Superstition said:

I would say Frankie Beverly and Maze

His voice is kinda rough nowadays.

Superstition said:

among others.

How about Leon Ware?

MickyDolenz said:

Yeah, Frankie’s voice is gone, but that’s now. In the 70’s and 80’s, they were making soul music that was really their own. I definitely hear precursors to neo-soul in their work.

Neo-soul is a fake genre so this question is really a non-starter to meaninful convo IMO.

Germanegro said:

It’s all in one’s perspective, I guess, lol. I know what you mean but I can still hear a distinct difference in sound from what many. including myself, consider to be neo-soul compared to the stuff that was going on with New Jack swing and hip-hop driven R&B.
[Edited 2/26/22 20:27pm]

paisleypark4 said:

vainandy said:

Oh my God, I would definitely say Anita Faker was the first I heard. She was even more boring than Shitney Houston who was more crossover adult contemporary....but hey....when you kill funk, it opens up the doors for something even more boring than adult contemporary to take over also.

.

I don't agree about Sade though. When I hear stuff like "Is It A Crime" or "Your Love Is King", I think of sexy jazzy after midnight stuff from the 1970s like "Moondance" and "Midnight At The Oasis". I envision a beautiful high class call girl meeting her clients in a lounge after midnight before going to a high class hotel. When I hear Anita Faker, I envision a woman in a full cut dress, below the knees, possibly homemade, meeting men a church socials and inviting them over for Sunday dinner with her whole family while watching the kids run around and play in the back yard..... Oh, and I almost forgot, and if you went through her record collection, you probably wouldn't find any funk, disco, rock, or fun type of music whatsoever.

I only like a handful of songs by her but I could never listen to a whole album.

Sweetest Taboo

Nothing Can Come Between Us

No Ordinary Love

But those songs would work well just as a slow cut inbetween the fast songs...not when ALL of the songs are slow. Growing up she might have been the first time I heard something jazzy being beloved by all groups of people

I'm not a Sade lover to be honest, but her 'Stronger That Pride' album is so god damn good.

It was the perfect album for that summer.

Still play it from time to time when i'm in a need of a long drive when it is too hot.

-

vainandy made me laugh so hard, cause there's truth in it. LOL

[Edited 3/7/22 7:57am]