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The Soulquarians were a rotating collective of experimental Black music artists active during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Initially formed by singer and multi-instrumentalist D'Angelo, drummer and producer Questlove, and producer-rapper J Dilla. They were later joined by singer-songwriter Erykah Badu, trumpeter Roy Hargrove, keyboardist James Poyser, singer Bilal, bassist Pino Palladino, rapper-producers Q-Tip and Yasiin Bey, and rappers Talib Kweli and Common. Prior to its formation, Q-Tip, Common, Mos Def, and Talib Kweli were members of the Native Tongues collective, whilst Q-Tip's original group A Tribe Called Quest served as one of the inspirations behind the Soulquarians.
Stylistically, the collective's music has been variously described as neo soul, alternative hip hop, progressive soul, avant-garde, soul music, conscious rap, and jazz fusion. Their members often collaborated on each other's recordings, holding extensive and innovative sessions at Electric Lady Studios in New York, which produced several well-received albums. Questlove, of the hip hop band The Roots, acted as the "musical powerhouse" behind several of the collective's projects, including The Roots' Things Fall Apart (1999), D'Angelo's Voodoo (2000), Badu's Mama's Gun (2000), and Common's Like Water for Chocolate (2000).Peisner, David. " Body & Soul". Spin: 64–72. August 2008. Reflecting on their recordings, Common told Spin in 2008: "It was one of those time periods that you don't even realize when you're going through it that it's powerful".
Also around this time, D'Angelo and Welsh bassist Pino Palladino developed a connection over their mutual love of Motown and other classic soul music. Palladino then became active in the Soulquarians, playing on the majority of their discography and serving as a member of the Soultronics touring band that supported D'Angelo's Voodoo tour. Another influence on the Soulquarians was the 1990s hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest. Rapper and producer Q-Tip was the leader of said group.
Recording sessions began in 1997 when D'Angelo and Questlove prepared to record the former's Voodoo (2000) album at the studio. According to Russell Elevado, the Audio engineer on Voodoo, they used over 200 reels of tape to record in 1997 alone.
The collective's sessions there over the next five years resulted in the Roots' albums Things Fall Apart (1999) and Phrenology (2002), Badu's second album Mama's Gun (2000), Common's Like Water for Chocolate (2000) and Electric Circus (2002), and singer Bilal's debut album 1st Born Second. According to music journalist Michael Gonzales, their sessions were marked by an experimentation with "dirty soul, muddy water blues, Black Ark dub science, mix-master madness, screeching guitars, old school hip-hop, gutbucket romanticism, inspired lyricism, African chats and aesthetics, pimpin' politics, strange Moog synthesizer, Kraftwerk synths and spacey noise". The musical approach also influenced the collective's associated musicians, including Mos Def's Black on Both Sides (1999), singer Res's How I Do (2001), and rapper Talib Kweli's Quality (2002).
Questlove served as what Jim DeRogatis called "the musical powerhouse" behind the collective's sessions at the studio. "I tried to do all in my power that I could to bring people together – to bring Common to Electric Lady, have him record here whenever so that he could record with some of these other artists", Questlove explained in 2002. "You'd just come into the A Room, you don't even know who has a session, but you call me: 'Who's down there?' 'Common's in there today.' So you come down, you order some food, sit down and bullshit, watch a movie, and then it's, 'Let's play something.' And I say, 'Who wants this track?' And it would be, 'I want it!' 'No, I want it!'"Jim DeRogatis. " Just Plain Common Sense". Chicago Sun-Times: February 5, 2006. Archived from the original on August 24, 2009.
Speaking about the end of The Soulquarians, in 2015, Questlove blamed a September 2000 magazine photo and article from Vibe as part of the reason for their eventual split:
The Vibe magazine photo was the beginning of the end. Because when that issue came out, motherfuckers were angry. The issue started out as a feature about me. The people at Vibe had a clue that I was working on D'Angelo, Erykah, The Roots, Jill Scott, Bilal, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, Slum Village, and Nikka Costa's records. At the height of everything, I was working with 17 different artists. I was really gun shy on any unwelcomed praise. I came from a commune. It wasn't a one man act. I was very uncomfortable accepting a title or praise. I insisted to Vibe that they could get the story, but they had to make it about the family and not one person.The thing was we never had a title, but because the journalist was hanging with us the whole time, they were like you guys keep saying Soulquarians all of the time. I explained the difference. I said that the Soulquarians were me, James, D'Angelo, and J Dilla. The Soultronics was the group we were putting together with D'Angelo. So when we took the photo and then I saw the Vibe cover it said The Soulquarians. I was in Chicago when I saw it, and I said, "Oh shit. This is bad." The next thing you know, every phone call that came in people were saying, "Yo, man. It looks like I'm working for you. I'm not an Aquarian. I'm my own person." Literally, that's when it all fell apart.
In 2003, Questlove unequivocally stated that there were no plans for a Soulquarians album release for the foreseeable future. This was interpreted as a silent breakup of the outfit. However, according to an interview with Common (circa 2005), the collective continued to exist." Common: It's About Time". MVRemix Interviews: April 2005. Retrieved on January 21, 2016 In February 2006, founding member J Dilla died of cardiac arrest after prior health issues. That same year, Bilal's Love for Sale Music leak and was indefinitely shelved by his label, although it developed an underground following and wide acclaim over the years. Reflecting on the collective's impact since then, Gonzales writes in 2015:
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> De La Soul & Common: On the Spitkicker Tour. MTV. Retrieved on September 30, 2009. – vocals, production
| 1999 | The Roots | Things Fall Apart | Platinum | |||
| 1999 | Yasiin Bey | Black on Both Sides | Gold | |||
| 1999 | Q-Tip | Amplified | Gold | |||
| 2000 | D'Angelo | Voodoo | Platinum | |||
| 2000 | Common | Like Water for Chocolate | Gold | |||
| 2000 | Slum Village | Fantastic, Vol. 2 | ||||
| 2000 | Erykah Badu | Mama's Gun | Platinum | |||
| 2001 | J Dilla | Welcome 2 Detroit | ||||
| 2001 | Bilal | 1st Born Second | ||||
| 2002 | Talib Kweli | Quality | Gold | |||
| 2002 | The Roots | Phrenology | Gold | |||
| 2002 | Common | Electric Circus | ||||
| 2003 | Erykah Badu | Worldwide Underground | Gold | |||
| 2006* | Bilal | Love for Sale | ||||
| (*) Music leak without commercial release | ||||||
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