the traditions and the legacies of the past soul stars."^[1]

Career [edit]

Musiq Soulchild released his debut album, Aijuswanaseing, in 2000. Its lead single was "Just Friends (Sunny)". Musiq's second single "Love" spent 22 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Musiq's second album, 2002's Juslisen, debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 and went platinum. The singles were "Halfcrazy" and "Dontchange".

In 2003, Musiq released his third album, Soulstar. It included the singles "Forthenight" and "Whoknows".

Musiq took a four-year break and changed his management to Solqi Management, as well as his record label from Def Soul to Atlantic Records.

In March 2007, Musiq's released his fourth album Luvanmusiq. Its singles were "B.U.D.D.Y.", "Teachme", and "Makeyouhappy".

His fifth album OnMyRadio was released on December 2, 2008. The lead single "Radio" was a complete contrast to the usual smooth soul and R&B Musiq fans were accustomed to. The following singles were the duet IfULeave featuring Mary J. Blige; and the ballad SoBeautiful. "SoBeautiful" marked the first collaboration between Musiq and the producer JR Hutson, after Hutson had spent "about eight months" trying to get Musiq to come by his studio.^[3] According to Hutson, the two plan to work together again.^[3]

In May 2010, he changed management to Victor Grieg.^[3]

His latest album Musiqinthemajiq was released on May 3, 2011, available on CDs and also as a digital download. The first single is "Anything" featuring Swizz Beatz.^[4]

Guest appearances [edit]

Musiq Soulchild has featured on "Nothing at All" from Carlos Santana's album, Shaman. He has also made guest appearances on rapper Lloyd Banks's album Rotten Apple, Skillz's I Ain't Mad No More, Talib Kweli's Eardrum, The Roots's Phrenology, Black Ice's The Death of Willie Lynch. He performed "Reasons" on the tribute album Interpretations: Celebrating the Music of Earth, Wind & Fire and "Are You Experienced?" on Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix. Soulchild has also appeared on the soundtrack to Tyler Perry's movie Daddy's Little Girls and performed with Ice Cube on his 2008 album, Raw Footage. He also lent a song from his latest album Luvanmusiq to the soundtrack for Perry's later movie Why Did I Get Married?. He then recorded a remake of Arrested Development's song "People Everyday" with British rapper/singer Estelle for the soundtrack to Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns entitled "People Everyday (Metamorphosis Mix)".

Other interests [edit]

Outside of music, he has been featured in television and print ads for McDonald's, Nike, Inc., Coca-Cola, Levi Strauss & Co. and The Gap. He made a special appearance on The CW's #1 comedy The Game on Monday, October 29, 2007, as well as the UPN sitcom All of Us.

Awards and recognition [edit]

He has received awards from Billboard, BET, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, BMI, and Soul Train. Musiq has also been nominated for awards by MTV, The American Music Awards, the NAACP, and has had 11 Grammy nominations.

Grammy Awards [edit]

Personal life [edit]

He dated singer Kameelah Williams (of 702) in 2009. They welcomed the birth of their son in August 2009.^[5] She is the inspiration for his song "SoBeautiful".^[6]

The musician is almost always seen wearing sunglasses. One of his eyes is not normally positioned, possibly deemed exotropia. He admitted in an interview that at the age of two his uncle accidentally stabbed his eye with a fork.^[7]

Discography [edit]

Studio albums [edit]

Singles [edit]

Featured singles [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Official website
• Musiq Soulchild on Myspace
• Antigua Music Festival
• Musiq Soulchild Black Planet page
• Musiq Preps Atlantic Records Debut
• Musiq at rnbkings.net
• Musiq Soulchild's AllMusic page
• Exclusive Musiq Soulchild Interview
• Luvanmusiq Album Review