In Questlove‘s 2013 autobiography, Mo’ Meta Blues, he describes the formation of the Soulquarians, a collective that coalesced during recording sessions for his Roots‘ Things Fall Apart, D’Angelo‘s Voodoo, Common‘s Like Water for Chocolate and Erykah Badu‘s Mama’s Gun. Its core members were James Poyser, D’Angelo, J Dilla and Questlove himself, all of whom had the astrological sign of Aquarius. It quickly evolved into shorthand for a period which saw the peak of neo-soul as an artistic movement.
Its genesis began during a series of house jams The Roots threw in Philadelphia, which attracted fledging local singers like Bilal, Musiq Soulchild and Jill Scott; ambitious rappers like Eve and Beanie Sigel (both of whom appear on Things Fall Apart); and young vocalists like India.Arie and Jazmine Sullivan, the latter still in her early teens at the time. (Those informal jams were succeeded by Black Lily, a club event hosted by The Roots’ backing vocalists the Jazzyfatnastees.) The Soulquarians orbit expanded to DJ Jazzy Jeff (who produced Scott’s debut), Vikter Duplaix (who worked with Poyser on his album),Raphael Saadiq, Mos Def and Q-Tip, as well as frequent Roots collaborators Dice Raw, Scratch, Jaguar Wright, Rahzel and Ursula Rucker. There was even talk of creating a Soulquarians Big Band similar to Duke Ellington‘s orchestra — a dream collaboration that was difficult to take seriously given the platinum-certified egos involved, but was fun to fantasize about anyway.
That would have been soooooooo cool!
Common – The Light
Erykah Badu w/Common – Love of My Life
The Roots w/Musiq Soulchild – Break You Off