“Choisis ton afro P’pa”. La néo-soul et la fabrique des identités diasporiques

Abstract

In the early 1990s, neo soul appeared as a “post-soul” genre whose leading artists (Erykah Badu, Amel Larrieux, D’Angelo or Jill Scott), recalled Marvin Gaye’s languid slows as much as Stevie Wonder’s funk. While, in the 1970s, soul meant affirming blackness and maximizing ethnic difference (Gilroy 2000 : 252) in the tumultuous political and social context of the United Sates, neo soul today embodies African Americans’ attempt to connect to a larger space : an Afro-descendant world usually named the African diaspora. This paper explores how neo soul sounds, rhythm and lyrics reflect a global “afro” musical aesthetic that stresses a diasporan belonging rather than a black and African American identity.