Spoken word soul

Spoken Word Soul-An eclectic BLEND of Poetry, Jazz-funk, Electronica & acoustic Country soul music elements. The style is largely considered to be an underground offshoot of the Neo Soul movement from the 1990's & became very popular around the turn of the century (2000 A.D.), to the present. From origins in 50's & 60's Beatnik culture & Bop Jazz associations, Spoken Word Soul music has become very popular today as indie artists (Musicians, Singer-songwriters, Poets) & the public, dissatisfied & frustrated with current major record label releases & business practices, utilized the power of the internet to network globally with other Artists & fans; as a result, the Genre has become an international "Underground culture" of sorts via the increased use of various music & blog sites such as Myspace, You Tube, Solarradio.com, DustyGroove.com, CDBaby & Soulchoonz, etc. Artists such as Gil Scott-Heron, The Last Poets, The Watts Prophets, and contemporary artists like Meshell Ndegeocello, Jill Scott, Floetry, & Ursula Rucker are considered the "Progenitors" of this style of Soul, while Indie (Unsigned) acts such as Detroit bred-Atlanta, Ga based artist Abyss, Baltimore's brilliant Taalam Acey, Fayetteville N.C.-based artist & radio personality Val "Imani" Jones, L.A.-based Actor/Poet-Bassist Malcolm Jamal Warner, along with the jazz-funk flavorings of Cincinnati-based Shades Of J and others, are constantly releasing powerful, thought provoking blends of original Spoken Word music with insightful, creative expression, all while expanding the Genre worldwide. "It's still Evolving", says Shades of J guitarist/producer Don Manor, Jr, of the MusicAL style. "Spoken Word Soul has been around & will Always be relevant."

References

• Who is Jill Scott? Now she's a Poet, too..