But he has an unmistakable sound that is clearly his own. This young man has a style all his own there is some influences certainly of D'Angelo in some of the tracks, There is even some early Stevie Wonder influences in the music. But after purchasing his debut CD and listening to it carefully. After hearing this song a lot of comparison to D'Angelo. I have to say that this young gentlemen Musiq Soulchild got my attention right away when i first heard his brilliant debut on The Nutty Professor II soundtrack with his song Just Friends(Sunny). He leaves us hoping that he'll let someone else write the words for him next time. Tossing off verbal gems such as 'So I could be like Michael Jackson and enjoy myself / Cause what I want to do is make a tuna melt' and 'Your body's banging like a 400SE' with complete sincerity, Musiq lets his ulterior motives show, which sabotages the sensitive-ladies'-man image he's obviously trying to cultivate. He has a perfectly adequate croon (part Stevie, part Eric Benet, and of course, part D'Angelo), but it's his lack of lyrical prowess that does him in. Despite their best intentions, however, the Philly native never manages to generate any real heat. They get some nice, laid-back grooves going on the sassy opening track, 'Girl Next Door,' and on 'Speechless' with its sly, funky Stevie Wonder-style bounce. The 23-year-old newcomer is smart enough to have a couple of his musical predecessor's partners in his crew, like producer James Poyser and bassist Pino Palladino. Musiq even liberally borrows from 'Brown Sugar' on 'L Is Gone,' when he croons, 'Skin caramel complexion/Lips chocolate brown' (D's version says 'Skin is caramel with those cocoa eyes'). The vibe on his debut album, Aijuswanaseing, feels an awful lot like the one D'Angelo first got folks all hot and sweaty with (way back in 1995, with the now-classic Brown Sugar).

Has neo-soul been around long enough to already have throwbacks? The ostentatiously named Musiq Soulchild seems to think so.

List all musiq soulchild songs