"Fortunate" is a neo soul

Neo soul

The term neo soul was originally coined by Kedar Massenburg of Motown Records in the late 1990s as a marketing category following the commercial breakthroughs of artists such as D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell...

  song from the 1999 motion picture Life

Life (film)

Life is a 1999 American comedy-drama film directed by Ted Demme, and starring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence. The supporting cast includes Obba Babatundé, Bernie Mac, Anthony Anderson, Miguel A. Núñez Jr. and Bokeem Woodbine...

and was released on the film's soundtrack. The song was composed by R. Kelly

R. Kelly

Robert Sylvester Kelly , better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. A native of Chicago, Kelly began performing during the late 1980s and debuted in 1992 with the group Public Announcement. In 1993, Kelly went solo with the album 12 Play...

 and recorded by Maxwell

Maxwell (musician)

Maxwell , is an American R&B, funk and neo soul musician. He played an important role in the development of the soul sub-genre, neo-soul.-Early life:...

. "Fortunate" was awarded Best R&B Single of the Year at the Billboard Music Awards and Best R&B/Soul Single (Male) at Soul Train

Soul Train

Soul Train is an American musical variety show that aired in syndication from October 1971 to March 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists, although funk, jazz, disco, and gospel artists have also appeared.As a nod to Soul Trains...

 Awards. Maxwell was nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Male Vocalist and also nominated for a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Song of the Year.

The song, Maxwell's biggest hit to date, spent eight weeks at number one on the US R&B chart and peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

. It is his first number-one R&B hit, eventually followed by "Pretty Wings

Pretty Wings

"Pretty Wings" is a single by American singer-songwriter Maxwell's fourth studio album BLACKsummers'night. It was written and produced by Maxwell and Hod David....

" in 2009.

The song was made exclusively for the film and was played during the end credits.

Chart history

Year-end chart (1999)	Position
US Billboard Hot 100	24