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Musiq Soulchild
Music Soulchild at WGCI Coca Cola Lounge
Background information
Also known as	Musiq Soulchild
Born	September 16, 1977 (1977-09-16) (age 32)
Origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	R&B, Neo-Soul
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Def Soul (2000–2005) Atlantic (2006–present)
Website	www.musiqsoulchild.com

Taalib Johnson (born September 16, 1977), better known by his stage name Musiq Soulchild or Musiq (pronounced /ˈmjuːsɪk/), is a soul artist whose style blends contemporary R&B, soul, funk, alternative, blues, jazz and hip hop.

[edit] Biography

Musiq is the eldest of nine children. At an early age, Musiq decided he would discontinue his high school education, and left home at 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]

Moard, BET, ASCAP, BMI, and Soul Train.^[1] Musiq has also earned award nominations from usiq Soulchild has had 2 platinum albums, 2 gold albums and 7 hit singles. He has received awards from BillbMTV, American Music Awards, NAACP, and 9 Grammy nominations, including 3 for his 2007 album Luvanmusiq. Besides being a successful recording artist, Musiq is notable for his creative and unique way of titling his albums and songs by ignoring the rules of capitalization, punctuation and spelling.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Name Origin

"There were people who knew of me but 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]

[edit] Career

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

In 2003, Musiq released his 3rd 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".

At his September 18 concert at the Warfield in San Francisco he announced his fifth album OnMyRadio. It was released on December 2, 2008. The lead single "Radio" was a complete contrast to the usual smooth soul and R&B Muqis fans were accustomed to. The following singles were the duet IfULeave featuring Mary J Blige; and the ballad SoBeautiful.

[edit] Guest appearances

He has also made guest appearances on rapper Lloyd Banks's album Rotten Apple, Talib Kweli's Eardrum, The Roots's Phrenology, Black Ice's The Death of Willie Lynch and pays tribute to soul music legends Earth Wind and Fire on the tribute album Interpretations: Celebrating the Music of Earth, Wind & Fire. Soulchild has also appeared on the soundtrack to Tyler Perry's movie Daddy's Little Girls and Ice Cube announced that Musiq will appear on his upcoming 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)".

[edit] Other Interests

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 also made a special appearance in The CW's #1 comedy The Game on Monday, October 29, 2007.

[edit] Awards and recognition

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 4 Grammy nominations.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Website
• Musiq Soulchild at 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