Line-up

Venue

New Jersey Performing Arts Center

1 Center St., 07102, Newark, NJ, US

www.njpac.org

Capacity: 3,352

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Additional details

Doors open: 20:00

Concert in your area for R&B, Funk & Soul, Hip-Hop, and Pop.

Find out more about Hip-Hop and Pop.

Musiq Soulchild biography

Musiq Soulchild, or simply just Musiq (born September 16 1977) - AKA Taalib Johnson - is a neo soul and R&B artist hailing from Philadelphia, US.

Unlike most artists who normally have to wait a while before achieving mainstream success, Musiq didn't waste any time. His début album "Aijuswanaseing" (I just wanna sing) went into the Billboard 200 at number four, whilst his following album, "Juslisen" was a number one hit. Both albums received critical acclaim as they gained platinum status, making Musiq a household name after just a few years.

Following a successful couple of albums, Soulchild was inevitably nominated for many prestigious awards. Two of his leading singles from his early discography "Love" and "Halfcrazy" were short-listed for the Best R&B Vocal Performance in consecutive years, whilst "Juslisen" was nominated for Best R&B Album in 2002. Despite not winning the awards, the nominations clearly gave him the encouragement to make better and more soulful music.

Soulchild went on to release two more number one albums in 2007 and 2008 with "Luvanmusiq" and "OnTheRadio". The former album in particular was well received and was awarded with three Grammy nominations.

Having not released a solo album since 2011, Musiq's most recent project was an album entitled '9ine' with Syleena Johnson, although this failed to have any major chart impact. Musiq is now a artist signed to My Block Records following his recent departure from Atlantic Records.

Musiq is first and foremost a rather unique singer. Although you could vaguely describe his music as either being soul or R&B, he encompasses a wide range of genres that make him stylistically different. He has been known to incorporate elements of funk into his music, whilst he also claims he has a "hip hop swagger". To a modern audience, the easiest way to describe him would be a mixture of the soulful singing of Frank Ocean combined with the vocal range and relaxed paced of The Weeknd.

Kindred the Family Soul biography

Kindred the Family Soul are a married R & B/Soul duo originally from Philadelphia made up of Fatin Dantzler and Aja Graydon who released their debut album in 2004.

Kindred the Family Soul consists of the married couple Fatin Dantzler and Aja Graydon, who really put emphasis on the family in their namesake. The duo were discovered when their record label saw them performing at the Black Lily Film & Music Festival in Philadelphia. They are considered to be members of the neo soul movement that includes artists such as Jill Scott.

In February 2003 the couple released their debut album 'Surrender to Love' on the Hidden Beach label and it includes the singles 'Far Away' and 'Stars' which both appeared on the US R & B charts. Their fourth album 'Love Has No Recession' appeared at #90 on the US Billboard chart and they have had a string of R & B single chart appearances over their career, the peak remains 'Where Would I Be' which reached #41 in 2006. Their discography currently stands at five albums, with their latest 'A Couple Friends' being released in 2014 and features the singles 'Everybody's Hustling' and 'A Couple Friends', the latter is a collaboration with Valerie Simpson.

The duo have also enjoyed critical success through their career, in 2004 they were nominated for a Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Album for their debut and in 2006 they also scooped a BET award.

Live reviews

Ah, Musiq Soulchild; a man so smooth that, on his classic ‘143’, couldn’t just say I love you the traditional way, and instead did it numerically, winning the hearts of countless female admirers and forever changing the way I view the south Manchester bus that shares that number. Musiq - not, you’ll be surprised to learn, his real name - very much made his own lane back in the nineties, with the quirkiness of his R&B and soul crossover represented visually by the bizarre, spaceless approach he used to take to naming his albums; after his debut, Aijuswanaseing, made his name in the U.S., he followed it up with his first number one LP in his homeland, Juslisen. Album number four, Luvanmusiq, hit the top of the charts in America, too, and whilst he’s failed to replicate that level of success on this side of the pond, he hasn’t taken it personally, touring the UK frequently. In early 2009, he played a slew of shows across the country with a full band, but a scheduled return with Avant and Donell Jones in tow in 2010 ended in farce when the promoters failed to pay Musiq’s bus driver and he understandably went on strike, forcing the cancellation of several shows. To be fair, with several backing singers and a brass section amongst the backing that bring Musiq’s songs to life on stage, arranging last-minute transportation would’ve proved impossible; hopefully the experience hasn’t put him off, and he’ll be back with new dates soon.

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Joeg_67

It's always nice to hear music that comes directly from the heart, and for married couple Fatin Dantzler and Aja Graydon, that is certainly the case. The pair formed the group Kindred The Family Soul in 2002 and have stability in both the music industry and their relationship. The sound they create is a funky R&B crossed with soul and is predictably very passionate. KTFS have released five albums in their 12 year career and have also released four singles that have hit the Top 100 in the US R&B chart.

Playing The London Jazz Café in 2012, the pair immediately burst out into song as they went on the stage. When they performed 'It's Alright' you could tell their voices fitted together perfectly. Fatin's voice is very powerful and loud whilst Aja's is more soft, soulful and overall more elegant and it was her who take the main lead during the song whilst Fatin played the role of a backing vocalist. The band played smoothly as well in traditional R&B fashion that got both crowd and performers swaying side to side. The song 'Where Would I Be' was more emotional and gave the chance for Fatin to show off his soft vocal range, which was equally as impressive.

As performers, the pair know how to entertain an audience, dancing slowly around the stage and also displaying signs of affection towards each other that would make your heart melt. Positive vibe and soulful music are great assets that Kindred The Family Soul specialise in delivering.

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