In the 1970s, Fela Kuti pioneered the exhilarating meld of horn-driven jazz, funk and west African highlife that took James Brown's soul beat "back to Africa".
He sums up: "Basically, a whole bunch of geeks accompanying my set through all the weirdest changes, twists and bends, from soft to hard to aggro core break soul beats from wherever the fuck".
Best known initially as Jay Z's wunderkind producer at the turn of the millennium, champion of the sample-driven "chipmunk soul" beats heard in "Izzo (H.O.V.A)." and "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)," West's music now illuminates the pop skyline with a gauche radiance all its own.
Titan Souls beat out 2,063 other entrants to win that particular event.
"The kids here, even though they might not be as good, they're giving their heart and soul to beating somebody like Fabiano".
A Memphis soul beat, blues leads and honking saxophone take over on "Joy to the World," and an early Motown swing carries "Soul'd Lang Syne".
The Soul II Soul beat was replaced by something that sounded like a ringtone, a marimba, or both.
The Mighty Clouds of Joy, founded in 1959, mobilize quartet-style harmonies with a Southern soul beat, proclaiming their faith with both suavely blended voices and shouting exhortations.
When he's lusty, he's still monogamous, as when he plays a truck driver speeding home in "Hauling One Thing" or tries to rekindle desire with his wife in "Let's Do That Again," over a steadfast soul beat by way of Al Green and the Eagles.
From spliffed-out dub, to organic soul, beat-driven hip-hop, and straight up bass, there's something or everything in Vadim's musical output.
