In the mid-'90s, the shiny suit era had reached its height in rap music, courtesy of Diddy's Bad Boy imprint. It was really unlike anything soul music and hip-hop had seen in years. The Soulquarians created a sound that was warm and funky, dipped in '70s nostalgia but still futuristic in scope. You can hear in their leanings toward live instrumentation and experimental vocal arrangements. He changed the way that I play.'Ĭountless other artists were obviously directly inspired by the sound that came out of that those now-historic sessions. That's the difference between him and probably any other producer that I know. 'Musicians were trying to play like Dilla.

Watching him play and working with Bilal on that first record [ 1st Born Second and watching Dilla play keys, he's the producer that musicians wanted to play like,' Glasper said. 'James Poyser is a big part of that sound. Pianist/producer Robert Glasper, who was also around Dilla and Bilal extensively during the late '90s and early '00s, and has gone on to work with Common, forming the group August Greene, played on several songs from TPAB as well, further connecting the dots back to the Soulquarian collective. The album featured session musicians and producers like bassist Thundercat and frequent Lamar collaborator, saxophonist Terrace Martin, who was instrumental in shaping the sound of the album. Listen to Kendrick Lamar's jazz influence on his records, notably 2014's To Pimp A Butterfly, on which Bilal played a significant role and is featured on several records. Together, the musicians recording at the studio created a sound that influenced and inspired other artists for years to come.įrom rappers to soul singers, you can hear distinct traces of the influences of The Soulquarian collective in today's most innovative music. What happened over the next few years was magical by anyone's definition. I can say with conviction that we brought that place back to life.' As soon as we stepped into Studio A, which was pretty much unchanged except for the flooring and one wall, we immediately felt positive vibes. He had no idea that Electric Lady was still operational. I told him that we should go to Electric Lady Studios to record it.

This was when he was really starting to get into Jimi Hendrix.

'I pulled them out and showed him that Stevie did these records at Electric Lady. I found that Music of My Mind and Talking Book were in his collection,' Elevado told Red Bull Academy in 2015. 'D’Angelo and I were brainstorming about the album, listening to records.

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