Soul in the City:
Ear Candy Interview with Chinah Blac

Written by: Slangston Hughes
Photography by: Edith Williams of Diamond Digital Portraits

 

Slangston: Slangston Hughes here from eXcape the matriX magazine with Chinah Blac.

Chinah Blac: Yes! We must eXcape it. Get up out of there… [laughs]

 

Slangston: Now, I ask this to most Soul artists that I come across, even in just general conversation. You now have this rather media, industry commercialized, if you will, somewhat term that they try and label the kind of music that certain artists like yourself make and that term is “Neo-Soul”. And you even had Jaguar Wright with her last album entitled Divorcing Neo to Marry Soul. What are your thoughts on that entire concept and idea of something being “Neo-Soul”?

Chinah Blac: I don’t believe in Neo-Soul! I don’t consider myself to be a Neo-Soul artist. There is no such thing as “new soul”! And actually the creation of so-called Neo-Soul came from a cat named T.R. Maxenburg who signed an artist named Erykah Badu and needed to break her. So, he had to create something to break her and that worked, for her, and I love Erykah, love all of that, but it worked for her. It does not work for everyone else. Just because you play Rhodes or a song is a little slow doesn’t make it Neo-Soul. And Neo-Soul is not just instrumentation. when Erykah came out, she was her life at that time. It was more than just the music. It was the head wrap, it was the flowers, the revolutionary lyrics that came with it. You know, all of those things was Neo-Soul. Then, you had artists coming out and just because they sang slow and they had an afro, if they had some incense and they played Rhodes, it became Neo-Soul. Anything that was not pop or not bumble gum R&B was labeled Neo-Soul. And it’s to the point now that people don’t even want to come to a show that’s labeled “Neo-Soul” because they think it going to be slow and a bunch of ballads all the time and people are coming from work and they don’t want to hear a ballad all day; they want to hear something upbeat and something that’s going to give them hope. Nobody wants to slit their wrist when they get off work, but sometimes you hear these songs that are considered “Neo-Soul” and that’s eXactly what it makes you want to do. So, I hate the term “Neo-Soul”. On a lot of flyers for shows I’m in, I’ll see “Neo-Soul Songstress” or “Neo-Soul Sensation” and I let it go, but once I get there, I make it clear that that’s not what I am. Because, yes, we have to do what we have to do to get where we want to get as artists in terms of what they market and how they market it, but my life is not centered around these grassroot ideas of something that they try to put in a box and call “Neo-Soul”, because the box is just too small. I mean, how can you venture out if you’re just in this one box? And then you got this one little box that you’re in and then there’s Pop in this huge box and then you got Hip-Hop in another huge box that you’re competing with… Why be in a box at all?!

 

“I call what I do ‘Aggressive Soul’ because it has to be labeled something. I mean, that’s just the world we’re living in. The way I always describe it is, if Chaka Khan and Busta Rhymes had a baby, that would be me. I’m very in your face, very raw and uncut, yet melodic, yet lyrically beautiful with orchestrated live instrumentation, but not too far left that you can’t get it. I can still play it for a 3 year-old and even they’ll bounce up and down…”

 

Slangton: Now, I have to say that is the best most complete answer to that question that I have ever gotten yet. It’s interesting that you mention the way they’ll market because recently I actually saw a flyer online promoting a Fertile Ground show in Atlanta and they were using a lot of those same cliché aesthetics. It said like, “There will be incense burning and a barefoot Nubian goddess on stage singing. You don’t want to miss it.” I guess you have to ask yourself, is the way they choose to market certain artists really indicative of the depth and brilliance of their music or are they just attempting to sell an image? And speaking of marketing good music, you have worked with some of everyone: a true list of who’s who in the industry. So, now that you’re venturing out on your own and establishing your own brand, what is the main thing that people should look for and get eXcited about from Chinah Blac as a solo artist?

Chinah Blac: Well, I call what I do “Aggressive Soul” because it has to be labeled something. I mean, that’s just the world we’re living in. The way I always describe it is, if Chaka Khan and Busta Rhymes had a baby, that would be me. I’m very in your face, very raw and uncut, yet melodic, yet lyrically beautiful with orchestrated live instrumentation, but not too far left that you can’t get it. I can still play it for a 3 year-old and even they’ll bounce up and down.

 

Slangton: Now, speaking of the music itself, your project Eargasmic… What is the science behind the title and what can people eXpect from the project from a sonic standpoint?

Chinah Blac: I was reading a review on me and the writer, he described my vocal ability as eargasmic, and I was like, “Wow. That’s crazy!” And we had been trying to come up with a title for the mixtape that could be a connection into the next album which is The Resurrection of Chinah Blac that could showcase where I was trying to go next musically and that title really fit the concept.

 

“I don’t believe in Neo-Soul! I don’t consider myself to be a Neo-Soul artist. There is no such thing as
‘new soul’! […] Yes, we have to do what we have to do to get where we want to get as artists in terms of
what they market and how they market it, but my life is not centered around these grassroot ideas of
something that they try to put in a box and call ‘Neo-Soul’, because the box is just too small…”

 

Slangston: Last question: What is the main difference between what people can eXpect from your studio project and what they’re going to eXperience from Chinah Blac at a live show?

Chinah Blac: Honestly, we perform the songs before we record them. I record my albums in reverse. I don’t record the songs and then take them on the road. I take them on the road and then record them. That way I know what works and what doesn’t. That way it guarantees that consumers and listeners of mine will want to buy and love the album because they’ve heard the music. So, they’re not taking a risk on whether or not they’ll like the record because they’ve already heard it live and had a chance to make a prior connection with it.

 

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