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.
lovecontract
Musiq Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
So many things I've got to tell you
But I'm afraid I don't know how
'Cause there's a possibility
that you'll look at me differently
Love
Ever since the first moment I spoke your name
From then on I knew that by you being in my life
[Chorus]
Love
So many people use your name in vain
Love
Those who have faith in you sometimes go astray
Love
Through all the ups and downs the joys and hurts
Love
For better or worse I still will choose you first
Many days I've longed for you
Wanting you
Hoping for the chance to get to know you
Longing for your kiss
For your touch, your feel, your Presence
Many nights I've cried from the things you do
Felt like I could die from the thought of losing you
I know that you're real
With no doubts and no fears
And no questions
[Chorus]
At first you didn't mean that much to me, no
But now I know that you're all I need, oh
The world looks so brand new to me
Now that I found love
Everyday I live for you, yeah
And everything that I do
I do it for you
What I say is how I feel so I believe it's true
You got to know I'm true
[Chorus: Repeat x2]
Musiq's "Love Contract" is a song about the fear of expressing one's love for another person. The artist talks about how much he has longed for his loved one, hoping for the chance to get to know them, longing for their touch, kiss, and feel. However, he is afraid to express his feelings because he fears that it will alter the way this person regards him. The song reveals the fear of vulnerability in expressing one's feelings to another, which is a common fear that many people face daily.
The chorus of the song talks about how love is often used in vain by many people, and those who believe in it might go astray. Musiq then sings about how he will choose his love over everything else, through all the ups and downs, joys, and hurts. He expresses that even though he's afraid of the outcome of expressing his love, he knows that real love has no doubts, fears, or questions and is willing to take the risk.
In conclusion, the love contract by Musiq Soulchild is a beautiful song that explains the fear of vulnerability when it comes to love. It exposes the fear of expressing one's feelings and not knowing what the outcome will be.
Line by Line Meaning
Love
The concept of love
So many things I've got to tell you
I have so much to say about love
But I'm afraid I don't know how
I'm finding it difficult to express my feelings
'Cause there's a possibility
Because there's a chance
that you'll look at me differently
That you'll think of me differently
Ever since the first moment I spoke your name
Since I first met you and said your name
From then on I knew that by you being in my life
I realized that you were important to me
Things were destined to change cause
My life was bound to change because of you
Love
The concept of love
So many people use your name in vain
Many people use the word 'love' carelessly
Love
The concept of love
Those who have faith in you sometimes go astray
Even those who believe in love can make mistakes
Love
The concept of love
Through all the ups and downs the joys and hurts
Through all the good and bad times
Love
The concept of love
For better or worse I still will choose you first
No matter what happens, I will prioritize love
Many days I've longed for you
I've yearned for you for many days
Wanting you
Desiring you
Hoping for the chance to get to know you
Wishing to have the opportunity to know you better
Longing for your kiss
Craving your kiss
For your touch, your feel, your presence
Longing to touch, feel and be in your presence
Many nights I've cried from the things you do
I have cried many nights because of the way you make me feel
Felt like I could die from the thought of losing you
The thought of losing you makes me feel like I could die
I know that you're real
I know that love is real
With no doubts and no fears
I have no doubts or fears about it
And no questions
I have no questions about it
At first you didn't mean that much to me, no
Initially, I didn't care much about love
But now I know that you're all I need, oh
I now realize that love is all I need
The world looks so brand new to me
The world looks different to me
Now that I found love
Now that I've found love
Everyday I live for you, yeah
Every day, I live for love
And everything that I do
Everything I do
I do it for you
I do it for love
What I say is how I feel so I believe it's true
I mean what I say, so I believe it's true
You got to know I'm true
You need to know that I'm sincere
Love
The concept of love
So many people use your name in vain
Many people use the word 'love' carelessly
Love
The concept of love
Those who have faith in you sometimes go astray
Even those who believe in love can make mistakes
Love
The concept of love
Through all the ups and downs the joys and hurts
Through all the good and bad times
Love
The concept of love
For better or worse I still will choose you first
No matter what happens, I will prioritize love
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ANDRE HARRIS, CARVIN HAGGINS, TAALIB JOHNSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind