1997-1999United States

Neo-soul

A late-1990s soul revival with hip-hop patience and jazz harmony, neo-soul was shaped by D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Maxwell, and Lauryn Hill.

Origins and context

Late-1990s Black American popular music, especially artists working between contemporary R&B, hip-hop, and revived 1970s soul aesthetics.

United States

The sound

Characteristics

Soulful lead vocals
Bass-heavy grooves
Rhodes electric piano
Drums with hip-hop influence
Jazz-tinged harmony
Funk guitar

How to listen

Start here

D'Angelo - Brown Sugar
Erykah Badu - On & On
Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Mood

Warm
Intimate
Reflective

Best for

Listeners who like soulful vocals with relaxed grooves
Fans of R&B that borrows from jazz and hip-hop

History

The term came into wider use in the late 1990s, when writers and labels needed a name for a wave of artists drawing on 1970s soul while refusing the glossy rules of mainstream R&B. Apple Music’s artist notes and album pages place D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, and Maxwell at the center of that moment, while AllMusic describes the style as contemporary R&B with a stronger devotion to classic soul and songwriting traditions. In practice, neo-soul grew out of a specific late-1990s conversation: records like D’Angelo’s Brown Sugar, Erykah Badu’s Baduizm, and Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill helped define the sound and its reach. Sources differ on how fixed the label ever was — some artists embraced it, while others resisted the marketing tag — but the music’s blend of soul memory, hip-hop pulse, and patient, album-minded craft is well documented.