Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite
Encyclopedia
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite is the debut album
of American recording artist Maxwell
, released April 2, 1996 on Columbia Records
in the United States. Recording sessions for the album took place during 1994 to 1995 at Electric Lady Studios
, RPM, Sorcerer, and Chung King Studios
in New York City and CRC Studios
in Chicago. The album contains a mellow, groove-based sound and incorporates elements of funk
, jazz
, smooth soul
, and quiet storm
. A concept album
, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite is composed of a song cycle
that focuses on an adult romance, which Maxwell based on his own personal experience.
After being shelved for nearly a year, due to label issues and record executives' doubts of its sales potential, the album was released to considerable commercial and critical success. Despite an initial lack of mainstream interest, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite experienced a boost in sales with the help of the single "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)", and within a year it had sold one million copies. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised it as a departure from the mainstream-oriented R&B of the time, and it earned Maxwell several accolades and comparisons to soul singer Marvin Gaye
.
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite had a considerable impact on Maxwell's career, helping elevate his reputation to that of a sex symbol
and a serious performer on the music scene. Maxwell has been credited with shaping the "neo soul" movement that rose to prominence during the late 1990s. Along with D'Angelo
's Brown Sugar (1995) and Erykah Badu
's Baduizm
(1997), Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite has been recognized by music writers for providing commercial visibility to neo soul. It has been cited by critics as Maxwell's greatest work and remains as his best-selling release with domestic shipments of two million copies.
soul
", which was the trademark of early 1980s R&B
acts such as Patrice Rushen
, S.O.S. Band
and Rose Royce
, Maxwell began to teach himself to play a variety of instruments. According to him, the R&B of the early 1980s contained "the perfect combination of computerized instrumentation with a live feel", and that the genre's dynamics later became lost due to the influence of hip hop
on R&B. Despite facing ridicule from classmates for being shy and awkward, he progressed and continued to develop his musical abilities.
At 19, Maxwell began performing throughout the New York club circuit while supporting himself by waiting tables during the day. He was able to gain access to a 24 track
recording studio and started to record songs for a demo tape, which he circulated among his friends. The demo engendered interest, and his official debut concert performance at Manhattan nightclub Nell's
drew a crowd. During the next two years, Maxwell wrote and recorded over three hundred songs and played frequently at small venues throughout New York City. Maxwell's performances continued to draw interest and increase the buzz about him, and he was called "the next Prince
" by a writer from Vibe magazine who attended one of his shows. After earning a considerable reputation, Maxwell signed a recording contract with Columbia Records
in 1994. He adopted his middle name as a moniker out of respect for his family's privacy.
, RPM Studios, Sorcerer Studios and Chung King Studios
in New York City, and at CRC Studios
in Chicago, Illinois. Its production was primarily handled by record producer P.M. and Maxwell who is credited as "MUSZE", a play
on the word muse. Columbia executives reluctantly gave Maxwell creative freedom in his contract and were hesitant to allow him produce the album alone. They assigned Chicago-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Stuart Matthewman
to the project, but he only produced the first few tracks. Matthewman had previously worked with English R&B and jazz group Sade
. During the recording sessions, Maxwell worked extensively with collaborators, including Matthewman, soul singer-songwriter Leon Ware
, and funk guitarist Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin. Prior to working with Maxwell, Ware and Ragin were collaborators of soul musician Marvin Gaye; Ware had produced and composed most of Gaye's tenth album I Want You (1976).
Production assistance and instrumentation from such veteran session musicians contributed significantly to Urban Hang Suites vintage overtones and classic R&B influences. Matthewman and Maxwell played several instruments during recording for the album, including guitar, drums, saxophone, bass, and keyboards. They also composed three of the album's eleven tracks together. After the recording sessions ended in March 1995, Urban Hang Suite was mix
ed by P.M. and audio engineer Mike Pela, after which it was master
ed by Tom Coyne at Sterling Sound in New York City.
Although one of Maxwell's first musical influences was early 1980s urban R&B, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite was inspired by the sound and songwriting of classic soul artists such as Marvin Gaye
, Curtis Mayfield
, Barry White
, Stevie Wonder
and Prince
. Critics have noted the album's atmospheric, silky sounds and funky instrumentation, highlighted by mellow horns, wah wah guitar, Rhodes piano
and deep, articulate bass lines. The tempo of the songs slowly descends throughout Urban Hang Suite. One critic attributes the tempo decrease to Stuart Matthewman's production. Maxwell's vocal style and tone is falsetto
. He exhibits a crooning, melodic vocal approach, similar to that of Smokey Robinson
.
The album contains elements of funk
, jazz
, contemporary R&B and quiet storm
, and it is mostly composed of sexual balladry and slow jams. Other styles present on the album include smooth soul
, erotic-styled funk, cool jazz
and ballad-heavy R&B. On Urban Hang Suite, Maxwell adopts a sound and style reminiscent of Prince, in particular the songs "Do Me, Baby
" (1982) and "Pink Cashmere
" (1993). The New York Times
s Amy Linden examined Urban Hang Suites style and sound, and wrote that Maxwell "melds a soft-spoken singing style with the fluid, spacious grooves often associated with the cocktail funk of Sade".
, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite has a song cycle
that focuses on an adult romance from first encounter to its dramatic conclusion. Over the course of the album, Maxwell details a single passionate encounter. Throughout, it examines the concept with lyrical themes of love, sex and spirituality, as well as issues such as commitment, marriage and monogamy. Maxwell has described the themes and his thoughts on romance as "idealistic" on Urban Hang Suite. The album has been noted for the sincerity of Maxwell's lyrics, which depict a man's weakness and vulnerability to a woman's love. In an interview with music journalist Mark Coleman, Maxwell cited his respect for African-American women as the inspiration for the respectful nature of his lyrics towards women. Maxwell told Interview
s Dimitri Erhlich that his main muse for Urban Hang Suite was women, and further elaborated on his inspiration, stating:
He has also cited his grandmother and other West Indian women he knows as the inspiration behind his romantic notions. Music writers have noted the album as being inspired by or based on an unsuccessful affair in Maxwell's life, as well as the music of Marvin Gaye. One writer attributed its style and themes to the influence of Leon Ware's Musical Massage (1976) and his impact on romantic soul; Ware shares a songwriting credit for "Sumthin' Sumthin'". Maxwell said in an interview, "I'm so innately romantic and always have been, and I went through this particular romantic experience and based my album on that". The album's liner notes have a dedication from Maxwell to his "musze", stating "I could never have done this without you".
dropping on a vinyl record
. The track's prominent funk sound is reminiscent of the music of the Brand New Heavies
. "Welcome" features the album's prominent sexual vibe, and contains a quiet storm sound and saxophone. The two opening tracks both contain prominent funk influence. Roni Sarig wrote that their "early '80s full-band R&B and jazz pop grooves are reminiscent of Maze
's brightest days and Steely Dan
's coolest nights." The funk-influenced "Sumthin' Sumthin'", which was co-written by Leon Ware, contains a strong, rhythmically-tight groove created by the implementation of the "pocket" bass technique. Co-written by songwriter Itaal Shur
, "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)" opens with a funky groove and bass line, and features a forceful rhythm and rough funk sound. The song contains strong gospel
overtones with references to God in the lyrics. The song has been covered by gospel artists such as Londa Larmond and LaShun Pace
.
Cited by Blender magazine as one of the Greatest Make-Out Songs of All Time, "...Til the Cops Come Knockin'" contains sexually-explicit lyrics and a slower tempo than its preceding tracks. It also contains the sound of distant sirens and "grinding porn-movie" guitar licks. The songs "Whenever Wherever Whatever" and "Lonely's the Only Company (I & II)" are ballads that contain themes of vulnerability to love. "Suitelady (The Proposal Jam)" completes the album's concept of monogamy with lyrics depicting a marriage proposal from Maxwell. Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite closes with the instrumental track "The Suite Theme". While the length of the track is listed as 13:47 minutes, the song ends after 6:00 minutes, followed by a period of silence, before resuming with a hidden track
, which consists of 1:41 minutes of an instrumental version of "...Til the Cops Come Knockin'". Both the hidden track and "The Suite Theme" are available as individual downloads in the iTunes Store
.
at the time of its delay contrasted the monogamous themes and vintage style of Urban Hang Suite, which may have been interpreted as old-fashioned. Columbia executives also feared that listeners would not comprehend Maxwell's romantic concept and image. Maxwell made matters worse by refusing to allow his picture to be placed on the album's front cover; instead he preferred to have the track listing and other pertinent information about the album in place of his photo. On the issue of the cover, Maxwell later stated that "I wanted people to have the facts: the title, the selections and the fact that you had to basically buy it. I wanted people to come to the music and not base any opinion on the image". The label reached a compromise and used a promotional shot of him as the back cover, taken by photographer Eric Johnson. The album's cover artwork features a picture of a pair of golden women's shoes on the floor of a hotel room, with the bar coding prominently displayed.
In the period before its release, Maxwell wrote and demoed songs for a subsequent studio album, and embarked on an African American college
tour with Groove Theory
and the Fugees. Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite was eventually released April 2, 1996 on Columbia Records in the United States. and distributed the same year in Canada, continental Europe, and Australia. A double
LP release was made available in the United Kingdom and the U.S. by Columbia, as well as a cassette
release.
chart. The first single released, "...Til the Cops Come Knockin'", debuted on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks
at number 87 in May 1996. Peaking at number 79, the single spent 12 weeks on the chart. The album's second single, "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)", debuted on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks in August 1996 at number 11, eventually peaking number eight and spending 29 weeks on the chart. It spent eighteen weeks on the Billboard Hot 100
, peaking at number 36 on September 28, 1996. The single also peaked at number 25 on the Rhythmic Top 40 and at number five on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales
. It received extensive play on radio stations, as did the song "Whenever Wherever Whatever", despite not having been issued as a single; an "unplugged" live version of "Whenever Wherever Whatever" was later released as a single from Maxwell's MTV Unplugged album
(1997).
The third single from Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite, "Sumthin' Sumthin'", peaked at number 22 on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales. An alternate version of the song, titled "Sumthin' Sumthin': Mellosmoothe (Cut)", was released as a single from the soundtrack album
to the film Love Jones (1997). The soundtrack album's single peaked at number 23 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. The album's fourth and final single, "Suitelady (The Proposal Jam)", entered the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
component chart in May 1997, peaking at number 64. During August to October 1996, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite experienced chart growth on both the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Billboard 200
, peaking at number eight on the former and at number 36 on the latter. It spent seventy-eight weeks on the Billboard 200 chart. It became a Top 30 hit in the United Kingdom. The gold
-certified single "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)", which had shipped 500,000 copies in the US by October 1996, has been considered by music writers to be a significant factor in the album's increased commercial interest at the time. On September 17, 1996, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA). By 1997, the album had shipped in excess of one million copies in the United States, and it earned platinum status from the RIAA.
s. It was called a "masterpiece" by several critics that viewed it as a departure from the mainstream, hip hop-oriented R&B of the time. Maxwell was compared to soul singers of the 1960s and 1970s, such as Marvin Gaye and Prince. New York Amsterdam News called the album an "extraordinary collection of timeless R&B and new-soul", and Vibe praised Maxwell's musical style, describing the album as a "refreshing detour from hump-bouncin' '90s R&B." Dimitri Ehrlich of Entertainment Weekly
gave it a B+ rating, and wrote that Maxwell "smooths hip-hop's and soul's edges, proving that black dance music doesn't automatically mean ghetto culture." Jim Farber of the New York Daily News
gave the album a positive review and called it "one of the few modern sex albums to offer a sense of succor". Music journalist Kerika Fields wrote that Maxwell "is revolutionizing R&B music while reminiscing its past" on Urban Hang Suite. The album received four out of four stars from Connie Johnson of the Los Angeles Times
, who commented that "Maxwell manages to sound sweet, soothing and sexy at the same time." Rolling Stone
s David Fricke
compared its seductive themes and sound to the work of MFSB
and Barry White
, and wrote that Maxwell "has a talent for sweet talk. And marathon foreplay
." Fricke also compared Maxwell's concept for the album to that of Marvin Gaye's double album Here, My Dear
(1978), which dealt with Gaye's divorce, and perceived that Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite was reworked as a treatise on monogamy.
American Visions writer Michael George praised Maxwell's songwriting and stated "In an age where young, black artist are criticized (often rightly so) for misogynistic lyrics, Maxwell's focus on commitment is refreshing. But more important, he can flat-out sing." Urban Latino
gave it four out of four stars, calling it "one of the most soulful releases of the year", and compared Maxwell's music to "the soul of Curtis Mayfield
, the poetics of Beni More
and the stage presence of Michael Jackson
, pre-Thriller
?". Allmusic editor Steve Huey compared it to Marvin Gaye's 1970s works and noted a predominant influence of Prince. Stephen Cook of Allmusic called it a "sophisticated and stylized take on late-'60s and early-'70 soul", and stated that it is "destined to become a classic contemporary R&B disc." In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, Arion Berger stated, "[Maxwell's] laid-back romanticism has heat at its core and a powerful groove that grounds the music: By varying the push of the beat but retaining the central mellow vibe, Maxwell creates a sound as felicitous on headphones as it is in the bedroom." However, music journalist Peter Shapiro panned Maxwell's lyrics and called it "overly mannered pastiche of early 70s soul [...] all style and no substance." In his consumer guide for The Village Voice
, Robert Christgau
gave the album a "dud" rating, indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought."
Martin Johnson of Barnes & Noble
noted the influence of Marvin Gaye and Sade on the album, and described it as "heavy on mood and on musical content, a rarity in contemporary R&B", while calling it a "distinctly artful suite about a night of magnificent seduction." He also lauded its romantic themes, writing that "Maxwell separates himself from the dime-a-dozen rakes with his belief in romance: To this love-rocker, sex is not a conquest but a mutual submission to a greater erotic prerogative. And so, rather than using songs like 'Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)' and 'Welcome' to boast about touching you there, Maxwell asks — very, very sweetly." SoulBounce.com praised the song "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)" and its gospel overtones, writing that the track straddles "the line between the secular and the spiritual and referencing the 'highest of the high', the tune is arguably a Gospel song. However, given a closer listen, the track is about an earthly being. Maxwell simply took us to heaven when he sang it." Yahoo! Music
's Dan Leroy called the album an "astonishing debut" and praised Maxwell's vintage influence. Daryl Easlea of BBC Online praised him for "the simple economy" of his vocals and the album's "sophisticated, accessible R&B". Easlea noted "There is almost nothing extraneous in his performance; everything is to the point... the album's tender ballad, 'Whenever, Wherever, Whatever' could easily have drowned in a sea of extemporisation in other artists' hands."
, Rolling Stone and USA Today
as one of the year's ten best albums. Nick Coleman of The Independent
cited Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite as the "sexiest record of 1996", and Q
magazine called it "one of the very best R&B records of the '90s." The album was ranked number 20 on The Village Voice
s 1996 Pazz and Jop critics' poll. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album
at the 39th Grammy Awards
, losing the award to The Tony Rich Project's Words
(1996). Urban Hang Suite earned Maxwell three NAACP Image Award
nominations, and at the 1997 Soul Train Awards, he won both awards for Best Male R&B/Soul Album and Single (for "Ascension"), as well as Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist. In selecting "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)" at number five on its list of the Top 100 Soul/R&B Songs, SoulBouce.com called it a "modern soul classic". Stylus Magazine
ranked Urban Hang Suite number six on its list of the Top Ten Albums from 1996.
and Erykah Badu
, Maxwell has been credited with helping to shape the "neo soul
" movement that rose to prominence during the late 1990s. Along with D'Angelo's Brown Sugar (1995) and Badu's Baduizm
(1997), Urban Hang Suite has been recognized by writers for beginning neo soul's popularity and helping the genre obtain commercial visibility. However, in contrast to D'Angelo, Maxwell was more conventional in his approach on his debut album. The term "neo soul" was penned in the late 1990s by record executive Kedar Massenburg, who managed both D'Angelo and Erykah Badu. According to writer Peter Shapiro, the term itself refers to a musical style that obtains its influence from more classical styles, and bohemian musicians seeking a soul revival, while setting themselves apart from the more contemporary sounds of their mainstream R&B counterparts. In commenting on the "new soul revival" in music, Maxwell told Entertainment Weekly in 1997 that "everything out there musically was inspired or influenced by something from the past. It's not about creating some super-fresh new thing. If it doesn't lend itself to your history, how is it going to extend to your future? That's what's really brilliant about looking into children's eyes—you can see their parents in them." The Washington Post
called him "the Marvin Gaye of the '90s". Its columnist wrote that Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite "heralded the arrival of a top-of-the-class graduate of the old school of soul, one who could sing about romantic aspiration and tribulation with heart-wrenching emotion. It was as if the aesthetic that Gaye ascribed to — 'music that has feeling, hope and meaning – all the things people are looking for' — had been rediscovered after a long, hedonistic interlude." According to writer Kerika Fields, Maxwell received an overwhelmingly positive reaction to his debut album from music listeners due to their weariness of contemporary black music
's predictability.
Maxwell's role in writing and producing the album exhibited a level of artistic control by an R&B artist that was uncommon in the recording industry at the time. On Maxwell's emergence with Urban Hang Suite, writer Carol Brennan cited him, along with the Fugees, D'Angelo and Tony Rich, as neo soul musicians that "exhibited the identifying characteristics of this new breed of R&B artists: lyrics that give voice to intense personal expression, creative control over the music, and a unexpectedly successful debut." In his book A Change Is Gonna Come: Music, Race & the Soul of America (2006), Craig Hansen Werner lists Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite as important in neo soul, including it along with R. Kelly's R.
(1998), D'Angelo's Voodoo (2000), the Young Disciples' Road to Freedom
(1991), Aaliyah's self-titled final release
(2001), Faith Evans' Keep the Faith
(1998) and "anything by Seal
" as among "the starter kit" for the genre. In Songs in the Key of Black Life: A Rhythm and Blues Nation (2003), writer Mark Anthony Neal
cited the album as one of the most popular of neo soul recordings, along with Musiq Soulchild's Aijuswanaseing
(2000) and India.Arie's Acoustic Soul
(2001), that helped to redefine the boundaries and contours of black pop and R&B.
, which according to one writer, was due to his "wild" afro and "extravagant cheekbones" . His sex icon-status was also due in part to his concert performances in promotion of the album, which attracted many female fans. His sold-out concert at Radio City Music Hall
was praised by a Rolling Stone columnist, who compared Maxwell to the likes of Prince, Marvin Gaye, Frankie Beverly
and Luther Vandross
. The columnist lauded Maxwell's showmanship, "down-to-earth" attitude and body movements including dropping down to his knees, swiveling his hips in a "slow grind", and crawling across the stage while singing. In a profile of Maxwell for Essence
, music journalist Jeannine Amber compared his showmanship to that of Teddy Pendergrass
after attending one of Maxwell's concerts. According to some writers, Maxwell's appeal to female fans is due to the respectful and sincere nature of his lyrics to women. In 1997, Rolling Stone voted him Best R&B Artist. The album's success also earned Maxwell his own MTV Unplugged
special, which was a popular honor to receive during the 1990s. In a profile of Maxwell for Contemporary Musician (1998), writer Mary Alice Adams examined the personal impact of his debut album on fans, stating:
In contrast to his Urban Hang Suite, Maxwell's following studio albums received comparably modest reviews from music critics. Despite selling one million copies, his second album Embrya
(1998) received mixed criticism for its more indulgent sound. With its internal focus and esoteric grooves, the album served as a departure for Maxwell, who did not regret risking his reputation with urban listeners for a more challenging record. Embrya experienced a critical backlash similar to that of other neo soul artists' work that broke their previous releases' successful formulas in favor of more compelling projects. Maxwell's third album Now
(2001) became a platinum-seller and served as a return to the more straightforward romantic atmosphere of Urban Hang Suite. Despite receiving mostly positive criticism, Now did not parallel the acclaim of Urban Hang Suite and, much like Embrya, received some negative criticism towards Maxwell's songwriting. In 2002, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite earned double platinum status from the RIAA, after shipments of two million copies in the US. Following an eight-year sabbatical, Maxwell resurfaced with his fourth studio album BLACKsummers'night
(2009), which was originally slated for 2004, serving as the first release of a trilogy of albums by Maxwell. The album received general acclaim from music critics. Urban Hang Suite has been cited by writers and music critics as Maxwell's greatest work, and remains his best-selling release.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
of American recording artist 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:...
, released April 2, 1996 on Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in the United States. Recording sessions for the album took place during 1994 to 1995 at Electric Lady Studios
Electric Lady Studios
Electric Lady Studios, at 52 West 8th Street, in New York City's Greenwich Village, is a recording studio originally built by Jimi Hendrix and designed by John Storyk in 1970...
, RPM, Sorcerer, and Chung King Studios
Chung King Studios
Chung King Recording Studios, formerly known as The Chung King House Of Metal, is a New York City recording studio founded by John King with financial backing of the Etches brothers and engineer expertise of Steve Ett became a site of many classic punk and hip hop recordings...
in New York City and CRC Studios
Chicago Recording Company
Chicago Recording Company, or CRC, is a recording studio in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1975.Boasting twelve studios and a DVD authoring suite, CRC is the largest recording company in the midwest...
in Chicago. The album contains a mellow, groove-based sound and incorporates elements of funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, smooth soul
Smooth soul
Smooth soul is a subgenre of soul music that developed in the early 1970s from soul, funk and pop music in the United States. The subgenre experienced mainstream success from the time of its development to the late 1970s, before its succession by disco and quiet storm.Smooth soul is characterized...
, and quiet storm
Quiet storm
Quiet storm is a late-night radio format, featuring soulful slow jams, pioneered in the mid-1970s by then-station-intern Melvin Lindsey at WHUR-FM, in Washington, D.C. Smokey Robinson's like-titled hit single, released in 1975 as the title track to his third solo album, lent its name to the format...
. A concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite is composed of a song cycle
Song cycle
A song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a single entity. As a rule, all of the songs are by the same composer and often use words from the same poet or lyricist. Unification can be achieved by a narrative or a persona common to the songs, or even, as in Schumann's...
that focuses on an adult romance, which Maxwell based on his own personal experience.
After being shelved for nearly a year, due to label issues and record executives' doubts of its sales potential, the album was released to considerable commercial and critical success. Despite an initial lack of mainstream interest, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite experienced a boost in sales with the help of the single "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)", and within a year it had sold one million copies. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised it as a departure from the mainstream-oriented R&B of the time, and it earned Maxwell several accolades and comparisons to soul singer Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
.
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite had a considerable impact on Maxwell's career, helping elevate his reputation to that of a sex symbol
Sex symbol
A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, supermodel, teen idol, or sports star, noted for their sex appeal. The term was first used in the mid 1950s in relation to the popularity of certain Hollywood stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte...
and a serious performer on the music scene. Maxwell has been credited with shaping the "neo soul" movement that rose to prominence during the late 1990s. Along with D'Angelo
D'Angelo
Michael Eugene Archer , better known by his stage name D'Angelo, is an American R&B and neo soul singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is known for his production and songwriting talents as much as for his vocal abilities, and often draws comparisons to his influences,...
's Brown Sugar (1995) and Erykah Badu
Erykah Badu
Erica Abi Wright , better known by her stage name Erykah Badu , is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Her work includes elements from R&B, hip hop and jazz. She is best known for her role in the rise of the neo soul sub-genre, and for her eccentric, cerebral musical...
's Baduizm
Baduizm
Baduizm is the debut album of R&B and neo soul musician Erykah Badu, released February 11, 1997 on Kedar Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during January to October 1996 at Battery Studios in New York City, Sigma Sounds & Ivory Studios in Philadelphia, and Dallas Sound Lab in...
(1997), Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite has been recognized by music writers for providing commercial visibility to neo soul. It has been cited by critics as Maxwell's greatest work and remains as his best-selling release with domestic shipments of two million copies.
Background
After receiving a low-cost Casio keyboard from a friend, Brooklyn, New York-native Maxwell began composing material at age 17. Raised in the borough's East New York-section, Maxwell's previous musical experience included his beginnings as a singer in the congregation of his Baptist church, which had become an integral part of his life after the death of his father in a plane crash. Already a fan of what he described as "jheri curlJheri curl
The Jheri curl is a hairstyle that was common and popular in the African American community especially during the 1970s and 1980s . Invented by and named for Jheri Redding, the Jheri curl gave the wearer a glossy, loosely curled look...
soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
", which was the trademark of early 1980s R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
acts such as Patrice Rushen
Patrice Rushen
Patrice Rushen is a Grammy Award-winning African American R&B and jazz vocalist, composer and pianist.-Biography:...
, S.O.S. Band
The SOS Band
The SOS Band is an American musical ensemble, founded in Atlanta, Georgia in 1977. Originally known as Santa Monica, the 'SOS' initialism in the band's name stands for Sounds of Success.-History:...
and Rose Royce
Rose Royce
Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B band. The group is best known for several hit singles including "Car Wash," "I Wanna Get Next to You," "Wishing on a Star", "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" and "I'm Going Down".-Career:...
, Maxwell began to teach himself to play a variety of instruments. According to him, the R&B of the early 1980s contained "the perfect combination of computerized instrumentation with a live feel", and that the genre's dynamics later became lost due to the influence of hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
on R&B. Despite facing ridicule from classmates for being shy and awkward, he progressed and continued to develop his musical abilities.
At 19, Maxwell began performing throughout the New York club circuit while supporting himself by waiting tables during the day. He was able to gain access to a 24 track
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
recording studio and started to record songs for a demo tape, which he circulated among his friends. The demo engendered interest, and his official debut concert performance at Manhattan nightclub Nell's
Nell's
Nell's was a nightclub located on 246 West 14th Street in downtown Manhattan. It opened in 1986 and closed May 30, 2004.Nell's (or Nells) was a nightclub located on 246 West 14th Street in downtown Manhattan. It opened in 1986 and closed May 30, 2004.Nell's (or Nells) was a nightclub located on...
drew a crowd. During the next two years, Maxwell wrote and recorded over three hundred songs and played frequently at small venues throughout New York City. Maxwell's performances continued to draw interest and increase the buzz about him, and he was called "the next Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
" by a writer from Vibe magazine who attended one of his shows. After earning a considerable reputation, Maxwell signed a recording contract with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in 1994. He adopted his middle name as a moniker out of respect for his family's privacy.
Recording
Recording sessions for the album took place in 1994 and 1995 at Electric Lady StudiosElectric Lady Studios
Electric Lady Studios, at 52 West 8th Street, in New York City's Greenwich Village, is a recording studio originally built by Jimi Hendrix and designed by John Storyk in 1970...
, RPM Studios, Sorcerer Studios and Chung King Studios
Chung King Studios
Chung King Recording Studios, formerly known as The Chung King House Of Metal, is a New York City recording studio founded by John King with financial backing of the Etches brothers and engineer expertise of Steve Ett became a site of many classic punk and hip hop recordings...
in New York City, and at CRC Studios
Chicago Recording Company
Chicago Recording Company, or CRC, is a recording studio in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1975.Boasting twelve studios and a DVD authoring suite, CRC is the largest recording company in the midwest...
in Chicago, Illinois. Its production was primarily handled by record producer P.M. and Maxwell who is credited as "MUSZE", a play
Word play
Word play or wordplay is a literary technique in which the words that are used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement...
on the word muse. Columbia executives reluctantly gave Maxwell creative freedom in his contract and were hesitant to allow him produce the album alone. They assigned Chicago-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Stuart Matthewman
Stuart Matthewman
Stuart Matthewman also known as Cottonbelly, is a Grammy-winning songwriter, musician, and producer.-Career:He is a vital part of the band, Sade....
to the project, but he only produced the first few tracks. Matthewman had previously worked with English R&B and jazz group Sade
Sade (band)
Sade is a British smooth jazz band that formed in 1983, named for Nigerian lead singer Sade Adu. Their music features elements of R&B, soul, jazz, and soft rock....
. During the recording sessions, Maxwell worked extensively with collaborators, including Matthewman, soul singer-songwriter Leon Ware
Leon Ware
Leon Ware is a soul music singer, songwriter and producer. Best known for crafting the hit album, I Want You, originally recorded for Ware, until friend and Motown icon Marvin Gaye was assigned to the album in 1976...
, and funk guitarist Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin. Prior to working with Maxwell, Ware and Ragin were collaborators of soul musician Marvin Gaye; Ware had produced and composed most of Gaye's tenth album I Want You (1976).
Production assistance and instrumentation from such veteran session musicians contributed significantly to Urban Hang Suites vintage overtones and classic R&B influences. Matthewman and Maxwell played several instruments during recording for the album, including guitar, drums, saxophone, bass, and keyboards. They also composed three of the album's eleven tracks together. After the recording sessions ended in March 1995, Urban Hang Suite was mix
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
ed by P.M. and audio engineer Mike Pela, after which it was master
Audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
ed by Tom Coyne at Sterling Sound in New York City.
Music and style
Although one of Maxwell's first musical influences was early 1980s urban R&B, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite was inspired by the sound and songwriting of classic soul artists such as Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
, Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
, Barry White
Barry White
Barry White, born Barry Eugene Carter , was an American composer and singer-songwriter.A five-time Grammy Award-winner known for his distinctive bass voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
and Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
. Critics have noted the album's atmospheric, silky sounds and funky instrumentation, highlighted by mellow horns, wah wah guitar, Rhodes piano
Rhodes piano
The Rhodes piano is an electro-mechanical piano, invented by Harold Rhodes during the fifties and later manufactured in a number of models, first in collaboration with Fender and after 1965 by CBS....
and deep, articulate bass lines. The tempo of the songs slowly descends throughout Urban Hang Suite. One critic attributes the tempo decrease to Stuart Matthewman's production. Maxwell's vocal style and tone is falsetto
Falsetto
Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
. He exhibits a crooning, melodic vocal approach, similar to that of Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
.
The album contains elements of funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, contemporary R&B and quiet storm
Quiet storm
Quiet storm is a late-night radio format, featuring soulful slow jams, pioneered in the mid-1970s by then-station-intern Melvin Lindsey at WHUR-FM, in Washington, D.C. Smokey Robinson's like-titled hit single, released in 1975 as the title track to his third solo album, lent its name to the format...
, and it is mostly composed of sexual balladry and slow jams. Other styles present on the album include smooth soul
Smooth soul
Smooth soul is a subgenre of soul music that developed in the early 1970s from soul, funk and pop music in the United States. The subgenre experienced mainstream success from the time of its development to the late 1970s, before its succession by disco and quiet storm.Smooth soul is characterized...
, erotic-styled funk, cool jazz
Cool jazz
Cool is a style of modern jazz music that arose following the Second World War. It is characterized by its relaxed tempos and lighter tone, in contrast to the bebop style that preceded it...
and ballad-heavy R&B. On Urban Hang Suite, Maxwell adopts a sound and style reminiscent of Prince, in particular the songs "Do Me, Baby
Do Me, Baby
"Do Me, Baby" is a Prince ballad, the third and final U.S. single from his 1981 album, Controversy. With a running time of almost eight minutes, it is the longest track on the album. The song was written by André Cymone, but credited to Prince....
" (1982) and "Pink Cashmere
Pink Cashmere
"Pink Cashmere" is a song by Prince, written for his then-girlfriend, Anna Fantastic , for her 18th birthday. The song references the actual gift he presented to her, a coat made of pink cashmere with a black mink collar and cuff, the name Anna Fantastic embroidered on the sleeve, and "89" on the...
" (1993). The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
s Amy Linden examined Urban Hang Suites style and sound, and wrote that Maxwell "melds a soft-spoken singing style with the fluid, spacious grooves often associated with the cocktail funk of Sade".
Lyrical themes
Primarily a concept albumConcept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite has a song cycle
Song cycle
A song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a single entity. As a rule, all of the songs are by the same composer and often use words from the same poet or lyricist. Unification can be achieved by a narrative or a persona common to the songs, or even, as in Schumann's...
that focuses on an adult romance from first encounter to its dramatic conclusion. Over the course of the album, Maxwell details a single passionate encounter. Throughout, it examines the concept with lyrical themes of love, sex and spirituality, as well as issues such as commitment, marriage and monogamy. Maxwell has described the themes and his thoughts on romance as "idealistic" on Urban Hang Suite. The album has been noted for the sincerity of Maxwell's lyrics, which depict a man's weakness and vulnerability to a woman's love. In an interview with music journalist Mark Coleman, Maxwell cited his respect for African-American women as the inspiration for the respectful nature of his lyrics towards women. Maxwell told Interview
Interview (magazine)
Interview is an American magazine which has the nickname The Crystal Ball Of Pop. It was founded in late 1969 by artist Andy Warhol. The magazine features intimate conversations between some of the world's biggest celebrities, artists, musicians, and creative thinkers...
s Dimitri Erhlich that his main muse for Urban Hang Suite was women, and further elaborated on his inspiration, stating:
He has also cited his grandmother and other West Indian women he knows as the inspiration behind his romantic notions. Music writers have noted the album as being inspired by or based on an unsuccessful affair in Maxwell's life, as well as the music of Marvin Gaye. One writer attributed its style and themes to the influence of Leon Ware's Musical Massage (1976) and his impact on romantic soul; Ware shares a songwriting credit for "Sumthin' Sumthin'". Maxwell said in an interview, "I'm so innately romantic and always have been, and I went through this particular romantic experience and based my album on that". The album's liner notes have a dedication from Maxwell to his "musze", stating "I could never have done this without you".
Content
The album opens with an instrumental track, "The Urban Theme", which begins with the sound of a stylusStylus
A stylus is a writing utensil, or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example in pottery. The word is also used for a computer accessory . It usually refers to a narrow elongated staff, similar to a modern ballpoint pen. Many styli are heavily curved to be held more easily...
dropping on a vinyl record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
. The track's prominent funk sound is reminiscent of the music of the Brand New Heavies
Brand New Heavies
The Brand New Heavies are an acid jazz and funk group formed in 1985 in Ealing, a suburb of London, England.-Biography:The Brand New Heavies began in the 1980s as an instrumental acid jazz group called Brother International....
. "Welcome" features the album's prominent sexual vibe, and contains a quiet storm sound and saxophone. The two opening tracks both contain prominent funk influence. Roni Sarig wrote that their "early '80s full-band R&B and jazz pop grooves are reminiscent of Maze
Maze (band)
Maze a soul / quiet storm band, also known alternately as Maze featuring Frankie Beverly and Frankie Beverly and Maze, was established in San Francisco, California in the early 1970s.-Career:...
's brightest days and Steely Dan
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
's coolest nights." The funk-influenced "Sumthin' Sumthin'", which was co-written by Leon Ware, contains a strong, rhythmically-tight groove created by the implementation of the "pocket" bass technique. Co-written by songwriter Itaal Shur
Itaal Shur
Itaal Shur is an American composer, producer and musician. He has written songs for a number of musicians, including Maxwell, Jewel and Enrique Iglesias, and has produced records for various artists, including Kronos Quartet, The Scumfrog and Lucy Woodward...
, "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)" opens with a funky groove and bass line, and features a forceful rhythm and rough funk sound. The song contains strong gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
overtones with references to God in the lyrics. The song has been covered by gospel artists such as Londa Larmond and LaShun Pace
LaShun Pace
Tarrian LaShun Pace is an American gospel singer, Stellar Award winner, and evangelist....
.
Cited by Blender magazine as one of the Greatest Make-Out Songs of All Time, "...Til the Cops Come Knockin'" contains sexually-explicit lyrics and a slower tempo than its preceding tracks. It also contains the sound of distant sirens and "grinding porn-movie" guitar licks. The songs "Whenever Wherever Whatever" and "Lonely's the Only Company (I & II)" are ballads that contain themes of vulnerability to love. "Suitelady (The Proposal Jam)" completes the album's concept of monogamy with lyrics depicting a marriage proposal from Maxwell. Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite closes with the instrumental track "The Suite Theme". While the length of the track is listed as 13:47 minutes, the song ends after 6:00 minutes, followed by a period of silence, before resuming with a hidden track
Hidden track
In the field of recorded music, a hidden track is a piece of music that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, vinyl record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener...
, which consists of 1:41 minutes of an instrumental version of "...Til the Cops Come Knockin'". Both the hidden track and "The Suite Theme" are available as individual downloads in the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
.
Release and promotion
After production for Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite was completed in 1995, the finished product was presented to Columbia Records in Spring of that same year. However, it was shelved for nearly a year, due to issues with Columbia's management, the label's extensive reorganization and record executives' doubts of the album's commercial potential. The marketplace dominance of hip hop soulHip hop soul
Hip hop soul is sub-genre of contemporary R&B which fuses R&B, neo soul and dance elements with hip hop. The term did not originate until the promotion for Mary J. Blige's debut album What's the 411? in 1992 when Uptown Records proclaimed her to be the "Queen of Hip Hop Soul" and generally...
at the time of its delay contrasted the monogamous themes and vintage style of Urban Hang Suite, which may have been interpreted as old-fashioned. Columbia executives also feared that listeners would not comprehend Maxwell's romantic concept and image. Maxwell made matters worse by refusing to allow his picture to be placed on the album's front cover; instead he preferred to have the track listing and other pertinent information about the album in place of his photo. On the issue of the cover, Maxwell later stated that "I wanted people to have the facts: the title, the selections and the fact that you had to basically buy it. I wanted people to come to the music and not base any opinion on the image". The label reached a compromise and used a promotional shot of him as the back cover, taken by photographer Eric Johnson. The album's cover artwork features a picture of a pair of golden women's shoes on the floor of a hotel room, with the bar coding prominently displayed.
In the period before its release, Maxwell wrote and demoed songs for a subsequent studio album, and embarked on an African American college
Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Historically black colleges and universities are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the black community....
tour with Groove Theory
Groove Theory
Groove Theory is an American R&B duo, with former member, singer-songwriter Amel Larrieux and songwriter/producer/actor, Bryce Wilson. The group is best known for their 1995 pop/R&B hit, "Tell Me," which reached the top five of Billboard 's Hot 100 and the US Billboard R&B chart.-Early years:The...
and the Fugees. Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite was eventually released April 2, 1996 on Columbia Records in the United States. and distributed the same year in Canada, continental Europe, and Australia. A double
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
LP release was made available in the United Kingdom and the U.S. by Columbia, as well as a cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
release.
Commercial performance
Initially, the album was slow to obtain commercial interest. On April 20, 1996, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite made its chart debut at number 38 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop AlbumsTop R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...
chart. The first single released, "...Til the Cops Come Knockin'", debuted on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
at number 87 in May 1996. Peaking at number 79, the single spent 12 weeks on the chart. The album's second single, "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)", debuted on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks in August 1996 at number 11, eventually peaking number eight and spending 29 weeks on the chart. It spent eighteen weeks 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...
, peaking at number 36 on September 28, 1996. The single also peaked at number 25 on the Rhythmic Top 40 and at number five on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales
Hot Dance Singles Sales
Hot Dance Singles Sales is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States, established in 1985. It measures the sale of commercially released singles that deal with dance music and remixes...
. It received extensive play on radio stations, as did the song "Whenever Wherever Whatever", despite not having been issued as a single; an "unplugged" live version of "Whenever Wherever Whatever" was later released as a single from Maxwell's MTV Unplugged album
MTV Unplugged (Maxwell album)
MTV Unplugged is a live EP by American neo soul singer Maxwell, released by Columbia Records in mid-1997. The album features recordings of Maxwell's performance on the MTV concert series program MTV Unplugged, filmed in New York City earlier in the year...
(1997).
The third single from Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite, "Sumthin' Sumthin'", peaked at number 22 on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales. An alternate version of the song, titled "Sumthin' Sumthin': Mellosmoothe (Cut)", was released as a single from the soundtrack album
Love Jones (soundtrack)
Love Jones: The Music is the original soundtrack to the 1997 film Love Jones.-Track listing:#"Brother to the Night - Darius' Poem" — Larenz Tate – 3:18#"Hopeless" — Dionne Farris – 3:53...
to the film Love Jones (1997). The soundtrack album's single peaked at number 23 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. The album's fourth and final single, "Suitelady (The Proposal Jam)", entered the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart is the airplay component chart of the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. It is not the R&B subset of The Hot 100 Airplay, but rather a separate panel of R&B stations in urban markets used for the R&B/Hip-Hop chart...
component chart in May 1997, peaking at number 64. During August to October 1996, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite experienced chart growth on both the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, peaking at number eight on the former and at number 36 on the latter. It spent seventy-eight weeks on the Billboard 200 chart. It became a Top 30 hit in the United Kingdom. The gold
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
-certified single "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)", which had shipped 500,000 copies in the US by October 1996, has been considered by music writers to be a significant factor in the album's increased commercial interest at the time. On September 17, 1996, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA). By 1997, the album had shipped in excess of one million copies in the United States, and it earned platinum status from the RIAA.
Critical response
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite received generally positive reviews from music criticMusic criticism
See also Music journalism for reporting on classical and popular music in the media.The Oxford Companion to Music defines music criticism as 'the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres'. In this...
s. It was called a "masterpiece" by several critics that viewed it as a departure from the mainstream, hip hop-oriented R&B of the time. Maxwell was compared to soul singers of the 1960s and 1970s, such as Marvin Gaye and Prince. New York Amsterdam News called the album an "extraordinary collection of timeless R&B and new-soul", and Vibe praised Maxwell's musical style, describing the album as a "refreshing detour from hump-bouncin' '90s R&B." Dimitri Ehrlich of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave it a B+ rating, and wrote that Maxwell "smooths hip-hop's and soul's edges, proving that black dance music doesn't automatically mean ghetto culture." Jim Farber of the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
gave the album a positive review and called it "one of the few modern sex albums to offer a sense of succor". Music journalist Kerika Fields wrote that Maxwell "is revolutionizing R&B music while reminiscing its past" on Urban Hang Suite. The album received four out of four stars from Connie Johnson of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, who commented that "Maxwell manages to sound sweet, soothing and sexy at the same time." Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s David Fricke
David Fricke
David Fricke is a senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine, where he writes predominantly on rock music. In the 1990s, he was managing editor before stepping down.-Background:David Fricke is a graduate of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania...
compared its seductive themes and sound to the work of MFSB
MFSB
MFSB was a pool of more than thirty studio musicians based at Philadelphia’s famed Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom Bell, and backed up such groups as Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, the O’Jays, the Stylistics, the...
and Barry White
Barry White
Barry White, born Barry Eugene Carter , was an American composer and singer-songwriter.A five-time Grammy Award-winner known for his distinctive bass voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring...
, and wrote that Maxwell "has a talent for sweet talk. And marathon foreplay
Foreplay
In human sexual behavior, foreplay is a set of intimate psychological and physically intimate acts between two or more people meant to create desire for sexual activity and sexual arousal. Either or any of the sexual partners may initiate the foreplay, and they may not be the active partner during...
." Fricke also compared Maxwell's concept for the album to that of Marvin Gaye's double album Here, My Dear
Here, My Dear
Here, My Dear is a studio double album by soul musician Marvin Gaye, released December 15, 1978 on Tamla Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at Marvin's Room in Hollywood, California from 1976 to 1977. A deeply personal and controversial album, Here, My Dear is notable for...
(1978), which dealt with Gaye's divorce, and perceived that Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite was reworked as a treatise on monogamy.
American Visions writer Michael George praised Maxwell's songwriting and stated "In an age where young, black artist are criticized (often rightly so) for misogynistic lyrics, Maxwell's focus on commitment is refreshing. But more important, he can flat-out sing." Urban Latino
Urban Latino
Urban Latino magazine is an American lifestyle publication geared toward Latinos and Latinas 18-34. It was started in 1995 by a member of an art collective and a New York University student....
gave it four out of four stars, calling it "one of the most soulful releases of the year", and compared Maxwell's music to "the soul of Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
, the poetics of Beni More
Benny Moré
Benny Moré , or Beny, was a Cuban singer. He is often thought of as the greatest Cuban popular singer of all time. He was gifted with an innate musicality and fluid tenor voice which he colored and phrased with great expressivity...
and the stage presence of Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, pre-Thriller
Thriller (album)
Thriller is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on November 30, 1982, by Epic Records as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall...
?". Allmusic editor Steve Huey compared it to Marvin Gaye's 1970s works and noted a predominant influence of Prince. Stephen Cook of Allmusic called it a "sophisticated and stylized take on late-'60s and early-'70 soul", and stated that it is "destined to become a classic contemporary R&B disc." In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, Arion Berger stated, "[Maxwell's] laid-back romanticism has heat at its core and a powerful groove that grounds the music: By varying the push of the beat but retaining the central mellow vibe, Maxwell creates a sound as felicitous on headphones as it is in the bedroom." However, music journalist Peter Shapiro panned Maxwell's lyrics and called it "overly mannered pastiche of early 70s soul [...] all style and no substance." In his consumer guide for The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
gave the album a "dud" rating, indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought."
Martin Johnson of Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered at 122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District in Manhattan in New York City. Barnes & Noble also operated the chain of small B. Dalton...
noted the influence of Marvin Gaye and Sade on the album, and described it as "heavy on mood and on musical content, a rarity in contemporary R&B", while calling it a "distinctly artful suite about a night of magnificent seduction." He also lauded its romantic themes, writing that "Maxwell separates himself from the dime-a-dozen rakes with his belief in romance: To this love-rocker, sex is not a conquest but a mutual submission to a greater erotic prerogative. And so, rather than using songs like 'Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)' and 'Welcome' to boast about touching you there, Maxwell asks — very, very sweetly." SoulBounce.com praised the song "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)" and its gospel overtones, writing that the track straddles "the line between the secular and the spiritual and referencing the 'highest of the high', the tune is arguably a Gospel song. However, given a closer listen, the track is about an earthly being. Maxwell simply took us to heaven when he sang it." Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
's Dan Leroy called the album an "astonishing debut" and praised Maxwell's vintage influence. Daryl Easlea of BBC Online praised him for "the simple economy" of his vocals and the album's "sophisticated, accessible R&B". Easlea noted "There is almost nothing extraneous in his performance; everything is to the point... the album's tender ballad, 'Whenever, Wherever, Whatever' could easily have drowned in a sea of extemporisation in other artists' hands."
Accolades
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite earned recognition from publications including TimeTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, Rolling Stone and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
as one of the year's ten best albums. Nick Coleman of The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
cited Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite as the "sexiest record of 1996", and Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine called it "one of the very best R&B records of the '90s." The album was ranked number 20 on The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
s 1996 Pazz and Jop critics' poll. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album
Grammy Award for Best R&B Album
The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the R&B music genre...
at the 39th Grammy Awards
Grammy Awards of 1997
The 39th Grammy Awards were held on February 26, 1997. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.- Award winners :*Record of the Year**Babyface & Eric Clapton for "Change the World"*Album of the Year...
, losing the award to The Tony Rich Project's Words
Words (Tony Rich album)
Words is the debut album of American R&B musician Tony Rich, released January 16, 1996 on LaFace Records. The album is produced, written, arranged and performed by Tony Rich...
(1996). Urban Hang Suite earned Maxwell three NAACP Image Award
NAACP Image Award
An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature....
nominations, and at the 1997 Soul Train Awards, he won both awards for Best Male R&B/Soul Album and Single (for "Ascension"), as well as Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist. In selecting "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)" at number five on its list of the Top 100 Soul/R&B Songs, SoulBouce.com called it a "modern soul classic". Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
ranked Urban Hang Suite number six on its list of the Top Ten Albums from 1996.
Neo soul
Along with musicians D'AngeloD'Angelo
Michael Eugene Archer , better known by his stage name D'Angelo, is an American R&B and neo soul singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is known for his production and songwriting talents as much as for his vocal abilities, and often draws comparisons to his influences,...
and Erykah Badu
Erykah Badu
Erica Abi Wright , better known by her stage name Erykah Badu , is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Her work includes elements from R&B, hip hop and jazz. She is best known for her role in the rise of the neo soul sub-genre, and for her eccentric, cerebral musical...
, Maxwell has been credited with helping to shape the "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...
" movement that rose to prominence during the late 1990s. Along with D'Angelo's Brown Sugar (1995) and Badu's Baduizm
Baduizm
Baduizm is the debut album of R&B and neo soul musician Erykah Badu, released February 11, 1997 on Kedar Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during January to October 1996 at Battery Studios in New York City, Sigma Sounds & Ivory Studios in Philadelphia, and Dallas Sound Lab in...
(1997), Urban Hang Suite has been recognized by writers for beginning neo soul's popularity and helping the genre obtain commercial visibility. However, in contrast to D'Angelo, Maxwell was more conventional in his approach on his debut album. The term "neo soul" was penned in the late 1990s by record executive Kedar Massenburg, who managed both D'Angelo and Erykah Badu. According to writer Peter Shapiro, the term itself refers to a musical style that obtains its influence from more classical styles, and bohemian musicians seeking a soul revival, while setting themselves apart from the more contemporary sounds of their mainstream R&B counterparts. In commenting on the "new soul revival" in music, Maxwell told Entertainment Weekly in 1997 that "everything out there musically was inspired or influenced by something from the past. It's not about creating some super-fresh new thing. If it doesn't lend itself to your history, how is it going to extend to your future? That's what's really brilliant about looking into children's eyes—you can see their parents in them." The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
called him "the Marvin Gaye of the '90s". Its columnist wrote that Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite "heralded the arrival of a top-of-the-class graduate of the old school of soul, one who could sing about romantic aspiration and tribulation with heart-wrenching emotion. It was as if the aesthetic that Gaye ascribed to — 'music that has feeling, hope and meaning – all the things people are looking for' — had been rediscovered after a long, hedonistic interlude." According to writer Kerika Fields, Maxwell received an overwhelmingly positive reaction to his debut album from music listeners due to their weariness of contemporary black music
African American music
African-American music is an umbrella term given to a range of musics and musical genres emerging from or influenced by the culture of African Americans, who have long constituted a large and significant ethnic minority of the population of the United States...
's predictability.
Maxwell's role in writing and producing the album exhibited a level of artistic control by an R&B artist that was uncommon in the recording industry at the time. On Maxwell's emergence with Urban Hang Suite, writer Carol Brennan cited him, along with the Fugees, D'Angelo and Tony Rich, as neo soul musicians that "exhibited the identifying characteristics of this new breed of R&B artists: lyrics that give voice to intense personal expression, creative control over the music, and a unexpectedly successful debut." In his book A Change Is Gonna Come: Music, Race & the Soul of America (2006), Craig Hansen Werner lists Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite as important in neo soul, including it along with R. Kelly's R.
R. (album)
-Commercial performance:R. debuted at #2 on the Billboard top 100 with 1st weeks sales of 741,000 coppies in the 1st week.in the second week the album fell to #3 with 567,000 coppies.the album was eventually rewarded a 8x plantium award with more than 8 million copies sold in the United States to...
(1998), D'Angelo's Voodoo (2000), the Young Disciples' Road to Freedom
Road to Freedom (album)
Road to Freedom is the debut album of soul and jazz band Young Disciples, the only album the band ever released. Issued in 1991 on the Talkin' Loud label in the UK and on Polygram in the US, the critically well-received album was influential in the music genres of acid jazz and neo soul...
(1991), Aaliyah's self-titled final release
Aaliyah (album)
Aaliyah is the self-titled third and final studio album by American R&B singer Aaliyah, released by Blackground and Virgin Records on July 17, 2001, in the United States...
(2001), Faith Evans' Keep the Faith
Keep the Faith (Faith Evans album)
Keep the Faith is the second album by American singer Faith Evans. It was released on Bad Boy Records and peaked at number 6 on the U.S. Billboard 200. The album has been certified Platinum by the RIAA....
(1998) and "anything by Seal
Seal (musician)
Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel , known simply as Seal, is a British soul and R&B singer-songwriter, of Nigerian and Brazilian background. Seal has won numerous music awards throughout his career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male in 1992, four Grammy Awards, and an...
" as among "the starter kit" for the genre. In Songs in the Key of Black Life: A Rhythm and Blues Nation (2003), writer Mark Anthony Neal
Mark Anthony Neal
Mark Anthony Neal is Professor of Black Popular Culture in the Department of African and African-American Studies at Duke University, where he won the 2010 Robert B. Cox Award for Teaching...
cited the album as one of the most popular of neo soul recordings, along with Musiq Soulchild's Aijuswanaseing
Aijuswanaseing
Aijuswanaseing is Musiq Soulchild's first album, released in 2000. In debuted on the Billboard charts on December 2, 2000...
(2000) and India.Arie's Acoustic Soul
Acoustic Soul
-Musicians:*India.Arie – vocals, acoustic guitar*Mark Batson – organ, synthesizer, bass, percussion, drums, keyboards, programming, Mellotron, Fender Rhodes*Carlos "6 July" Broady – programming*John Catchings – cello...
(2001), that helped to redefine the boundaries and contours of black pop and R&B.
Subsequent work by Maxwell
The unexpected commercial and critical success of Urban Hang Suite helped establish Maxwell as a serious performer in the music scene. He was described by writers and music critics as "part of a new generation of smooth soul crooners", and he obtained a reputation among fans as a sex symbolSex symbol
A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, supermodel, teen idol, or sports star, noted for their sex appeal. The term was first used in the mid 1950s in relation to the popularity of certain Hollywood stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte...
, which according to one writer, was due to his "wild" afro and "extravagant cheekbones" . His sex icon-status was also due in part to his concert performances in promotion of the album, which attracted many female fans. His sold-out concert at Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
was praised by a Rolling Stone columnist, who compared Maxwell to the likes of Prince, Marvin Gaye, Frankie Beverly
Frankie Beverly
Frankie Beverly is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and producer, known primarily for his recordings with the soul and funk band, Maze.-Early life and career:...
and Luther Vandross
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
. The columnist lauded Maxwell's showmanship, "down-to-earth" attitude and body movements including dropping down to his knees, swiveling his hips in a "slow grind", and crawling across the stage while singing. In a profile of Maxwell for Essence
Essence (magazine)
Essence is a monthly magazine for African-American women between the ages of 18 and 49. The magazine covers fashion, lifestyle and beauty with an intimate girlfriend-to-girlfriend tone.-History:...
, music journalist Jeannine Amber compared his showmanship to that of Teddy Pendergrass
Teddy Pendergrass
Theodore DeReese "Teddy" Pendergrass was an American R&B/soul singer and songwriter. Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade...
after attending one of Maxwell's concerts. According to some writers, Maxwell's appeal to female fans is due to the respectful and sincere nature of his lyrics to women. In 1997, Rolling Stone voted him Best R&B Artist. The album's success also earned Maxwell his own MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged is a TV series showcasing many popular musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show has received the George Foster Peabody Award and 3 Primetime Emmy nominations among many accolades.-Unplugged:...
special, which was a popular honor to receive during the 1990s. In a profile of Maxwell for Contemporary Musician (1998), writer Mary Alice Adams examined the personal impact of his debut album on fans, stating:
In contrast to his Urban Hang Suite, Maxwell's following studio albums received comparably modest reviews from music critics. Despite selling one million copies, his second album Embrya
Embrya
Embyra is the second studio album by R&B and neo soul musician Maxwell, released June 30, 1998 on Columbia Records. As with his previous album, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite, Maxwell collaborated with Stuart Matthewman, a long-time cohort of Sade...
(1998) received mixed criticism for its more indulgent sound. With its internal focus and esoteric grooves, the album served as a departure for Maxwell, who did not regret risking his reputation with urban listeners for a more challenging record. Embrya experienced a critical backlash similar to that of other neo soul artists' work that broke their previous releases' successful formulas in favor of more compelling projects. Maxwell's third album Now
Now (Maxwell album)
Now is the third studio album by American recording artist Maxwell, released August 14, 2001 on Columbia Records in the United States. Following the lukewarm radio success of his previous album Embrya , Maxwell felt more comfortable with his artistic direction for Now, which does not exhibit his...
(2001) became a platinum-seller and served as a return to the more straightforward romantic atmosphere of Urban Hang Suite. Despite receiving mostly positive criticism, Now did not parallel the acclaim of Urban Hang Suite and, much like Embrya, received some negative criticism towards Maxwell's songwriting. In 2002, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite earned double platinum status from the RIAA, after shipments of two million copies in the US. Following an eight-year sabbatical, Maxwell resurfaced with his fourth studio album BLACKsummers'night
BLACKsummers'night
BLACKsummers'night is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Maxwell, released July 7, 2009 on Columbia Records. It is the follow-up to his third album Now...
(2009), which was originally slated for 2004, serving as the first release of a trilogy of albums by Maxwell. The album received general acclaim from music critics. Urban Hang Suite has been cited by writers and music critics as Maxwell's greatest work, and remains his best-selling release.
CD/cassette
Vinyl LP
Double album vinyl LP release.Personnel
Credits for Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite adapted from liner notes.| Players |
|---|
Guitars: Wah Wah Watson, Stuart Matthewman, H and MUSZE Keys: Amp Fiddler, Federico Pena, Itaal Shur, David Gamson, Stuart Matthewman and MUSZE Bass: Mike Neal, Gary Foote, Jonathan Maron, and Stuart Matthewman Drums/Beatmachine: Gene Lake, Stuart Matthewman, Itaal Shur, P.M., David Gamson and MUSZE Percussion: Bashiri Johnson, Karl Vanden Bossche, Gregory Marsh Horns: The Beverly Soul Sextion Saxophone: Stuart Matthewman Trombone: Clark Gayton Trumpet: Kevin Batchelor French horn: Vincent Chauncey Cello: Erik Friedlander and Rufus Cappadocia Voices: Maxwell |
| # | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite | Produced or co-produced by MUSZE (Maxwell) with Stuart Matthewman or P.M. Additional production assistance: H (Mike Humphries), Wah Wah Watson (Melvin Ragin) and Itaal Shur Written by MUSZE or co-written with Hod David, Stuart Matthewman, Leon Ware, Itaal Shur or Melvin Ragin Recorded at Electric Lady (NYC), RPM (NYC), CRC (Chicago), Chung King (NYC), Sorcercer (NYC) Engineers: Mike Pela, P.M. and Ed Tuton Assistant engineers: Michael Nuceder, Jamie Campbell, Brian "Mr. Bones" Kinkead, Phil Castellano, John Seymour and Ron Lowe Mastered by Tom Coyne at Sterling Sound (NYC) Art direction: Stacey Drummond and Julian Peploe Photography: Eric Johnson Photo assistance: Michael Stryder and Jamel A&R direction: Mitchell Cohen |
|
| 1 | "The Urban Theme" | Arranged and produced by MUZSE Mixed by P.M. |
| 2 | "Welcome" | Written and produced by MUSZE and Stuart Matthewman Mixed by Mike Pela |
| 3 | "Sumthin' Sumthin'" | Written by MUSZE and Leon Ware Produced by MUSZE Mixed by Mike Pela |
| 4 | "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)" | Written by MUSZE and Itaal Shir Produced by MUSZE Mixed by Mike Pela |
| 5 | "Dancewitme" | Written by MUSZE and Hod David Produced by MUSZE Mixed by Mike Pela |
| 6 | "...Til the Cops Come Knockin'" | Written by MUSZE and Hod David Produced by MUSZE and P.M. Mixed by P.M. |
| 7 | "Whenever Wherever Whatever" | Written and produced by MUSZE and Stuart Matthewman Mixed by Mike Pela |
| 8 | "Lonely's the Only Company (I & II)" | Written and produced by MUSZE and Stuart Matthewman Mixed by Mike Pela |
| 9 | "Reunion" | Written by MUSZE Produced by MUSZE and P.M. Mixed by P.M. |
| 10 | "Suitelady (The Proposal Jam)" | Written by MUSZE and Hod David Produced by MUSZE and P.M. Mixed by P.M. |
| 11 | "The Suite Theme" | Produced by MUSZE Arranged by MUSZE and Federico Pena Mixed by P.M. |
Album
| Chart (1996) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
37 |
| U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
8 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
2 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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... |
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales Hot Dance Singles Sales Hot Dance Singles Sales is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States, established in 1985. It measures the sale of commercially released singles that deal with dance music and remixes... |
||||
| 1996 | "...Til the Cops Come Knockin'" | — | 79 | — | ||
| 1996 | "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)" | 36 | 8 | 5 | ||
| 1997 | "Sumthin' Sumthin'" | — | 29 | 22 | ||
| 1997 | "Suitelady (The Proposal Jam)" | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | ||||||
External links
- Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Album lyrics at Yahoo! MusicYahoo! MusicYahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
- Body & Soul: Maxwell — By SpinSpin (magazine)Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...