Maxwell

Singer-songwriter Maxwell played an instrumental role in establishing neo-soul as an important subgenre of modern R&B, virtually defining the term with his smash 1996 debut, Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite. But like his fellow neo-soulster D’Angelo, Maxwell was virtually absent from the music scene in the '00s. After 2001's chart-topping Now, he refrained from putting out any music for the next eight years. The wait ended last year with BLACKsummers’night, a stately, nuanced, and deliciously complex album that makes Maxwell a big player yet again.

Updated 05/19/2010