Since 2000, Musiq Soulchild has amassed seven Top 10 hits on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. And unlike many of his contemporaries, Musiq's chart dominance occurred quietly and with a humble air of confidence.
Upon close inspection, Musiq's prodigious output places him in an elite crowd of R&B heavyweights. In fact, he is on an incredibly short list of R&B male artists who have been able to release five best-selling (and award-winning) albums within an eight year time span in the past 30 years. One of six, Musiq stands alongside Prince, Luther Vandross, Gerald Levert, R. Kelly and Brian McKnight in the annals of R&B history, and his string of hits—"Just Friends (Sunny)," "Love," "Dontchange," "Halfcrazy," "Buddy," "Teachme" and "Ifyouleave"—rival the popularity and notoriety of the industry's leading soul men.
On December 9, 2008, Musiq Soulchild released Onmyradio, his fifth studio album. Two days after its release, Musiq managed to find time in his busy schedule to settle down for an interview with Clayton Perry, where together they reflected on beatboxing, "Betterman," and the need for responsible music.
Since 2000, you have blessed music lovers with several long-standing R&B hits. Beyond this accomplishment, what do you consider to be your greatest contribution to the R&B genre?
I think my greatest contribution would have to be providing a realistic perspective on what really goes on in relationships these days in music form.
In the early part of your career, you stated that you didn't really feel like you had reached a point in your career where you could make unapologetic, raw music. When you came out with "Radio" as your lead single, did you feel like you were taking a risk?
No. With "Radio," I thought it was fresh. I think that should be the purpose of making music, to make music that people are going to enjoy no matter what's going on at that time. I was in the studio and I heard the track. I wanted to do it and I didn't want to concern myself with the fact that it was different for me, at least different coming from me to people, that they wouldn't accept it. I had confidence that it was good and that somebody was going to like it.
When Onmyradio's second single, "If U Leave," went up the charts, were you disappointed by radio's reception of "Radio?"
I wasn't disappointed. I actually expected it. I knew that it would take some time to change people's perspective. In fact, I think it did quite well. But I knew that if I had a song like "If U Leave" to support it, then people would see that just because I did a song like "Radio" that doesn't mean that I had forgotten to make a ballad like "If U Leave."
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