Sons Of Soul
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''Sons of Soul'' is the third
album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by American R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné!, released on June 22, 1993, by Wing Records and
Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...
. It follows the success of their 1990 album '' The Revival'', which had extended their popularity beyond R&B audiences and into the mainstream. The band originally held recording sessions for ''Sons of Soul'' at several studios in California, including Westlake Recording Studios in Hollywood and Paradise Recording Studio in Sacramento. When they became jaded with the various people frequenting those studios, Tony! Toni! Toné! moved their sessions to Caribbean Sound Basin in
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...
, where they ultimately wrote and recorded most of the album. It was produced entirely by the group, who worked with various session musicians and utilized both vintage and contemporary recording equipment. ''Sons of Soul'' was recorded as an homage to Tony! Toni! Toné!'s musical influences—classic
soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
artists of the 1960s and 1970s. Its music incorporated live instrumentation,
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
, and
hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
elements such as samples and scratches. Lead singer and bassist Raphael Wiggins handled most of the songwriting, which was characterized by quirky, flirtatious lyrics and reverent ballads. A commercial success, ''Sons of Soul'' charted for 43 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200 and earned a double platinum certification from the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA). With the album, Tony! Toni! Toné! became one of the most popular R&B acts during the genre's commercial resurgence in the early 1990s. It was also a widespread critical success, ranking as one of 1993's best records in many critics' year-end lists.


Background

Inspired by live instrumentation,
turntablism Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more Phonograph, turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into ...
, and classic
soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...
, Tony! Toni! Toné! recorded and produced their second album, '' The Revival'', mostly themselves and released it in 1990 to commercial success. The record broadened the group's exposure to fans beyond their initial R&B audience. However, they became ambivalent about their newfound mainstream success and their music being labeled "retro" by critics. In an interview for ''
People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...
'' magazine, lead singer and bassist Raphael Wiggins expressed his dissatisfaction with the music industry, saying that "every record company wants to get a group and put 'em in a Benz with a car phone and a beeper, show them dressing in three different outfits, put them in a video shot on a beach with lots of swinging bikinis. You won't ever see us on a beach. We're just down-to-earth, funky, like-to-play guys." Before considering a follow-up album, the band recorded several songs for film soundtracks, including "Me and You" for ''
Boyz n the Hood ''Boyz n the Hood'' is a 1991 American coming-of-age hood crime drama film written and directed by John Singleton in his feature directorial debut. It stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube (in his film debut), Morris Chestnut, and Laurence Fis ...
'' (1991), "House Party (I Don't Know What You Come to Do)" for ''
House Party 2 ''House Party 2'' is a 1991 American comedy film and the second installment of the House_Party_(franchise)#Films, ''House Party'' film series. Kid 'n Play, Full Force, Tisha Campbell, and Martin Lawrence reprise their roles from the first film ...
'' (1991), and "Waiting on You" for ''
Poetic Justice Poetic justice, also called poetic irony, is a literary device with which ultimately virtue is rewarded and misdeeds are punished. In modern literature, it is often accompanied by an ironic twist of fate related to the character's own action, h ...
'' (1993). Having fulfilled their creative intentions with ''The Revival'', Tony! Toni! Toné! wanted to pay homage to their musical influences with ''Sons of Soul''. In a 1993 interview for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', Wiggins elaborated on their direction for the album, stating "We're paying homage to a lot of older artists who paved the way for us artists like
the Temptations The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...
,
Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band formed in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1966 and active until 1983. Their work, which blended elements of funk, soul music, soul, psychedelic rock, gospel music, gospel, and R&B, becam ...
, Earth, Wind and Fire. They're the people who inspired us when we were growing up, people like
Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...
,
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
. We feel we're the sons of everything and all those people who came before us." He also explained the album's title as a declaration of them being descendants of those artists, "not in a grandiose sense, but from the standpoint that we really are the musical offspring of all that's come before us ... paying homage to our past, but creating in a contemporary environment."


Recording

The group began recording ''Sons of Soul'' in 1993. They initially held sessions at several recording studios in California, including Air L.A. Studios, Paramount Recording Studios, and Westlake Recording Studios in Hollywood, Pajama Studios in Oakland, J.Jam Recording in Oakland Hills, and Paradise Recording Studio in Sacramento, where Raphael Wiggins resided at the time. Wiggins, his brother guitarist D'wayne Wiggins, and drummer Timothy Christian Riley each played several instruments for the album. Raphael and D'wayne came up with ideas for songs by playing guitar and a
drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...
, and working them into compositions with Riley and Carl Wheeler, an unofficial member and in-studio keyboardist for the group. They also created drum loops at their homes, with Raphael using an Akai MPC60 and D'wayne using an E-mu SP-12, and the group improvised their respective instrumental parts for songs at the studio to a certain loop. They also worked with various session musicians, including string arranger Benjamin Wright, saxophonists Gerald Albright and Lenny Pickett, trumpeter Ray Brown, arranger
Clare Fischer Douglas Clare Fischer (October 22, 1928 – January 26, 2012) was an American keyboardist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. After graduating from Michigan State University (from which, five decades later, he would receive an honorary doctorat ...
, and audio engineer Gerry Brown. Brown engineered the group's previous albums, and later their subsequent output, including Raphael Wiggins' solo albums after Tony! Toni! Toné! Brown recommended for him to use a
dynamic microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publ ...
when recording his vocals to thicken them with more bass, a practice Wiggins continued throughout his career. Wiggins sought after former Temptations vocalist Eddie Kendricks to sing on " Leavin'", but Kendricks died prior to the sessions. They also worked with two horn sections, The Fat Lip Horns and The SNL Horns, the horn section of the Saturday Night Live Band. Raphael and D'wayne Wiggins sang impromptu musical ideas to the SNL players, who in turn modelled their horn parts after their singing.


Trinidad sessions

Jaded with their lifestyles in California and the various people frequenting the studios, the group moved the sessions to Caribbean Sound Basin in Maraval, a suburb of
Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...
, Trinidad. The studio complex was one of Trinidad's few high-end recording locations and was founded in 1990 by Trinidadian businessman Robert Amar, who wanted to attract both local and international recording artists with a state-of-the-art facility and the area's culture. The group intended to use to the studio only to polish their previous sessions' output, but ended up writing and recording what became most of the album for two months. D'wayne Wiggins said of the move in an interview for ''
Musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...
'', "the record company really wanted to put what we had out, but we ourselves didn't feel like the album was done." Caribbean Sound Basin housed three separate studios and several amenities, including a swimming pool, gym, sauna, photographic studio, and bedroom suites. In contrast to most recording studios, its interior was spacious and exposed to natural light. At the studio complex, Raphael, D'wayne, and Riley recorded extensively into the night and went out to enjoy the
nightlife Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, ...
, before returning to the studio. They often dimmed the lights, burned incense, and drank wine to set the mood when recording, which D'wayne explained in ''Musician'', "We try to make it real calm and mellow. 'Cause you want to be able to get into what you're singing." They also immersed themselves in the local
dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...
scene and attended late-night block parties that lasted until dawn. D'wayne later recalled his nightlife experiences with the group in Maravel: Their subsequent recording for the album was influenced by their experiences in Trinidad and Caribbean musical styles, including the rhythms and festive atmosphere of the local music scene. They enlisted Trinidadian dancehall artist General Grant, a regular at Caribbean Sound Basin, to perform a
ragga Raggamuffin music (or simply ragga) is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music with heavy use of sampling. Wayne Smith's " Under Mi Sleng Teng", produced by King Jammy in 1985 on a ...
rap on "What Goes Around Comes Around" and "Dance Hall", songs they developed in Trinidad. Raphael Wiggins recalled this in an interview for the ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
'': " rantwas just hanging around the studio. We asked him to come freestyle on What Goes Around Comes Around' After that, he just kept hanging around. Then we had the song 'Dance Hall' playing one night and he started again, so we just turned on the mic." "My Ex-Girlfriend" was also recorded there. According to D'wayne, they recorded "Tonyies! In the Wrong Key" in the studio at 3 a.m., and Raphael was "quite snookered" on an alcoholic beverage when delivering his vocals. Collectively, the group had written and recorded approximately 40 songs at the end of the sessions. In an interview for ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'', D'wayne Wiggins said that they focused on the love songs when having to decide what songs would make the album.


Production

Unlike with their previous albums, the group produced ''Sons of Soul'' entirely themselves. They utilized both vintage and contemporary recording gear in the album's production, including a
Hammond B-3 The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...
,
Clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...
,
ARP String Ensemble The Solina String Ensemble, also marketed as the ARP String Ensemble, is a fully polyphonic multi-orchestral string synthesizer with a 49-key keyboard, produced by Eminent BV (known for their ''Solina'' brand). It was distributed in the United ...
, and
Korg , founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instrument An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electr ...
and
Roland Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...
synthesizers. Riley viewed that hearing music played from the older instruments affected their songwriting. For his vocals, Raphael recorded with
Neumann U 87 The Neumann is a poly-directional large-diaphragm condenser microphone. Originally introduced in 1967, a version of the is still produced by Georg Neumann, Georg Neumann GmbH. The became an industry standard recording microphone, a reputation ...
and AKG C12A condenser mics, as well as a vintage RCA Type 77-DX microphone. He used a custom five-string bass from a guitar and bass repair shop in San Francisco, as well as a
Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...
analog synthesizer for other bass lines on the album. D'wayne used a Microtech Gefell UM70 for his lead vocals and an AKG 414 for his background vocals. He played a vintage Gibson L6-S and a Fender Coronado guitar, modified with Gibson burst bucker pickups. Aside from his drumming, Riley played both
Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
and
Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...
electric pianos. Caribbean Sound Basin's main studio had both analog and
digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...
equipment, a 60 ft x 70 ft x 18 ft live room, and three isolation booths, for vocals, piano, and drums. The group recorded original tracks using
Studer Studer is a designer and manufacturer of professional audio equipment for recording studios and broadcasters. The company was founded in Zürich, Switzerland, in 1948 by Willi Studer. It initially became known in the 1950s for its professi ...
24- and 48-track recorders and transferred them to a
Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
digital recorder. For most songs,
MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...
keyboards were played live into a sequencer and left unquantized, while vintage keyboards were recorded to analog tape. Riley said of the process in an interview for '' Keyboard'' magazine, "even though we used a sequencer for some stuff, we'd still cut the song live from start to finish. See, the last record was all done with a
Synclavier The Synclavier is an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation manufactured by New England Digital Corporation of Norwich, Vermont. It was produced in various forms from the late 1970s into the ea ...
. But this time, we tried to keep it all live and raw." Record producer and DJ
Ali Shaheed Muhammad Ali Shaheed Muhammad (born August 11, 1970) is an American hip hop DJ, record producer, rapper and bass guitarist, best known as a member of A Tribe Called Quest. With Q-Tip (musician), Q-Tip and Phife Dawg (and sometimes Jarobi White), the grou ...
, credited for programming on the album, assisted in its production. He cited the group's fusion of
hip hop production Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music in a recording studio. While the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music creation, including recording the rapping of an MC, a turntablist or DJ providing a beat, playing samples and " ...
and live instrumentation for ''Sons of Soul'' as the inspiration for his subsequent work as a member of
A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip< ...
and The Ummah. Muhammad discussed his experience recording ''Sons of Soul'' in a 1998 interview, saying that "I'd just hooked this beat up, and he grouppicked up their instruments and started playing. Raphael was singing, and as soon as he touched the bass, it just blew me away." Raphael Wiggins explained how they valued instrumentation when recording the album, saying that "We want everyone to have something to relate to; a drummer will get into the live drums and so on." Tony! Toni! Toné! tracked the final mixes of the songs at Caribbean Sound Basin. Its main studio used a 64-channel SSL 4064 G
mixing console A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for Audio mixing (recorded music), mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals fro ...
, the secondary studio used a 48-track Neve console with flying faders, and its third studio used an Amek BC2 console. The group mostly used the older Neve console. In tracking the songs, they started with a drum machine groove as a basic track and recorded it. The parts recorded with live instrumentation were then added to the mix. Live drums and horn sections were included to attain the sound of performing live. ''Sons of Soul'' was subsequently mastered by engineer Herb Powers at his New York City studio P.M. Entertainment.


Music and lyrics

''Sons of Soul'' expanded on the traditional R&B influences of ''The Revival'', with upbeat
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
and classic
Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...
styles. Songs such as " If I Had No Loot", "My Ex-Girlfriend", and "Tell Me Mama" incorporated lively
tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
s, strident harmonies, melodic
hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...
s and lead vocalist Raphael Wiggins' high
tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...
singing. Other songs were performed with funk
groove Groove or Grooves may refer to: Music * Groove (music) * Groove (drumming) * The Groove (band), an Australian rock/pop band of the 1960s * The Groove (Sirius XM), a US radio station * Groove 101.7FM, a former Perth, Australia, radio station ...
s, including "I Couldn't Keep It to Myself", "Gangsta Groove", "Fun", and "Tonyies! In the Wrong Key". Rick Mitchell of the ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...
'' wrote that the songs' arrangements "cleverly ... integrate classic influences into contemporary grooves." Carl Allen of ''
The Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. On January 29, 2020, th ...
'' claimed that the album "reconnected" black popular music "to its
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
/
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
roots with hip-hop flair." Along with older R&B, the album's music appropriated contemporary urban styles such as dancehall and hip hop, incorporating hip hop beats, turntable scratches, and samples, which were taken from both contemporary rap and older soul. Tony Green of the '' St. Petersburg Times'' viewed that Tony! Toni! Toné! incorporated musical aspects from their R&B and hip hop contemporaries, thereby "representing black pop's
Generation X Generation X (often shortened to Gen X) is the Demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the Baby Boomers and preceding Millennials. Researchers and popular media often use the mid-1960s as its starting birth years and the ...
. Mid- to late-twentysomethings caught tthe tail end of the heyday of acts like Earth, Wind & Fire and
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
ndfound themselves getting smacked in the face by the rap revolution." The group reproduced what they sampled with live instrumentation, which '' Keyboard'' magazine interpreted as an analog approach to the principally digital hip hop genre. The lyrics on ''Sons of Soul'' were described by ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' critic Connie Johnson as often quirky, while Elysa Gardner from '' Vibe'' said they were flirtatious and tender, particularly on ballads such as " Slow Wine" and " (Lay Your Head on My) Pillow"; she felt the group's songwriting throughout the album possessed a "reverent" ethos. Raphael Wiggins was credited with the majority of the songwriting. Laura Zucker of ''
The Sacramento Bee ''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...
'' said most of the album was written "solidly in the R&B tradition of sweet talking and romancing." Unlike most
contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music Music genre, genre, originating from African Americans, African-American musicians in the 1980s that combines rhythm and blues with elements of Pop music, pop, Soul music, soul, funk, Hip-hop, ...
and hip hop music at the time, the album's lyrics lacked profane language, with the exception of "My Ex-Girlfriend", which featured the chorus "I couldn't believe it / They tried to tell me my ex-girlfriend is a ho!"


Songs

The album opens with "If I Had No Loot", which features a
New jack swing New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley, Bernard Belle, Jimmy Jam and Te ...
beat, pronounced guitar licks, vocal samples from hip hop songs, and lyrics about fair-weather friends. The third track, "My Ex-Girlfriend", is a commentary on unfaithful partners, with lowbrow-humor lyrics scolding an ex-girlfriend for her promiscuity. It evolved from a concept D'wayne Wiggins came up with after driving past an Oakland hangout for prostitutes and recognized that one of them was an old friend. The upbeat ballad "Tell Me Mama" has surging dynamics, a horn-filled
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
, and lyrics about responsibility and regret. Phil Gallo of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' writes that the song utilizes "Jackson 5 and Temptations vocal stylings, Earth, Wind & Fire horn
charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent t ...
and riffs from Sly & the Family Stone hits". According to ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' journalist Franklin Soults, the album's first five songs comprise a "tour de force that bounces from Motown to New Jack Swing and back before breaking for a series of ballads as sexy as they are sweet". The first ballad, "Slow Wine", describes a Trinidadian slow grind dance, and the next, "(Lay Your Head on My) Pillow", features tender, seductive lyrics, with subtle come-ons, which according to Gil Griffin of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' "replace hip-hop braggadocio with soul music's promise." "I Couldn't Keep It to Myself" features lush strings and electric piano, which "create a jaunty atmosphere that harkens back to early Kool and the Gang and the Blackbyrds." Its narrator wants to brag to his friends about his new girlfriend's sexual abilities. "Gangsta Groove" adapts hip hop's " gangsta" trope in a humane story, in the vein of
blaxploitation In American cinema, Blaxploitation is the film subgenre of action movie derived from the exploitation film genre in the early 1970s, consequent to the combined cultural momentum of the black civil rights movement, the black power movement, ...
. It draws on the funk music of
Parliament-Funkadelic Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American musical collective, music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton (funk musician), George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament (band), Parliame ...
, Cameo, and the
Ohio Players Ohio Players are an American funk band, most popular in the 1970s. They are best known for their songs "Fire" and " Love Rollercoaster", and for their erotic album covers that featured nude or nearly nude women. Many of the women were models f ...
. "Tonyies! In the Wrong Key" features a dreamy, dissonant
soundscape A soundscape is the acoustic environment as perceived by humans, in context. The term, originally coined by Michael Southworth, was popularized by R. Murray Schafer. There is a varied history of the use of soundscape depending on discipline, ...
, slurred vocals, swirling horns, and a James Brown sample. At its end, Raphael Wiggins sings the line "last night a DJ saved my life", a reference to the 1982 song of the same name. Wiggins found his impassive vocal style similar to Sly Stone's on "
Family Affair ''Family Affair'' is an American sitcom starring Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966, to March 4, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do engineer and bachelor Bill Davis (Keith) as he attempt ...
" (1971). "Dance Hall" is styled in the genre of the same name, and also incorporates funk. The
segue A segue ( , ; ) is a transition from one topic or section to the next. In music In music, ''segue'' is a direction to the performer. It means ''continue (the next section) without a pause''. The term ''attacca'' is used synonymously. For writ ...
track "Times Squares 2:30 A.M." was recorded by the group on the street with a tape recorder. "Fun" has a hip hop groove,
jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...
tone, and irreverent, party theme similar to "Dance Hall". "
Anniversary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the List of national independence days, date of independen ...
" is about mature, lasting love. Elysa Gardner of ''Vibe'' calls it "a grandly romantic, nine-minute
bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It h ...
that lavishes its female subject with such warmth and respect that the cheeky
misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...
of My Ex-Girlfriend'seems instantly forgiveable." "Castleers" is a short vocal track and tribute to Raphael and D'wayne's Castlemont High School chorus group, Castleers Choir, in which they sang as students. Raphael said of its inspiration, "The high school choir was all about that classic R & B harmony, so I named the song after the choir. One of the great things about that experience at school was that it got us ready to go out in the professional world with our music."


Marketing and sales

''Sons of Soul'' was released on June 22, 1993, by Wing Records and
Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...
, who created a heavy promotional campaign seeking to capitalize on the success of ''The Revival''. ''Sons of Soul'' opened to strong sales and became Tony! Toni! Toné!'s highest-charting album. It debuted at number 38 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart in the week of July 10. On July 24, it peaked at number three on the ''Billboard''
Top R&B Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...
, on which it charted for 56 weeks. In its first eight weeks of release, ''Sons of Soul'' sold 281,961 copies in the US. It charted for 43 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200, and on September 18, it reached its peak position at number 24. By November, the album had sold almost one million copies in the US. Five singles were released in its promotion, including the
Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...
chart hits "If I Had No Loot" and "Anniversary". On November 14, 1995, the album was certified double platinum by the RIAA, for shipments of two million copies in the US. By 1997, it had sold 1.2 million copies, according to
Nielsen SoundScan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...
. To promote ''Sons of Soul'', Tony! Toni! Toné! embarked on a supporting tour that broadened their audience and concert repertoire. Aside from national venues, they promoted the album with concerts in Europe, Australia, and Japan. They also performed on television shows such as ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'', ''
Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...
'', and The Apollo Theatre Hall of Fame ceremony. In November 1993, the group joined singer
Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...
's high-profile Janet. World Tour as a supporting act. However, after a few performances, the band left in January 1994, expressing frustration over their limited time onstage and Jackson's frequent show cancellations. Riley said they were also forced to alter their set list for Jackson's more mainstream, pop audience, while a tour staffer recalled the group "left the tour with no advance notice" and "were extremely unprofessional." They were replaced by
Mint Condition Mint Condition is an American R&B band from St. Paul, Minnesota. The band is focused on diverse genres such as jazz, hip hop, funk and dance. Mint Condition has also been nominated for one Grammy and three Soul Train Awards. The group is cr ...
as Jackson's opening act. Tony! Toni! Toné! subsequently went on hiatus, as each member pursued his own musical projects, producing and writing for other recording artists, before reuniting to record their 1996 album '' House of Music''.


Critical reception and legacy

''Sons of Soul'' was met with widespread critical acclaim. ''Billboard'' praised the record's traditional influences and contemporary sensibilities, calling it "a prismatic record from a maturing group", and ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' said Tony! Toni! Toné! easily transitioned from "irresistible dance tracks ... to lovely, sensuous ballads" on the album. In the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'',
Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...
hailed ''Sons of Soul'' as "the most accomplished merger of hip-hop attitude with a '70s R&B aesthetic", deeming the group's funk and soul music savvy, particularly because of their incorporation of Memphis soul guitars and fashionable rhythms and turntable scratches. Kot compared Raphael Wiggins to Stevie Wonder as a singer, while ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
''s James T. Jones IV believed the record's groovy, catchy songs were comparable to
Sly Stone Sylvester Stewart (March 15, 1943 – June 9, 2025), better known by his stage name Sly Stone, was an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He was the frontman of Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the development ...
. Reviewing the album in ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'', Christopher John Farley found the music elegant and more innovative than the band's previous records. Michael Saunders from ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' believed even without a song as great as their 1990 hit "Feels Good", the record was "unquestionably better than nearly all of the formulaic soul/pop albums littering the charts", featuring ballads that sounded intimate without being overly sentimental.
Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...
was less enthusiastic in his "Consumer Guide" column for ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'', citing "If I Had No Loot" and "Anniversary" as highlights while jokingly calling the group "sexy liars of the year". In a more critical review, '' Spin''s Jonathan Bernstein felt that songs such as "If I Had No Loot" and "What Goes Around Comes Around" were derivative of Tony! Toni! Toné!'s past hits from ''The Revival'', in an attempt to compete with contemporary R&B acts such as
Silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...
, H-Town, and Intro. While Andy Gill of
the Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
remarked, "This young soul trio's third album is the R&B equivalent of retro-rock, with a wide variety of old soul influences rendered up with loving care and attention to detail...But the Tonyies also put together measured, slick backing tracks which anchor old-style soul references within new-style technology." At the end of 1993, ''Sons of Soul'' was voted the number 19th best album of the year in ''The Village Voice''s annual
Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...
critics' poll. '' Q'' magazine included it on its list of the 50 Best Albums of 1993, while ''Time'' ranked the album number one on its year-end list; an accompanying blurb in the list stated: "The Tonyies are a real band, with real instruments, who have succeeded in bringing the art of R.-and-B. songwriting back to the future." It was also named the best album of the year by James T. Jones IV of ''USA Today'', and ''The New York Times'', while ''
Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...
'' named it one of the year's best albums. In 1994, "Anniversary" was nominated for
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
s for Best R&B Song and
Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as th ...
. The album also earned Tony! Toni! Toné! a 1994 critics' award for Best R&B Group from ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
''. In 1995, ''Q'' included ''Sons of Soul'' in its publication "In Our Lifetime: Q's 100 Best Albums 1986–94", a list compiled to celebrate its 100th issue. In 2007, ''Vibe'' included the record in its list of the 150 Essential Albums of the Vibe Era (1992–2007).


Impact and reappraisal

''Sons of Soul'' bridged the gap between commercial and critical success for Tony! Toni! Toné!, helping them become one of the most popular acts in R&B at the time. Its success exemplified the genre's commercial resurgence during the early 1990s, when hip hop became the predominant African-American music genre in the mainstream. In 1994, Greg Kot of the ''Chicago Tribune'' attributed its resurgence to younger artists' blend of live instrumentation and hip hop production values, and cited ''Sons of Soul'' as "the most accomplished merger of hip-hop attitude with a '70s R&B aesthetic." ''
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...
'' hailed it as "a gentle reminder of those glory days" and felt that the group having both vocal and musical talents is most indicative of a return to early R&B's aesthetics. Furthermore, they garnered mainstream attention in a 1993 in music, year of several high-profile controversies with R&B and hip hop artists such as Michael Jackson and Snoop Dogg. David W. Brown of ''The Harvard Crimson'' wrote that Tony! Toni! Toné! is "known primarily for the quality of its music, not its extracurricular reputation, unlike other groups such as Jodeci who rely on a playa-gangsta-mack image to sell-records." Along with acts such as Mint Condition and R. Kelly, Tony! Toni! Toné! played live instruments that complemented their hip hop sensibilities. Their concerts featured visual elements such as incense smoke and kaleidoscopic stage lighting, the group's eccentric wardrobe, and additional instrumentalists, including another guitarist, two drummers, two keyboardists, a violinist, a trumpeter, and a saxophonist. ''The Charlotte Observer'' remarked on the group in 1994: "[T]heir use of live instruments on record and onstage makes them an anomaly in the synthesized and sampled world of modern R&B." With the group's reliance on traditional soul and R&B values of songwriting and instrumentation, ''Sons of Soul'' was a precursor to the neo soul movement of the 1990s. Matt Weitz of ''The Dallas Morning News'' wrote in 1993 that the group had distinguished themselves from their New jack swing contemporaries with ''Sons of Soul'' and found them aesthetically akin to acts such as Prince (musician), Prince and P.M. Dawn. Raphael Wiggins said of their success with the album: D'wayne Wiggins cited ''Sons of Soul'' as his favorite album with the group. ''Vibe'' and the ''Philadelphia Daily News'' also viewed it as the group's best album; the latter wrote that "it may be the project that got the public's ears ready for all the similarly soulful artists yet to come." AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine felt that they "received their greatest chart success, without compromising their music", which "was still the finely crafted, highly eclectic and funky pop-soul that distinguished their first two albums," but with improved songwriting and playing. Rickey Wright of the ''Washington City Paper'' regarded the album as a "hyperactively brilliant" showcase for "deeply resourceful songwriters who kept up with their audience", adding that "hardly anything in '90s R&B has touched it". In ''The New Rolling Stone Album Guide'' (2004), Franklin Soults mostly credited Raphael Wiggins for the record's success and said his "high tenor glides as smoothly and confidently as his songwriting".


Track listing

All songs were produced by Tony! Toni! Toné! Notes * "Leavin" contains a sample of "If the Papes Come" by
A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip< ...
. * "What Goes Around Comes Around" and "Dance Hall" feature raps by Trinidadian recording artist General Grant.


Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.


Tony! Toni! Toné!

* Timothy Christian Riley – drum programming, drums, horn synthesizer, keyboards, producer, programming, synthesizer * D'wayne Wiggins – bass, drum programming, drums, guitar, producer, programming * Raphael Wiggins – bass, bass synthesizer, drum programming, drums, keyboards, producer


Additional musicians

* John Affoon – engineer * Gerald Albright – saxophone * Ray Brown – trumpet * Peter Corant – pedal steel, steel guitar * The Fat Lip Horns – horn *
Clare Fischer Douglas Clare Fischer (October 22, 1928 – January 26, 2012) was an American keyboardist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. After graduating from Michigan State University (from which, five decades later, he would receive an honorary doctorat ...
 – arranger, string arrangements * Earl Garner – trumpet * General Grant – guest rap * Nick Marach – acoustic guitar, guitar * Bill Ortiz – trumpet * Lenny Pickett – tenor saxophone * John "Jubu" Smith – guitar, upright bass * The SNL Horns – horns * Norbert Stachel – woodwind * Charles Veal – soloist, string arrangements, violin * Carl Wheeler – keyboards * Jon Williams – trumpet * Benjamin Wright – string arrangements * Frank Wright – arranger * George Young – alto saxophone * Reggie C. Young – trombone


Production

*
Ali Shaheed Muhammad Ali Shaheed Muhammad (born August 11, 1970) is an American hip hop DJ, record producer, rapper and bass guitarist, best known as a member of A Tribe Called Quest. With Q-Tip (musician), Q-Tip and Phife Dawg (and sometimes Jarobi White), the grou ...
 – programming * Enrique Badulescu – photography * Gerry Brown – engineer, mixing * Joe Capers – engineer * Brian Carrigan – engineer * Ed Eckstine – executive producer * Andy Grassi – engineer * Dave Jahnsen – engineer * Anthony Jeffries – engineer * Ken Kessie – mixing * Kelle Kutsugeras – costume design * L.A. Jae – programming * Craig Long – engineer * Bill Malina – engineer * Neil Perry – engineer * Phase 5 – programming * Sean Pollard – engineer * Bob Power – mixing * Herb Powers – mastering * Aaron Rudden – engineer * Mike Scapelli – engineer * Kirt Shearer – engineer, programming * Maurice Stewart – programming * Mark Sullivan – production coordination, project coordinator * Terry T. – programming * Kenneth A. Van Druten – engineer


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


See also

* ''Plantation Lullabies''


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * *


External links

* * {{Authority control 1993 albums Albums produced by Raphael Saadiq Mercury Records albums Tony! Toni! Toné! albums Wing Records albums