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Maxwell (musician)

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Maxwell


Maxwell (born in Brooklyn, New York on May 23, 1973) is an American R&B artist. He played an important role in the development of the subgenre of neo-soul music.

Biography

Maxwell is his middle name; he has chosen to keep his first and last name private out of safety for his family. He was born to a Puerto Rican father and a Haitian mother. The loss of his father at the age of three in plane crash (he was returning to his native country for a visit), greatly impacted him as a person and as an artist. Maxwell first performed in a Baptist church, and was heavily inspired by the work of artists such as Marvin Gaye and Prince. Maxwell began his interest in music at the age of 17 by writing songs. He eventually got a record deal with Columbia Records in 1994 when he was 21 years old.[1].

Music career

Maxwell began working with songwriter Leon Ware and noted guitarist Wah Wah Watson to record his debut Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite in the early 90s. When the album was finished, Columbia had doubts about the album's potential, and shelved it for two years, but finally issued it in 1996.

Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite

Main article: Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite

Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite was finally released in 1996. It was heavily inspired by the sound of classic soul music. It did not catch on until the release of its second single, "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)", which became a hit. Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite sold over 500,000 copies, earning gold status, and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Maxwell MTV Unplugged

Main article: Maxwell's MTV Unplugged

Maxwell performed his famous R&B and soul (aka neo-soul) songs for his [2] session in New York on June 15, 1997. He clashed with his label about the release of an album of his unplugged session, so only an EP [3] of the 1st 7 songs below was released for sale.

Set List:

  1. "Suite Urban Theme' [the Hush]
  2. "Mello: Sumthin" [the Hush]
  3. "Suite Lady "
  4. 'This Woman's Work"
  5. "Whenever Wherever Whatever"
  6. "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)"
  7. "Gotta Get: Closer"
Embrya (1998)

Embrya

Main article: Embrya

Maxwell's second album, Embrya, was released in 1998 and became a critical success. The following year, Maxwell released "Fortunate", a single written by R. Kelly and featured on the soundtrack for the 1999 film Life. To date, "Fortunate" is Maxwell's most-successful single, and was Billboard magazine's #1 R&B single of 1999.

Now

Main article: Now (Maxwell album)

Now, Maxwell's third album, was released in 2001, and featured the hit singles "Lifetime" and "This Woman's Work" (a Kate Bush cover from her album The Sensual World).[4] 'This Woman's Work' originally featured on his 1997 live MTV Unplugged album.

Black Summers' Night

Main article: Black Summers' Night (Maxwell album)

Black Summers' Night, Is actually rumored and stated by Maxwell's MySpace page to be a trilogy of albums released over three years starting this year, 2008. The second album, Summers' coming out in 2009 and the third album Night 2010. Apparently there is an audio clip of one of his songs "Pretty Wings" from his album Black on his MySpace page. Rumors also say that the trilogy of albums could spell out Black Summers' Night by buying all three albums and putting them in chronological order. However it's also argued that all three are labeled Black Summers' Night but would vary the capitalization of the words depending on the album and year. (I.E. In 2008 it would be spelled as BLACK Summers' Night as opposed to 2009 being spelled as Black SUMMERS' Night because of the new album, and so on for 2010.)

Discography

LPs

Unplugged album cover
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite album cover
  • 1996: Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite (2x Platinum) #37 US, #8 R&B
  • 1998: Embrya (Platinum) #3 US, #2 R&B
  • 2001: Now (Platinum) #1 US, #1 R&B, #46 UK
  • 2008: BLACK Summers' Night
  • 2009: Black SUMMERS' Night
  • 2010: Black Summers' NIGHT

EPs

  • 1997: MTV's Unplugged: Maxwell (Gold) #53 US, #15 R&B

Singles

  • 1996: "Til the Cops Come Knockin" #79 R&B
  • 1996: "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)" (Gold) #36 US #8 R&B
  • 1996: "Sumthin', Sumthin'" #23 R&B
  • 1997: "Whenever, Wherever, Whatever"
  • 1998: "Luxury: Cococure"
  • 1998: "Matrimony: Maybe You" #79 R&B
  • 1998: "EachHourEachMinuteEachSecondEachDay: OfMyLife"
  • 1999: "Let's Not Play the Game" #55 R&B
  • 1999: "Fortunate" (Gold) #4 US #1 R&B
  • 2000: "Get to Know Ya" #25 R&B
  • 2001: "Lifetime" #22 US #5 R&B
  • 2001: "This Woman's Work" #58 US #16 R&B

Soundtrack contributions

Songs listed in italics were issued as singles.

Other works

  • 1996: Red Hot + Rio ("Seguranca")
  • 1996: Sweetback ("Softly, Softly")
  • 2004: Cottonbelly NYC Sessions ("Luxury")

Appears as a Featuring Artist

  • 2004: Nas' Street's Disciple ("No One Else in the Room")

Singles on compilation albums

  • 1999: R&B From Doo-Wop to Hip Hop ("Ascension Don't Ever Wonder")
  • 2000: Platinum Hits 2000 ("Fortunate Jay Denes Club Remix")
  • 2002: Blazin Hip Hop and R&B ("This Woman's Work")
  • 2002: The Classic Chillout Album ("Ascension")


Awards and nominations

Awards

  • Soul Train Awards (1996) (11th Annual): Best R&B/Soul Single - Male, "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)"; Best R&B/Soul Album - Male, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite; Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist, dfsfafasd
  • Billboard Music Awards (1999) (10th Annual): R&B single, "Fortunate", Maxwell
  • Soul Train Awards (2000) (15th Annual): Best R&B/Soul Single - Male, "Fortunate" by Maxwell

Nominations

  • Grammy Awards- 1996 (39th Annual): Best R&B Album, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite - Maxwell
  • Grammy Awards- 1997 (40th Annual): Best Pop Male Vocalist - "Whenever Wherever Whatever"
  • Grammy Awards- 1998 (41st Annual): Best Male R&B Vocal Performance - "Matrimony: Maybe You"; Best R&B Album - Embrya - Maxwell
  • Grammy Awards-1999 (42nd Annual): Best R&B Male Vocalist, Maxwell - "Fortunate"
  • Blockbuster Entertainment Awards- 1999 (6th Annual): Favorite Song, "Fortunate"
  • Soul Train Music Awards- 1999 (14th Annual): Best R&B/Soul Album - Male, Embrya
  • NAACP Image Awards- 2001 (33rd Annual): Outstanding Male Artist - "Lifetime"
  • Soul Train Music Awards- 2002 (17th Annual): 2002- Best R&B/Soul Single - Male, "This Woman's Work"
  • Grammy Awards-2001 (44th Annual): Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, "Lifetime"
  • BET Awards 2002 (2nd Annual) :2002- Best Male R&B Artist
  • MTV Video Music Awards- 2002 (19th Annual) :2002- Breakthrough Video- "This Woman's Work"

MySpace.com Blogs - MAXWELL MySpace Blog

References

  1. ^ Maxwell Unplugged tv.com
  2. ^ Maxwell Unplugged CD entertainment.circuitcity.com
  3. ^ Maxwell Borrows From NIN, Kate Bush mtv.com
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