The Legacy Continues

Neo-soul in the 1990s and 2000s revived soul's organic warmth in response to heavily produced R&B. D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, and Lauryn Hill blended soul with hip-hop, jazz, and African rhythms. Today, artists like Leon Bridges and Yusuf Dayes carry the tradition forward.

The blues never died either. Gary Clark Jr. plays electric blues with rock intensity. Fantastic Negrito won three Grammys for blues-rooted music. And the blues lives in the DNA of every rock guitar solo, every soul vocal riff, and every rapper who tells a story about struggle and survival.