Maxwell (musician)
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| Maxwell | |
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 Maxwell on the cover of his album Now
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| Background information | |
| Born | May 23, 1973 |
| Origin | Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Genre(s) | R&B, Soul music, Neo Soul |
| Occupation(s) | singer |
| Years active | 1994 - present |
| Label(s) | Columbia Records |
| Website | Official website |
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.
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[edit] 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 Black Puerto Rican father and a Black American 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].
[edit] 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 1990s. 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.
Heavily inspired by the sound of classic soul music, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite did not catch on with audiences 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.
On June 15, 1997, Maxwell taped an episode of the MTV concert series MTV Unplugged in New York City, performing his own songs as well as covers of songs by Kate Bush ("This Woman's Work", from her album The Sensual World) and Nine Inch Nails ("Closer"). [2] He clashed with his label about the release of an album of his unplugged session, so only an EP [3] containing seven songs was released for sale.
Maxwell's second studio 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. The single peaked at number one on Billboard magazine's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks cart. To date, "Fortunate" is Maxwell's most-successful single, and was Billboard's number one R&B single of 1999.
Now, Maxwell's third album, was released in 2001, and featured the hit singles "Lifetime" and "This Woman's Work", a studio version fo the Kate Bush song Maxwell covered during his MTV Unplugged set.[4]
[edit] Upcoming work
Maxwell's next project, Black Summers' Night, is stated on Maxwell's MySpace page to be a trilogy of albums released over three years, starting in 2008 with Black. The second album, Summers' coming out in 2009 and the third album Night 2010. An audio clip of the song "Pretty Wings" from Black was also featured on his MySpace page.
[edit] Discography
[edit] LPs
- 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
[edit] EPs
- 1997: MTV Unplugged (Gold) #53 US, #15 R&B
[edit] 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
[edit] Soundtrack contributions
Songs listed in italics were issued as singles.
- 1997: Love Jones ("Sumthin', Sumthin': "Mellosmoothe")
- 1999: Life ("Fortunate")
- 1999: The Best Man (Let's Not Play the Game, As My Girl)
- 2000: Love & Basketball ("This Woman's Work")
[edit] Other works
- 1996: Red Hot + Rio ("Seguranca")
- 1996: Sweetback ("Softly, Softly")
- 2004: Cottonbelly NYC Sessions ("Luxury")
[edit] As a featured artist
- 2004: "No One Else in the Room" (Nas featuring Maxwell, Street's Disciple)
[edit] Awards and nominations
[edit] 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
- 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
[edit] 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"
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Official MySpace website
- ['The Importance of Urban Hang Suite - 12 years on' http://emancipation.mypodcast.com]
[edit] References
- ^ Maxwell Biography mtv.com August 2001
- ^ Maxwell Unplugged tv.com
- ^ Maxwell Unplugged CD entertainment.circuitcity.com
- ^ Maxwell Borrows From NIN, Kate Bush mtv.com
