Bilal

Bilal Sayeed Oliver (born August 23, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.

He is an independent artist, noted for his wide vocal range, work across multiple genres, and intense live performances.

1st Born Second received universal acclaim from music critics; and holds a score of 82 out of 100 at Metacritic.

The album earned rave reviews from publications including The Village Voice, Chicago Sun-Times, and USA Today, and it also received comparisons to the music of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Sly & the Family Stone, Prince, and Curtis Mayfield.

The album showcased a wide variety, from the emotionally charged fan-favorite "Soul Sista", which peaked at No.18 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts, to the political viewpoints of "Fast Lane" and "Second Child".

Bilal managed to gain a sizable following and high attendance at his live shows, as well as much acclaim and respect from his peers, many of whom noted his range and ability to sing in a freeform style, and his classically trained falsetto.

The soulful feel of the album caused Bilal to be labeled as "neo-soul".

Bilal stresses that this term does not fit, and throughout his career, his expansion in music and pushing of boundaries proved his point.

In the following years Bilal continued to appear on projects by other artists of both high profile and avant garde, while recording and developing his follow-up set to be released on Interscope Records and featuring contributions primarily from producers Dr. Dre and J Dilla.

These plans proved to be changeable and the final result, Love for Sale, was an album that appeared to be built around Bilal's own musicianship.

Bilal switched it up on Love For Sale, which includes live instrumentation and a vibe completely new and different from its predecessor.

Bilal's anticipation for the album was shot down, however, after receiving disapproval from Interscope.

Unwilling to start from scratch, Bilal continued to push his LP.

However, near the album's completion, the album was leaked in its entirety on the Internet.

Interscope shelved the album indefinitely, hinting that it saw little commercial potential in it.

The event sent Bilal into a period of distress, and he was considering quitting music; however, Love for Sale received over half a million downloads on the Internet, and Bilal began touring, despite there not being a proper release of the album.

His concerts were known for being intense and inspiring awe among audiences.

He was a member of the Soulquarians, an experimental black music collective active from the late 1990s to early 2000s.

He has been well received, both nationally and internationally, with an extensive list of collaborations including Kendrick Lamar, Common, Erykah Badu, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Guru, Kimbra, J Dilla, Robert Glasper, and The Roots.

Starting out at a major label, Bilal debuted with his popular R&B single "Soul Sista" in 2000, but turned to playing jazz venues and recording more progressive soul music in subsequent years.

He has commercially released four albums to critical success, while his unreleased but widely leaked second album Love for Sale also found wide acclaim among critics and listeners.

In 2001, Bilal released his debut album 1st Born Second, which featured contributions from the Soulquarians as well as high-profile producers such as Dr. Dre and J Dilla.

The album peaked at number 31 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, and it has sold 319,000 copies.

In 2008, Bilal began recording for his next album.

In August 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, Bilal wrote and recorded his first EP, Voyage-19, over the course of three days and in collaboration with various musicians in remote experimental sessions, which were streamed live on YouTube.

The resulting three-track EP was released digitally the following month, with revenues of its sale and accompanying donations given to the participating artists, many of whom had been struggling financially due to the pandemic.

Bilal was born Bilal Sayeed Oliver in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He grew up in a religiously mixed household, his mother being Christian and his father Muslim.

When he was 11 he became choir director at his mother's church, and at 14 he formed a group and performed gigs at the Blue Moon Cafe in Philadelphia.

As a formative experience, he cites his father taking him to the city's jazz clubs.

"I used to have to sit in the back where the cigarette machine was. They had a curtain they could put over me just in case the police came", he recalls to Beat magazine:

"I remember sitting back there watching all of these different bands who really intrigued me a lot. I liked the way the cats dressed, the way they talked. I got to see Terrence Blanchard, Kenny Kirkland, Jeff 'Tain' Watts. I was a 13-year-old – I made up my mind then that I wanted to be in music some kind of way."

Bilal graduated from the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts and then attended New York City's The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, where he met the pianist Robert Glasper on his first day.

With Glasper, he frequented a number of jazz clubs in the city and eventually the Wetlands Preserve nightclub, where he connected with musicians of the Soulquarians collective: the Roots, Common, Erykah Badu, and Mos Def.

Concurrently, Bilal frequented jam sessions set up by New School professors and students.

At one such event, he met Aaron Comess, a musician from the pop-rock band Spin Doctors.

The two went on to improvise together at Comess's home and produced a demo that was later heard by Interscope Records, who signed Bilal to a record contract.

Bilal began to familiarize himself with the music scene in New York City, meeting prominent recording artists such as Common, The Roots, and Erykah Badu from the Soulquarians collective.

Eventually, he was discovered by Aaron Comess from the Spin Doctors during an after-school jam session.

It was with him that Bilal recorded his demo and eventually landed a record deal with Interscope Records.