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▄▓▀▀ ▀████▓▄█▓▓▓███▓█▓▀▀▀ TEAM RNS PRESENTS ▄■ ▐█▄▓██
▀ ▀██░▐██▀▀ ▐█▄ ▄██▌ ▄██▌░█▌
▀ ▄▄ ▀█▄▀██▄▄████▌ARTIST: Musiq ▐████▄███▀▄█▀ ▄▄
▄██▌ ▀▓▄▀██▄▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▄██▀▄▓▀ ▐██▄
█████▄ ▐█▌▐███▄ TITLE: Soulstar ▄███▌▐█▌ ▄█████
███████▄▄▄▓░ ▓█████ ██████▄░▓▄▄▄███████
▀█████▓▄▄▄█▐▓█████▌ LABEL: Def Soul ▐█████▓▌█▄▄▄▓█████▀
▀▀████▀▀▄██████▀ ▀██████▄▀▀████▀▀
▄▄▀▀ ▄██████▀ RIPPER: Team RNS ▀██████▄
▄ ▀ ▄██████▀ ▀██████▄
▄█▓▀ ▄██████▀ ▀██████▄
██▌ ▐██████▌ ▐██████▌
▀██▄ ▐██████ 192kbps - R&B ▐▓█████▌
▀██▄ ▀█████▌ 1hr 11min total-102.7mb ██████▀
▄▄▀▀███▄▄▀▀███▄ ███▓▀▀
█▓ ▀▀██▄ ▀██▄ RELEASE DATE: 2003-12-09 ██▀
▀▓▄ ▐██▌ ▐██▓▄ RIP DATE: 2003-11-25 ▄██▌
▀▀▄▄▄▄███▀ ▄▓▓█▓██▄ ▄▄▓▓█▓▓▄
▀▀▀ ▄█████▀ ▀▀██▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄███████████▄
▄█████▀▄ ▀▀▀███▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄███████▀▀▀▀ ▀█████▄
▄█████▀ █▄ ▀▀▀▀█████████▀▀▀▀▀ ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐▓█ ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ▄█▓█ ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▄▓██▓ ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ track list ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄
▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ ---------- ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄
▄████▀▀▀▄ ▐██▓ 01 Soulstar (Feat. DJ Aktive & 3:02 ▓██▌ ▐▌ ▐████
▐████▌ ▄▄▓▓█▓▌ Carol Riddick) ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄▄███▀
▀████▄▄▄▄███████▀ 02 Youloveme 3:50 ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▀▀███▀▄█████▀ 03 Womanopoly 4:55 ▀█████▄
▄█████▀ ▀▄▄ 04 Forthenight (Feat. Aaries) 3:50 ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ 05 Infatueighties 4:36 ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ 06 Whoknows 4:55 ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ 07 Babymother 4:43 ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ 08 Missyou 4:00 ▀█████████
▀▀██▄ 09 Momentinlife (Feat. Kindred 4:43 ▄██▀▀███ ▀ ▄
▄▄▄▄▄ ▐██▓ The Family Soul & Cee-Lo) ▓██▌ ████▄ ▄█▌
▀ ▀▀███▄ ▄▓▓█▓▌ 10 Thereason 5:29 ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀███████▀
▐███▌▄█████▀ 11 Dontstop (Feat. Bilal) 8:08 ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▄ ▄███▄█████▀ 12 Whereareyougoing 4:28 ▀█████▄
▀▀███▀██████▀ ▀▄▄ 13 Romancipation 4:10 ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ 14 Interlude 0:38 ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ 15 Givemorelove / Leavemessage 9:46 ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄
▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ release notes ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄
▄████▀▀▀▄ ▐██▓ ▓██▌ ▐▌ ▐████
▐████▌ ▄▄▓▓█▓▌ Another Day Another Pre and another ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄▄███▀
▀████▄▄▄▄███████▀ shitty group with fakes, Stop defending ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▀▀███▀▄█████▀ them because no matter what they will just ▀█████▄
▄█████▀ ▀▄▄ make you look stupid in the end when ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ they keep faking and reencoding and ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ releasing nukes. Enjoy this nice early ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ retail. ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ ▀█████████
▀▀██▄ MUSIQ ▄██▀▀███ ▀ ▄
▄▄▄▄▄ ▐██▓ ▓██▌ ████▄ ▄█▌
▀ ▀▀███▄ ▄▓▓█▓▌ SOULSTAR ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀███████▀
▐███▌▄█████▀ ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▄ ▄███▄█████▀ How does one bend tradition without making ▀█████▄
▀▀███▀██████▀ ▀▄▄ it break? How can you travel through ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ space without leaving home? How can a ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ multi-platinum artist, after only two ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ albums, turn his third into an ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ exploration of futuristic funk without ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄
▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ forgetting his roots in homegrown soul ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄
▄████▀▀▀▄ ▐██▓ and old school hip hop? ▓██▌ ▐▌ ▐████
▐████▌ ▄▄▓▓█▓▌ ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄▄███▀
▀████▄▄▄▄███████▀ Singer/songwriter/producer Musiq has the ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▀▀███▀▄█████▀ answers to those questions on SOULSTAR; a ▀█████▄
▄█████▀ ▀▄▄ collection of fifteen memorable moments ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ of soulsong, familiar and freakishly ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ surreal. ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ Recording as usual, in his hometown of ▀█████████
▀▀██▄ Philadelphia, Musiq and Writing/producing ▄██▀▀███ ▀ ▄
▄▄▄▄▄ ▐██▓ partners Carvin Haggins and Ivan Barias ▓██▌ ████▄ ▄█▌
▀ ▀▀███▄ ▄▓▓█▓▌ have gone so far beyond the tag ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀███████▀
▐███▌▄█████▀ "neo-soul" on SOULSTAR, you almost ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▄ ▄███▄█████▀ forget their previous collaborations, ▀█████▄
▀▀███▀██████▀ ▀▄▄ 2000's Aijuswanaseing and 2002's ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ Juslisen defined that genre. ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ Musiqs desire to make his singularly, ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ iconoclastic vision known gave ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄
▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ Aijuswanaseing a hushed but rushed ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄
▄████▀▀▀▄ ▐██▓ quality to its caramel-coated grooves; a ▓██▌ ▐▌ ▐████
▐████▌ ▄▄▓▓█▓▌ rawness that made his love songs ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄▄███▀
▀████▄▄▄▄███████▀ tougher and his tough songs lovelier. ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▀▀███▀▄█████▀ For Juslisen, Musiq learned the value of ▀█████▄
▄█████▀ ▀▄▄ teamwork; how to hip hop jump start even ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ the smokiest, subtle groove. "I allowed ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ other people's ideas to filter through ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ more, to let other people's talent ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ shine on". ▀█████████
▀▀██▄ ▄██▀▀███ ▀ ▄
▄▄▄▄▄ ▐██▓ Those albums, influenced by Musiqs ▓██▌ ████▄ ▄█▌
▀ ▀▀███▄ ▄▓▓█▓▌ heroes, Stevie Wonder and Donny ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀███████▀
▐███▌▄█████▀ Hathaway, are benchmarks of modern soul ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▄ ▄███▄█████▀ based. But on SOULSTAR, Musiq has added ▀█████▄
▀▀███▀██████▀ ▀▄▄ new colors to his palette of inspiration ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ - James Brown, David Bowie, Fela Kuti, ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ Sly Stone - while maintaining a style ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ uniquely his own, finding even newer ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ nuances throughout. ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄
▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄
▄████▀▀▀▄ ▐██▓ "With the changes on SOULSTAR, I'm ▓██▌ ▐▌ ▐████
▐████▌ ▄▄▓▓█▓▌ trying to warm people to the idea that ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄▄███▀
▀████▄▄▄▄███████▀ there's more to me than whatever "neo ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▀▀███▀▄█████▀ soul" is", says Musiq, letting audiences ▀█████▄
▄█████▀ ▀▄▄ of all stripes know theres life beyond ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ R&B, beyond Philly, beyond rational ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ thought. SOULSTAR is a mix of album ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ one's raw qualities and the dignity of ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ number two's professionalism, with a new ▀█████████
▀▀██▄ creativity that sees the Musiq sound ▄██▀▀███ ▀ ▄
▄▄▄▄▄ ▐██▓ soaring into the future with his sensual ▓██▌ ████▄ ▄█▌
▀ ▀▀███▄ ▄▓▓█▓▌ soul-slinging voice and its lyrical ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀███████▀
▐███▌▄█████▀ demands intact. ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▄ ▄███▄█████▀ ▀█████▄
▀▀███▀██████▀ ▀▄▄ "I'm not necessarily going in a ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ different direction than the last two ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ records says Musiq, of the retro-fit ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ R&B of Aijuswanaseing and Juslisen. ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ "I'm just going about things in a ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄
▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ different way. It's the same road. I'm ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄
▄████▀▀▀▄ ▐██▓ just in a newer car." ▓██▌ ▐▌ ▐████
▐████▌ ▄▄▓▓█▓▌ ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄▄███▀
▀████▄▄▄▄███████▀ Like its predecessors, SOULSTAR had its ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▀▀███▀▄█████▀ start after a long bout of touring. This ▀█████▄
▄█████▀ ▀▄▄ gave the sessions between Musiq and the ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ Mama's Boys production team of Barias ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ and Haggins a looseness at one with ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ the live vibe of the road. ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ ▀█████████
▀▀██▄ The first song written was the ▄██▀▀███ ▀ ▄
▄▄▄▄▄ ▐██▓ game-playing analogy of "Womanopoly". ▓██▌ ████▄ ▄█▌
▀ ▀▀███▄ ▄▓▓█▓▌ "Yeah, that's Carvin", laughs Musiq of ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀███████▀
▐███▌▄█████▀ his partner's wordplay; a story about an ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▄ ▄███▄█████▀ unhappy, ambitious girl moving up to Park ▀█████▄
▀▀███▀██████▀ ▀▄▄ Place to snag her share of the Community ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ Chest. ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ If Carvin works the words with Musiq, ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ it's Ivan who takes responsibility, with ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄
▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ Musiq, for the music and production. ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄
▄████▀▀▀▄ ▐██▓ ▓██▌ ▐▌ ▐████
▐████▌ ▄▄▓▓█▓▌ "Though I play singer, we're one unit ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄▄███▀
▀████▄▄▄▄███████▀ says Musiq of the trios Car Mu I name. I ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▀▀███▀▄█████▀ translate what they do my own way." ▀█████▄
▄█████▀ ▀▄▄ ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ "It's that feel-good vibe" says Musiq ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ of the title track's lush introduction ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ soulstar. After that, Musiq leaves his ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ city of brotherly love for points south ▀█████████
▀▀██▄ (the dirty, "romanicipation"), north (the ▄██▀▀███ ▀ ▄
▄▄▄▄▄ ▐██▓ chilled ballad "whoknows"), and ▓██▌ ████▄ ▄█▌
▀ ▀▀███▄ ▄▓▓█▓▌ off-the-planet (the future-funked ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀███████▀
▐███▌▄█████▀ forthenight"). ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▄ ▄███▄█████▀ ▀█████▄
▀▀███▀██████▀ ▀▄▄ SOULSTAR's first single, "Forthenight" ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ is a slapped-hard rhythmic track with a ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ bridge thats a catchy, quirky switch ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ up from its tuneful melody; dedicated ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ as much to the 80s as it is the romance ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄
▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ of commitment-phobia. So too does ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄
▄████▀▀▀▄ ▐██▓ "infatueighties" sell its soul to the ▓██▌ ▐▌ ▐████
▐████▌ ▄▄▓▓█▓▌ hedonistic decade, with its rat-tat-tat ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄▄███▀
▀████▄▄▄▄███████▀ rhythm and tit-for-tat sexuality. ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▀▀███▀▄█████▀ "That's my B-Boy song" says Musiq. ▀█████▄
▄█████▀ ▀▄▄ ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ The same thing can be said of his cover ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ of the Rolling Stones' "missyou, a ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ rocker Musiq took further than Jagger ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ himself. "If he's mad. I'm more like.... ▀█████████
▀▀██▄ Damn; not anger or sadness, but the space ▄██▀▀███ ▀ ▄
▄▄▄▄▄ ▐██▓ in between." ▓██▌ ████▄ ▄█▌
▀ ▀▀███▄ ▄▓▓█▓▌ ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀███████▀
▐███▌▄█████▀ In between SOULSTARs new ideas is an old ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▄ ▄███▄█████▀ soul - Musiqs voice; the very thing that ▀█████▄
▀▀███▀██████▀ ▀▄▄ made him a legend before he hit 25. The ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ growth that signaled new ways of ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ writing and production on SOULSTAR ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ affects too Musiqs satiny, simmering ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ vocals. The angelic highs of youloveme, ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄
▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ the weariness of her, the confidently ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄
▄████▀▀▀▄ ▐██▓ cocky romancipation; all are ▓██▌ ▐▌ ▐████
▐████▌ ▄▄▓▓█▓▌ proclamations of Musiqs soul-slinging ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄▄███▀
▀████▄▄▄▄███████▀ maturation. ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▀▀███▀▄█████▀ ▀█████▄
▄█████▀ ▀▄▄ SOULSTAR approaches the buoyant balladry ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ of "whoknows" and the stammering funk ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ of "romanicipation" with slinky ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ production innovations courtesy Musiq ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ himself. Like his co-production credits ▀█████████
▀▀██▄ throughout SOULSTAR, the warm brass and ▄██▀▀███ ▀ ▄
▄▄▄▄▄ ▐██▓ reed arrangement of "whoknows" and the ▓██▌ ████▄ ▄█▌
▀ ▀▀███▄ ▄▓▓█▓▌ baritone-sax bass line of ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀███████▀
▐███▌▄█████▀ "romancipation reveal an artist ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▄ ▄███▄█████▀ experimenting with his love of sound. ▀█████▄
▀▀███▀██████▀ ▀▄▄ ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ "That Earth ,Wind & Fire vibe, that ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ Fela sax line? Those were part of my ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ growing up. That's the point behind the ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ name "Soulchild". ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄
▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄
▄████▀▀▀▄ ▐██▓ On the wack side, the twisted Muzak of ▓██▌ ▐▌ ▐████
▐████▌ ▄▄▓▓█▓▌ "youloveme, with its lullaby melody and ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄▄███▀
▀████▄▄▄▄███████▀ ping-pong vocals, is as close to an ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▀▀███▀▄█████▀ early 60s TV theme as he's likely to get; ▀█████▄
▄█████▀ ▀▄▄ "my Dick Van Dyke for the BET ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ generation" jokes Musiq. Sometimes, hes ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ not joking. The tough, live ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ "leaveamessage" - with its oscillating ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ organs and fatback bass - was necessary ▀█████████
▀▀██▄ to Musiq. "I wanted to explain to people ▄██▀▀███ ▀ ▄
▄▄▄▄▄ ▐██▓ trying to reach me, I'm not trying to be ▓██▌ ████▄ ▄█▌
▀ ▀▀███▄ ▄▓▓█▓▌ an ass. My life is so filled with junk ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀███████▀
▐███▌▄█████▀ - I just can't call you. But I'm ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▄ ▄███▄█████▀ thinking of you." ▀█████▄
▀▀███▀██████▀ ▀▄▄ ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ Musiq approaches "reasons" with the ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ same blunt clarity, a song dedicated ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ to music itself - the healing life ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ force that's guided him when he's needed ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄
▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ light, saved him when he's needed ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄
▄████▀▀▀▄ ▐██▓ salvation, embraced him when no one else ▓██▌ ▐▌ ▐████
▐████▌ ▄▄▓▓█▓▌ could. "It's my ode, my thank you to ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄▄███▀
▀████▄▄▄▄███████▀ what music's meant to me." ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▀▀███▀▄█████▀ ▀█████▄
▄█████▀ ▀▄▄ For fans of Aijuswanaseing and Juslisen, ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ Musiq wants them to know he's the same ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ guy from a town filled with musical ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ history, looking to maintain that ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ heritage while stretching as an artist. ▀█████████
▀▀██▄ "And for people who never heard my last ▄██▀▀███ ▀ ▄
▄▄▄▄▄ ▐██▓ two records, SOULSTAR is a journey into ▓██▌ ████▄ ▄█▌
▀ ▀▀███▄ ▄▓▓█▓▌ sound thats familiar and freaky. ▐▓█▓▓▄ ▀███████▀
▐███▌▄█████▀ SOULSTARs a futuristic throwback that's ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀
▄ ▄███▄█████▀ just a little bit out there" says Musiq. ▀█████▄
▀▀███▀██████▀ ▀▄▄ Its a play on the idea of being a star. ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄
▐█████ ▐█▓ But its also something, like my last ▓█▌ █████▌
█████▌ ███▌ name, that carries responsibility. I'm ▐███ ▐█████
▀█████▄ ▓██▓ growing into the name Soulchild more ▓██▓ ▄█████▀
▀▀███████▀ every day. It's one I have to live up ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄
▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ to. ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄
▄████▀▀▀▄ ▐██▓ ▓██▌ ▐▌ ▐████
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