
Deep Dive: The Genius of Soul
Setup
Born out of gospel, R&B, and jazz in late 1950s America, soul has permeated music culture so thoroughly that its influence can be heard everywhere from modern country music to rock and hip-hop. So what is it about soul, and how did it become a soundtrack to some of our nation’s most defining moments? The New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik and Grammy Award-winning artists share — and demonstrate — what soul means to them.
Is soul music the greatest achievement of humanity in the 20th century?
Adam Gopnik, the panel’s moderator and staff writer at The New Yorker, starts the deep dive into soul music with a bold claim about the importance of music to humanity. Gopnik insists that humans’ ability to interpret sound waves as music is the singularly most impressive thing we are capable of as a species.
Big IdeaBy far the most astonishing thing the human mind ever does is to take sound and turn it into music, and then take music and turn it into meaning.Adam Gopnik
But Gopnik doesn’t stop there; he makes a compelling case that American music, rooted in the artistry and experience of black Americans, is the defining artistic achievement of the 20th century. Broadway hits, rock and roll, and hip-hop were all born out of the same musical tradition that has spread to every corner of the globe.
Who Knew?
Empathy and authenticity form the soul of soul music
Vocal artist Clint Holmes puts into words what so many people struggle with: the essence of soul, and some might argue the essence of all music. Watch as he and other panelists talk about how empathy and authenticity are the heart of soul music:
Soul music fuels unity when it’s most needed
What role do musicians, and specifically soul musicians, have in politics and society? It’s a question that vexes almost every artist across genres. See how Clint Holmes, Adam Gopnik, and Alvin Chea bring their perspectives to help answer this questions:
-
Clint Holmes: In a time like this, where things are divided and there's so much anger, that what we offer is more than a distraction. It’s a distraction, but it’s more than that. It’s a distraction that can actually feed unity and feed creativity and feed what a lot of us feel what we are fighting to maintain.
-
Adam Gopnik: Absolutely. Democracy gets built from the ground up. It gets built from creative communion of like-minded people, it doesn't get imposed from the top down.
How do you keep soul music alive in a pop music era?
Being on the popular TV show “The Voice” was intimidating for Kyla Jade, but she was most concerned about being able to sing a song "in its truth.” Jade chafed when her soul upbringing clashed with the pop music foundations of shows like “The Voice.” Listen to Jade describe how she maintains her personal and artistic commitment to soul music:
Learn More
Additional Information
Explore More
USA

Meet Patience Lee, a 2023 Aspen Ideas: Health Fellow who’s building cultural awareness into mental health support services for unaccompanied refugee children in the United Sta...

Meet Nathan Chomilo, a 2023 Aspen Ideas: Health Fellow who’s incorporating community collaboration and racial equity into Minnesota’s Medicaid policy development.







Aspen Ideas: Health is where the arts meet health. Ahead of the 10th annual event this summer, we're looking back at some of the innovative artists, musicians, actors, filmmak...







The pandemic put into stark relief deeply-ingrained gender roles in society, as the burden of unpaid care fell to millions of women who left the workforce. Yet the past years...

Of course, Black history shouldn’t just be a month-long nod on our yearly calendar — it is inextricable from American history and fundamental to the very soul of our nation an...

Jump in by watching our ten most popular talks of all time. From black holes to jazz and civil rights to psychology hacks, we've collected the talks that remain audience favor...

Politics are a frenzy right now, with bombshell headlines dropping so often that it’s hard to know what to focus on. Even when you can cut through the noise, what you hear is...





From the Supreme Court's ruling on abortion rights to public health's role in addressing gun violence to the devastating human toll of the war in Ukraine, this year's Aspen Id...



The nature of beauty, and whether it’s objective or subjective, is the subject of timeless philosophical debate. Do perceptions of beauty vary culturally and generationally, o...
From blockchain to back to school and virus-hunting to bridging divides, speakers at the 2021 Aspen Ideas Festival addressed issues in a new kind of world—one touched, and cha...

The highest court often seems distanced from our day-to-day lives, but the rulings that come out of the Supreme Court are woven into the fabric of the nation. Though it aims t...