Latest Release

- OCT 14, 2024
- 2 Songs
- Keep On Movin' · 1989
- Keep On Movin' · 1989
- Club Classics, Vol. One (10th Anniversary Edition) · 1989
- Keep On Movin' · 1989
- Vol. 2, 1990 - A New Decade · 1990
- Club Classics, Vol. One (10th Anniversary Edition) · 1989
- Vol. 2, 1990 - A New Decade · 1990
- Keep On Movin' · 1989
- Vol. 3 - Just Right · 1992
Essential Albums
- “What is Soul II Soul?” the London collective’s lynchpin Jazzie B ponders on “Jazzie’s Groove.” “Well, we’re a soundsystem, an amalgamation of good dance music.” In hindsight, it’s a deceptively modest appraisal. This album did far more than aggregate the sounds of late-’80s London club life—it completely reset the possibilities for dance music and revitalized a UK soul and R&B scene that was in thrall to what was happening across the Atlantic. By the time Virgin Records approached them with the idea of making an album, Soul II Soul was already a multi-armed enterprise: a soundsystem, a clothing brand (with its own shop), and a club night so popular that they occasionally had to ask punters to leave halfway through so the queues outside could be let in. A broth of soul, R&B, house, hip-hop, and Afrobeat, Club Classics Vol. One channeled the diversity and innovation of the capital’s underground dance scene. It’s all emboldened by superb but, at that time, little-known singers including Caron Wheeler and Rose Windross, and infused with an Afrocentric spirit of positivity and inclusiveness. That sound bore an immediate and enduring influence on UK music. Just as the Soul II Soul club nights offered a more serene alternative to the accelerating BPMs of warehouse parties, “Keep On Movin’” laid ground for trip-hop with its strings, spaciousness, and unhurried breakbeats. And “African Dance” predicted London’s Afroswing explosion 30 years in advance by cross-pollinating Afrobeat with multiple strains of house. With “Back to Life (However Do You Want Me),” a retooling of swingbeat assisted by the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra, topping the UK singles charts, a route from the reggae soundsystems to the mainstream had been drawn. It was one that, over the coming decades, garage, jungle, and dubstep would follow.
Albums
Artist Playlists
- The London R&B/house group moves and grooves to its own rules.
Live Albums
Appears On
- Smudge All Stars, Dr Rubberfunk & Culture Club
About Soul II Soul
Best known for their 1989 hits “Keep on Movin’” and “Back to Life,” the UK collective Soul II Soul combined elements of British, African, Caribbean, and African American music. Their motto: “a happy face, a thumpin’ bass, for a loving race.” • Soul II Soul originated with DJ Jazzie B, a Britain-born son of Antiguan immigrants. Jazzie and his crew operated sound systems throughout London beginning in the early ’80s and eventually landed a Sunday night residency at the venue African Centre in Covent Gardens. • In 1987, Soul II Soul made the jump to recording original music. The demo single “Fairplay,” produced by Jazzie B and member Nellie Hooper, earned them a deal with 10 Records, a Virgin subsidiary. The following year, “Fairplay” and “Feel Free” made the lower reaches of the UK charts. • With the addition of singer Caron Wheeler—who’d performed on hits by Elvis Costello and The Special AKA—Soul II Soul broke through in 1989 with “Keep on Movin’.” The single reached No. 5 in the UK and No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. It also topped the Billboard dance charts. • Soul II Soul fared even better with the follow-up, “Back to Life,” which topped the UK pop charts and reached No. 4 in the US. It hit No. 1 on the US dance and R&B charts. • Both singles appear on the group’s 1989 debut album, Club Classics Vol. One, which reached No. 1 on the UK charts. • At the 1990 Grammys, Soul II Soul won two awards: Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for “Back to Life” and Best R&B Instrumental Performance for “African Dance.” • Soul II Soul notched a second chart-topping UK album with their sophomore effort, Vol. II: 1990 - A New Decade, which features the Top 10 UK singles “Get a Life” and “A Dream’s a Dream.” • Hooper left prior to the recording of 1992’s Volume III - Just Right. Jazzie B handled production duties himself and brought in several male singers—a first for the group. The album reached No. 3 in the UK and yielded the Top 5 hit “Joy.” • Soul II Soul disbanded after the release of their fifth album, 1997’s Time for Change. A decade later, Jazzie B was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. • The group reunited in 2007 and has performed sporadically ever since. In 2016, they released the live album Origins: The Roots Of Soul II Soul.
- FORMED
- 1988
- GENRE
- R&B/Soul