Progressive Underground: A tribute to the Soulquarian sessions

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This week on the Progressive Underground, we take a deep dive into the music of iconic Detroit producer J Dilla and some of his colleagues as we profile the Soulquarians, a rotating collective of experimental artists who came together from 1997 to 2003 to craft a handful of generationally impactful albums that skirted the boundaries of progressive and neo soul, conscious hip-hop, and jazz fusion.

The Soulquarians included singer and multi-instrumentalist D’Angelo, drummer and producer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, producer and Detroit native J Dilla, singer-songwriter Erykah Badu, trumpeter Roy Hargrove, keyboardist James Poyser, singer Bilal, bassist Pino Palladino, rapper-producers Q-Tip and Mos Def, and rappers Talib Kweli and Common. But before we get into the formation of the group, we must first broach the hub of their activity – Electric Lady Studios and how that came to be.

Jump to the Progressive Underground Soulquarian Sessions playlist »

Re-energizing the Electric Lady

Electric Lady was commissioned by rock musician Jimi Hendrix in 1968 and designed by architect John Storyk and audio engineer Eddie Kramer. It was launched in 1970, and Hendrix only spent 10 weeks recording there before his untimely death that year, but it quickly became a famed studio used by many top-selling recording artists from the 1970s onwards, including Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Hall & Oates and more.

The studios would enjoy a renaissance when Stevie Wonder began recording there. He would record albums such as ‘Music of My Mind’ and ‘Talking Book,’ establishing Electric Lady as a premier destination spot for top tier artists to record.

‘Music of My Mind’ would put Electric Lady Studios on the map and make it an in-demand spot to record with its state-of-the-art equipment and atmospheric acoustics which worked well with Wonder’s MOOG synthesizers.

By 1997, soul artist D’Angelo had enjoyed a breakthrough with his debut album ‘Brown Sugar’ and was now looking to work on his sophomore album which would be titled ‘Voodoo.’ He had become friends with The Roots’ Questlove and was recording at their Battery Park Studios — the same studios that The Roots and A Tribe Called Quest recorded at. However, D’Angelo disliked the acoustics and the studio configuration and was pointed to Electric Lady Studios by another friend — studio engineer Russell Elevado who had went through D’s record collection and pulled out Stevie Wonder’s ‘Music of My Mind’ and ‘Talking Book,’ and saw in the liner notes that they were recorded at Electric Lady Studios.

Upon a visit to the studio, which had been inactive and dormant for years, D’Angelo fell in love with it as it invoked a mystical feeling within him. They dusted off the microphones and instruments and D’Angelo would book a year of studio time there as work ensued on ‘Voodoo.’

As the ‘Voodoo’ sessions picked up momentum, Questlove was splitting time recording on what would be The Roots’ fourth studio album ‘Things Fall Apart.’ He would consolidate by getting The Roots to also record at Electric Lady.

In search of new sounds

By this time, Electric Lady was getting numerous visitors who would come sit in on Roots sessions and who were curious about the D’Angelo project. Questlove was working on simultaneous projects with various music industry friends such as Common, Erykah Badu, J Dilla, James Poyser, Roy Hargrove and Pino Palladino and wanted them to catch the vibes of Electric Lady.

Common and Badu were particularly impressed with the organic, psychedelic vibe of the studios and booked time to record albums that they were working on: ‘Like Water for Chocolate’ and ‘Mama’s Gun’ respectively, which featured production work by J Dilla.

By this time, Electric Lady had four albums being simultaneously recorded there — D’Angelo’s ‘Voodoo,’ The Roots’ ‘Things Fall Apart,’ Erykah Badu’s ‘Mama’s Gun,’ and Common’s ‘Like Water for Chocolate.’ These projects would bring together myriad collaborations and set the tone for the direction of soul music for the next few years.

In addition to recording simultaneous projects, this foursome also shared another commonality — they were all born under the same zodiac sign, Aquarius. They started calling their unit the “Soulquarians” during their sessions. Common and Badu jumped on the bandwagon, and though they weren’t Aquarius on the Zodiac chart, they considered themselves kindred spirits and thus part of the collective. Other artists who were making cameos on these albums such as Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Q-Tip and Roy Hargrove also adopted the moniker and considered themselves part of the group. With the Soulquarians christened in name, they began a period of explosive ingenuity and unshackled self-expression.

Standout Soulquarian tracks

One standout track from Common’s ‘Like Water for Chocolate’ was “The Light,” on which J Dilla took the production lead. This track samples from “Open Your Eyes” by soul and jazz singer Bobby Caldwell, and the drums are sampled from the Detroit Emeralds’ “You’re Gettin’ a Little Too Smart.” It was framed as a love letter to Common’s then-girlfriend Erykah Badu, as the two had developed a romance over the course of the Electric Lady sessions. Later on, Common’s “Come Close” featuring vocals from Mary J. Blige would even serve as a marriage proposal to Badu.

On “Spanish Joint,” D’Angelo employed amplifiers, microphones, a Fender Rhodes keyboard and an organ originally used by Stevie Wonder for ‘Talking Book.’ The track also features guest jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter who played both guitar and bass sections on a custom 8-string bass/combo guitar, which had three lower bass and five upper guitar strings. It also had separate pickups for each set of strings and separate outputs for each pickup. Production-wise, that setup had to be as intricate as Hunter’s complex playing was.

Erykah Badu’s “Bag Lady” is about a woman who is trying to begin a new relationship but has too much emotional baggage and as a result can’t get close to anyone. The song’s message is to “pack light” and have hope for the future. What many people don’t know is that the song was co-written by the late soul icon Isaac Hayes who was a mentor to Badu early in her career.

Another Soulquarian, Bilal, was a Philadelphia native. His single “Soul Sista” was so popular that it also appeared on the soundtrack to the movie “Love and Basketball.” Another Bilal track, “Act Too (The Love of My Life),” was originally intended to be an interlude that evolved into a full song and featured Common, whose verse is a continuation of his song “I Used to Love H.E.R.,” from his 1994 album ‘Resurrection’ in which he speaks of hip-hop as a woman. This track, however, is more of a reflection on the evolution of hip-hop through their eyes at the time.

One of the most beautiful tracks you’ll ever hear comes from the Roots album ‘Phrenology,’ a work that built on their landmark 2000 album ‘Things Fall Apart,’ where they began to push themselves in unique musical directions while showcasing a strong hip-hop sensibility at the same time. “Complexity” featured frequent collaborator, fellow Philadephian and honorary Soulquarian Jill Scott, who presents an off-kilter melodic chorus that is just as complex as the romantic subject matter of the song.

At this point, multi-instrumentalist Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, had already made his mark as part of Black Star with Talib Kweli. He would drop his debut solo album ‘Black on Both Sides’ in 1999 and the masterwork was a game changer, receiving universal acclaim from critics and music lovers alike with its merger of old school sensibilities with new school poetics and its well-articulated Afrocentrism. It would feature production work from DJ Premier, Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest, and cameos from Busta Rhymes, Vinia Mojica, Q-Tip and Talib Kweli.

By the time he joined the Soulquarians, Roy Hargrove was a multi-Grammy Award-winning jazz trumpeter who added jazz- and funk-influenced horns in support of D’Angelo’s ‘Voodoo’ album and also supported D’Angelo on tour as a member of the Soultronics, a backing supergroup that also featured Questlove and Pino Palladino, among others. Hargrove’s track “Poetry” featured Q-Tip and Erykah Badu, and the ‘Hard Groove’ album as a whole had a huge influence on merging the worlds of hip-hop and jazz, further expanding the reach of the Soulquarians.

Q-Tip began writing and recording his album ‘Kamaal The Abstract’ during the Electric Lady sessions as well, though the album would not see the light of day until nearly 10 years later in 2009 due to corporate and record label shenanigans.

Collaborations in the collective

Since work was going on for three to four albums simultaneously, there were times that songs were up for grabs between several artists in the collective. A great example of that was the song “Chicken Grease” which appeared on D’Angelo’s ‘Voodoo’ album, but was originally intended for Common. Additionally, the song “Ghetto Heaven” that was on Common’s ‘Like Water for Chocolate’ was supposed to be a duet for D’Angelo and Lauryn Hill on ‘Voodoo,’ but Hill wasn’t available to sing on the D’Angelo record, so Common asked Questlove and D’Angelo for the track.

What Common didn’t know was that D’Angelo had already been angling to get “Chicken Grease” because he felt that Common didn’t know what to do with that song, and that he could infuse it with the level of funk that it needed. So Questlove brokered a peace deal between the artists. Common would give “Chicken Grease” to D’Angelo and D’Angelo would give “Ghetto Heaven” to Common. Common would substitute the original duet partner of Lauryn Hill with Macy Gray and D’Angelo would incorporate that added funk element on “Chicken Grease” to make it sing.

The Dilla difference

While Questlove was the face and leader of the Soulquarians, J Dilla was the heartbeat and the engine that fueled the collective. Dilla would take the production and creative lead on Common’s ‘Like Water for Chocolate’ and have a big part in Badu’s ‘Mama’s Gun.’ While the other artists played on the vintage equipment that was already in Electric Lady studios, Dilla brought his own setup in the console room, which enabled him to be musically ambidextrous and able to work on the simultaneous projects taking place at that time, but also future projects that would happen well beyond that.

Unlike most beatmakers, Dilla had the patience to take the time to listen to the music he was sampling, and some of his best samples would often come in on the last 40 seconds of a song. He knew how to take one small element and turn it into a full-fledged track.

A lesson from Prince

With so many albums in production at Electric Lady, it attracted visits from music artists all over the spectrum. One day, Prince visited the studio and would end up playing on a future album of Common’s – ‘Electric Circus.’

Bilal was an avid curser and used to cuss a lot. Prince, who was a Jehovah’s Witness, didn’t like to hear cursing and would often kick session musicians out if they cursed. Instead of kicking Bilal out, he began having a deep religious discussion with him. After that day, the collective had a “no cursing” policy in Electric Lady and Bilal would have an even deeper respect for Prince.

The beginning of the end

The vibe of the Soulquarians proved to be just as mystical as their Electric Lady Studio hub, and they created a sound that inspired many other artists for years to come. However, the collective would eventually come to an end in two stages.

Vibe Magazine did a feature on Questlove because he was working on the majority of the Soulquarian albums at the time, but was a little shy about some of the praise. Not wanting to make it seem like he was a one-man act, he insisted Vibe do the story on not just him, but the Soulquarian collective as a whole. Vibe came in, took a photo of the group and put it on the cover and framed it as if the Soulquarians were working for Questlove, which rubbed some of the crew the wrong way. Shortly afterwards, they would shoot a performance for Dave Chappelle’s ‘Block Party,’ and that was the last time the “Electric 8” — made up of Mos Def, Common, Bilal, D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, James Poyser, J Dilla, and Questlove — would be together as a unit.

The second development which lead to the demise of the collective came when in 2003, J Dilla began to experience dramatic weight loss and ill health, resulting in his hospitalization and him creating and performing from a wheelchair. It was later revealed that he suffered from Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (a rare blood disease) as well as Lupus. This would dramatically curtail what had previously been a prolific output by him.

He would soldier on, releasing projects at a much slower pace, and eventually pass away at his Los Angeles home, three days after his 32nd birthday and the release of his album ‘Donuts.’ Dilla is remembered in the eyes of many as the greatest producer of all time, and the period of 1997 – 2003 is often recalled as one of the most creative music renaissance periods in modern contemporary music history.

Read more: A conversation with ‘Ma Dukes,’ J Dilla’s mother, on keeping his legacy alive »

The Soulquarian sound

The simultaneous Soulquarian recording projects often shared personnel, sonic aesthetic and concrete musical ideas: a riff or a groove OM conceived for one artist might be put to better use by another, leading to some strategic trading. Still, the overwhelming mood was one of urgent creative independence, a conviction that ran counter to the prevailing commercial mode at the time.

From rappers to soul singers, you can hear distinct traces of the influences of the Soulquarian collective in today’s most innovative music. Listen to the jazz influence on Kendrick Lamar’s records, most notably 2014’s ‘To Pimp A Butterfly,’ and you hear it. Listen to the works of bassist Thundercat and frequent collaborators Terrace Martin and Robert Glasper and you hear it. Listen to Beyoncé, Solange, SZA, H.E.R., Janelle Monaé — all have directly drawn from Badu’s ‘Mama’s Gun’ with its feisty, world-weary, love-torn lyricism and free Black woman spirit, and you hear it.

The Soulquarians created a sound that was warm and funky, dipped in 1970s nostalgia but was still futuristic in scope, and it was unlike anything soul music and hip-hop had seen or heard in years. Those now-historic sessions helped refocus popular music on the importance of live instrumentation and collaboration. And at the end of the day – formed a musical movement based on African rhythms and sublime creativity.

The Progressive Underground Soulquarian Sessions Playlist

• “Think Twice” — J Dilla
• “Superwoman” — Stevie Wonder
• “Playa, Playa” — D’Angelo
• “The Next Movement” — The Roots
• “Penitentiary Philosophy” — Erykah Badu
• “Nag Champa” — Common
• “Feel Like Makin’ Love” — D’Angelo
• “Didn’t Cha’ Know” — Erykah Badu
• “The Light (feat. Erykah Badu) [J Dilla Remix]” — Common
• “K.O.S. (Knowledge of Self)” — Black Star
• “Soul Sista” — Bilal
• “Act Too (The Love of My Life) [feat. Common]” — The Roots
• “Umi Says” — Mos Def
• “Poetry” — Roy Hargrove Presents the RH Factor
• “Ghetto Heaven (feat. Macy Gray)” — Common
• “Chicken Grease” — D’Angelo
• “Make ’em NV (Instrumental)” — J Dilla
• “Dreamy” — J Dilla
• “Find A Way (feat. J Dilla) [Instrumental]” — A Tribe Called Quest
• “Love Poems” — Bilal
• “The Blast” — Reflection Eternal (Hi-Tek & Talib Kweli)
• “AD 2000” — Erykah Badu
• “Break You Off (feat. Musiq Soulchild)” — The Roots
• “Come Close (feat. Mary J. Blige)” — Common
• “Strength” — RH Factor (Roy Hargrove)
• “Spanish Joint” — D’Angelo
• “Complexity (feat. Jill Scott)” — The Roots
• “Bag Lady” — Erykah Badu
• “Even If It Is So” — Q-Tip
• “New Wave” — Common
• “May/December” — Mos Def
• “Thelonius (feat. Slum Village)” — Common
• “Brown Sugar” — Mos Def
• “The Seed 2.0 (feat. Cody Chesnutt)” — The Roots
• “Back in the Day” — Erykah Badu
• “Get Involved” — Raphael Saadiq & Q-Tip
• “Universe” — RH Factor (Roy Hargrove)
• “Africa” — D’Angelo