Musiq Soulchild was born and raised in Philadelphia and grew up with his family--including eight brothers and sister]. As a teenager, he began plans for a career in music. He released his debut album, ''Aijuswanaseing'' (read: "I Just Want to Sing"), in 2000, which was well-received by critics and audiences. Musiq did much of his own songwriting, and most of the record was produced and co-written by Ivan "Orthodox" Barias and Carvin "Ransum" Haggins, then of the A Touch of Jazz production company headed by Jazzy Jeff, now of Karma Productions. The singles "Just Friends (Sunny)", "Love", and "Girl Next Door" received exposure in America mainly on the more underground music video network, MTV2, as well as on BET. His singles also received a good amount of airplay on urban and urban contemporary radio stations.
In 2002, he released his sophomore album, ''Juslisen'' (read: "Just Listen"), as simply ''Musiq''. He had continued urban and MTV2 success with its singles, "halfcrazy" and "dontchange", the former of which was one of the most played music videos on MTV2 in the summer of 2002 and during the year overall. Both videos also got substantial play during the year on VH1 Soul. The singles had heavily amounts of airplay on both urban and urban contemporary radio sations in 2002. He also gained exposure during that year by opening concerts for Alicia Keys.
In late 2002, Musiq contributed guest vocals to "Break You Off", the first single from The Roots' ''Phrenology'' album. Once again, its video got heavy play on MTV2 and VH1 Soul, as well as on MTV Jams. He also appeared in Santana's song "Nothing at All" which is featured in his 2002 album ''Shaman''.
In 2003, the singles and videos "forthenight" and "whoknows" from his third LP, ''Soulstar''. "forthenight" was one of VH1 Soul's most played videos of 2004, and also had a very successful run on American urban radio stations.
Recently, Musiq Soulchild (who has added the "Soulchild" to his moniker again) has parted ways with Def Soul and has signed with Atlantic Records. A new Musiq Soulchild album is slated for a spring 2007 release. He will be making guest appearances on rapper Lloyd Banks's ''Rotten Apple'', Talib Kweli "Eardrum", Black Ice "The Death of Willie Lynch", pay tribute to Soul music legends Earth Wind and Fire and appear on the soundtrack "Daddy's Little Girls".
Musiq Soulchild released his debut album, Aijuswanaseing (I Just Want to Sing), in 2000, which included the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop single, "Just Friends (Sunny)". Musiq's second single, "Love", spent 22 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Musiq’s sophomore album, 2002's Juslisen (Just Listen), debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Charts and went platinum; "Halfcrazy" and "Dontchange". In 2003, Musiq released his 3rd album, Soulstar. It included the singles "Forthenight" and "Whoknows".
After a four year break and changing his management to Solqi Management and his record label to Atlantic Records, in 2007, Musiq's released his fourth album Luvanmusiq (Love and Music) which included the singles "B.U.D.D.Y.", "Teachme", and "Makeyouhappy". His fifth album OnMyRadio was released on December 2, 2008. The lead single, "Radio" has posted on both Musiq's MySpace page and official website.
Musiq Soulchild has had 2 platinum albums, 2 gold albums and 7 hit singles. He has received awards from Billboard, BET, ASCAP, BMI, and Soul Train. Musiq has also earned award nominations from MTV, American Music Awards, NAACP, and 9 Grammy nominations, including 3 for his 2007 album Luvanmusiq. Besides being a successful recording artist, Musiq is notable for his creative and unique way of titling his albums and songs by ignoring the rules of capitalization, punctuation and spelling.
He recently performed at the Antigua & Barbuda first Romantic Rhythms Music Festival in the Caribbean which was held from June 12-15,2008 which features legendary artists such as Kenny Rogers, Brian McKnight, Lionel Richie, Keyshia Cole, Maxi Priest, Destra, Heather Headly, Shaggy and many other local artist from the island including The Burning Flames.
He has also made guest appearances on rapper Lloyd Banks's album Rotten Apple, Talib Kweli's Eardrum, The Roots's Phrenology (album), Black Ice's The Death of Willie Lynch and pays tribute to soul music legends Earth Wind and Fire, appearing on the soundtrack to Tyler Perry's movie Daddy's Little Girls. And Ice Cube announced that Musiq will appear on his upcoming album, Raw Footage. He also lent a song from his latest album Luvanmusiq to the soundtrack for Perry's later movie Why Did I Get Married?. He then recorded a remake of Arrested Development's song "People Everyday" with British rapper Estelle for the soundtrack to Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns entitled "People Everyday (Metamorphosis Mix)".
Outside of music, he has been featured in television and print ads for McDonald's, Nike, Inc., Coca-Cola, Levi Strauss & Co. and The Gap. He also made a special appearance in The CW's #1 comedy The Game on Monday, October 29, 2007.
People Everyday
Musiq Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
See I was resting at the park minding my own
Business as I kick up the treble tone
On my radio tape player box, right
Just loud enough so folks could hear it's hype, see
Outta nowhere comes the woman I'm dating
Investigation maybe she was demonstrating
My day was going great and my soul was at ease
Until a group of brothers started bugging out
Drinking the 40 oz, going the nigga route
Disrespecting my black queen
Holding their crotches and being obscene
At first I ignored them cause see I know their type
They got drunk and got guns and yeah they wanna fight
And they see a young couple having a time that's good
And their egos wanna test a brother's manhood
So they came to test 'cause of my hair-do
And the loud bright colors that I wear [Boo !]
I was a target cause I'm a fashion misfit
And the outfit that I'm wearing brothers dissing it
Well I stay calm and pray the brothers leave me be
But they're squeezing parts of my date's anatomy
Why, Lord, do brothers have to drill me ?
'Cause if I start to hit this man they'll have to kill me
[CHORUS: ]
I am everyday people (Repeat 2X)
I told the niggaz please let us pass, friend
I said please 'cause I don't like killing Africans
But he wouldn't stop and I ain't Ice Cube (who?)
But I had to take the brother out for being rude
And like I said before I was mad by then
It took three or four cops to pull me off of him
But that's the story y'all of a black man
Acting like a brother and get stomped by an African
[CHORUS : ]
Come on
See the morale of the story is
Everybody needs to change their way of thinking
Being ignorant never got nobody nowhere
It's not even worth it
You know, you know, you know
Hit it
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I
[Chorus: ]
Ah, ah, oh I
Ah, ah, oh I
Ah, ah, oh I...
Musiq's "People Everyday" describes a typical day in the life of a black man in America. The song starts with the singer talking about his peaceful day in the park, where he is listening to music on his radio tape player. He is interrupted by his girlfriend, who is being harassed by a group of men. The men are trying to harass his girlfriend, disrespecting her, and behaving inappropriately. The singer stays calm despite the situation, but the situation escalates and turns violent.
The singer is disappointed that black men have to treat each other this way. He asks, "Why, Lord, do brothers have to drill me?" The lyrics express frustration with the violence and ignorance that often accompany life in the African American community. The song ends with the singer emphasizing the importance of changing one's mindset, and not succumbing to ignorance and violence.
In summary, "People Everyday" is a commentary on the challenges faced by black men in America. The lyrics highlight the importance of educating oneself and changing one's mindset to avoid perpetuating the cycle of violence and ignorance.
Line by Line Meaning
I am everyday people (Repeat 2X)
I am just like everyone else
See I was resting at the park minding my own
Business as I kick up the treble tone
On my radio tape player box, right
Just loud enough so folks could hear it's hype, see
I was hanging out at the park, listening to music when things started happening
Outta nowhere comes the woman I'm dating
Investigation maybe she was demonstrating
But nevertheless I was pleased
My day was going great and my soul was at ease
My girlfriend showed up and even though she was acting a little strange, I was still happy and relaxed
Until a group of brothers started bugging out
Drinking the 40 oz, going the nigga route
Disrespecting my black queen
Holding their crotches and being obscene
A group of men started making a scene, drinking and acting inappropriately which upset myself and my girlfriend
At first I ignored them cause see I know their type
They got drunk and got guns and yeah they wanna fight
And they see a young couple having a time that's good
And their egos wanna test a brother's manhood
I didn't respond to the men's behavior because I knew they were drunk and violent and wanted to cause trouble since my girlfriend and I were enjoying our time together
So they came to test 'cause of my hair-do
And the loud bright colors that I wear [Boo !]
I was a target cause I'm a fashion misfit
And the outfit that I'm wearing brothers dissing it
The men started giving me a hard time and insulting my fashion choices because I stood out from what they were used to
Well I stay calm and pray the brothers leave me be
But they're squeezing parts of my date's anatomy
Why, Lord, do brothers have to drill me ?
'Cause if I start to hit this man they'll have to kill me
I stayed calm hoping they would stop, but they started harassing my girlfriend and I felt like I needed to defend her even though I knew it could lead to violence
[CHORUS: ]
I am everyday people (Repeat 2X)
I am just like everyone else
I told the niggaz please let us pass, friend
I said please 'cause I don't like killing Africans
But he wouldn't stop and I ain't Ice Cube (who?)
But I had to take the brother out for being rude
I tried to talk to the men and stop the situation from escalating but they continued to be rude, forcing me to take action
And like I said before I was mad by then
It took three or four cops to pull me off of him
But that's the story y'all of a black man
Acting like a brother and get stomped by an African
I was angry and had to be pulled off the man I had been fighting with, and unfortunately it's a story not uncommon for black men to face such violence even from their own race
[CHORUS: ]
I am everyday people (Repeat 2X)
I am just like everyone else
See the morale of the story is
Everybody needs to change their way of thinking
Being ignorant never got nobody nowhere
It's not even worth it
You know, you know, you know
Hit it
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I...
The song aims to teach a moral lesson that everyone must change their mindset towards others since being ignorant never leads us anywhere, and it is not worth it
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT MUSIC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DAVID ALLAN STEWART, SIOBHAN MAIRE DEIRDRE FAHEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind