This award winning, platinum selling artist has been struggling to make a name for himself since the age of 17. Musiq Soulchild has a unique blend of soul, funk, R&B, jazz, blues and hip hop. This has helped him to establish himself as a well known musician who is willing to go beyond the typical sound.

Musiq Soulchild

"Time waits for nothing, no one and everything."

This award winning, platinum selling artist has been struggling to make a name for himself since the age of 17. Musiq Soulchild has a unique blend of soul, funk, R&B, jazz, blues and hip hop. This has helped him to establish himself as a well known musician who is willing to go beyond the typical sound.

Early Years

In September of 1977, Taalib Johnson was born the oldest of nine children in Philadelphia. He loved music at an early age and began to pursue it in any way that he could. He began by taking part in the open mike scene all throughout Philadelphia. Musiq Soulchild dropped out of school and left home when he was 17 so that he could go on to pursue his musical career.

He went anywhere he could to pursue music. He scatted at jazz clubs, sang a cappella on the streets of Philadelphia he would even beat box along with other musicians. His management team, Mama's Boys took him to Def Jam Records so that he could make a name for himself. It was not long before he got their attention and was signed. He was then able to release his debut album Aijuswanaseing.

Quick Success

Musiq Soulchild was able to find success with his first album as it was certified platinum twice. His first single Just Friends was on the Nutty Professor II - The Klumps soundtrack. He also released two other singles from this album, Girl Next Door, and Love. Love spent 38 weeks on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart, it peaked at #2. Girl Next Door spent only 23 non consecutive weeks on the chart and peaked at #28 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart. This album became his most free mp3 downloaded to date.

Musiq released his second album two years later. Juslisen debuted at #1 on the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart. On this album, he released two singles, Halfcrazy and Dontchange. This album was considered platinum and both singles made it into the top five on the charts.

Continued Success

In 2003, Musiq released his third album Soulstar, this album was certified gold and had two singles. Forthenight and Whoknows both made it in the top 25 on the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart.

After Soulstar, Musiq moved on to Atlantic Records and released his album Luvanmusiq in 2007. This album was also certified gold and sold over seven hundred thousand copies. He released three singles off of the album, B.u.d.d.y., Teachme and Makeyouhappy both B.u.d.d.y. and Teachme reached the top 40 on the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart.

Musiq released his fifth album after first announcing it during a concert in San Francisco in September of 2008. In December of the same year OnMyRadio was released. Radio, IfULeave and Sobeautiful helped him to sell over three hundred and fifty thousand albums. The album reached #1 The Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums. IfULeave was a duet performed with Mary J Blige.

Collaborations

Musiq has often done collaborations with artists. He's done songs with artists like Lloyd Banks, Talib Kweli, Estelle, Ice Cube, The Roots and Black Ice just to name a few. He was also on the Earth Wind and Fire tribute album Interpretations: Celebrating the Music of Earth, Wind & Fire. He has also been on the soundtrack of multiple Tyler Perry movies.

Awards

In addition to selling millions of albums, Musiq Soulchild has also won and been nominated for several awards. Billboard, American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, BET and Soul Train have all presented him with awards. He has also seen nominations from the NAACP, The Grammys, American Music Awards and MTV.

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