One of hip-hop and R&B’s most iconic collectives might be making a comeback.
Questlove has teased the long-awaited return of the Soulquarians, the soul-steeped movement that he spearheaded in the late 1990s and early 2000s alongside the likes of D’Angelo and J Dilla.
During a recent episode of his podcast The Questlove Show, the longtime Roots drummer and award-winning filmmaker revealed plans for a stripped-down Soulquarians comeback featuring the few original members that are left including himself, R&B legend Bilal and acclaimed producer/multi-instrumentalist James Poyser.
“James [Poyser], myself, Bilal — the fragments that are left of the Soulquarians… we spoke. The family’s going to get back together,” he said.
Questlove added that since the deaths of Prince and D’Angelo in 2016 and 2025, respectively, he feels pressure to “see the mission through” of keeping thoughtful, analog-driven music alive.
“Now that [D’Angelo] is not here, I feel that responsibility more than ever,” he shared.
It’s unclear if other living Soulquarians such as Erykah Badu, Common, Q-Tip and Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) will be involved.
Headquartered at Jimi Hendrix’s famed Electric Lady Studios in New York City, the original Soulquarians movement birthed a whole wave of classic hip-hop and R&B albums that remain hugely influential to this day.
Between 1999 and 2002, the lineup of like-minded, left-of-center creatives came together to produce masterpieces like D’Angelo’s Voodoo, Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun and Common’s Like Water For Chocolate.
“In my head it was this utopian paradise I had always envisioned, the Native Tongues movement recreated,” Questlove wrote of the Soulquarians in his 2013 memoir Mo’ Meta Blues.
However, things began to fall apart just as the group was hitting its peak thanks to a 2000 VIBE magazine article that sought to spotlight the Soulquarians, but sadly backfired.
“I was in Chicago for a D’Angelo show … Someone came up and tapped me on the shoulder. ‘Ahmir, it’s Mos [Def]. He wants to talk to you,’” Quest recalled in Mo’ Meta Blues.
“[Mos said], ‘I’m not an Aquarian … Does that mean I’m not a real Soulquarian?’ Later, Q-Tip called. ‘Yo,’ he said. ‘This article makes it look like I work for you.’ Then Erykah called, and she had a problem with the piece, too.”
He added: “When I [checked out the story], I could see their point … It was at that moment that I realized that the paradise I had imagined wasn’t headed in a good direction.”
This article was originally published on hiphopdx.com.
