Hailing from the venerable soul city Philadelphia, Taalib “Musiq Soulchild” Johnson emerged roughly a decade ago as the male vocal accompaniment to fellow Philly wunderkinds the Roots and Jill Scott. As his sound’s developed, Musiq Soulchild has trended slightly from the more traditional neo-soul of his early albums to a sound that’s more hip-hop friendly, finding a stylistic middle ground in the narrow turf that separates more crossed-over precursors D’Angelo and Maxwell. This came through on the single “Radio” from his 2008 album, ONMYRADIO, and you can hear it again on the new single “Anything,” a collaboration with hip-hop producer Swizz Beats that will be on Musiq Soulchild’s upcoming fifth studio album, MUSIQINTHEMAGIC.
Musiq Soulchild will share the Orpheum stage this week with two like-minded artists: the Detroit-based Kem, whose softer soul style strays into the adult contemporary world, and Ledisi, who is a charismatic, powerful young female vocalist. Musiq Soulchild, Kem, and Ledisi play the Orpheum Sunday, March 6th. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $57-$67. — Chris Herrington
