''Make it come slow. God, make it slow,'' pleads Maxwell, one of the most enigmatic R&B artists to hit the charts in a generation. But Maxwell's not imploring a new lover -- he's ruminating at his grandmother's New York City home, describing the gentle arc he'd like his career to take. ''If you make it too fast, everyone's eyebrows go up when something goes wrong -- you become slave to a hit. But if you make it slow, no one can deny you.''
On the strength of his debut, Urban Hang Suite (Columbia), a concept piece about one romance, it appears Maxwell has already made it -- fast. His new year began with a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album, and in February he sets off on a 10-city European tour, with plans for a U.S. tour in March.
With his retro-hip dreadlocked Afro, the 23-year-old artist scarcely resembles the ''shy, lonely, straight-up nerd'' he swears he was not too long ago, growing up in Brooklyn's hardscrabble East New York section. When he first began composing on a beat-up Casio keyboard at 17, he says, ''I was so alienated, I didn't feel like I was alive.'' With music as his savior, it's no wonder Maxwell shows such soul. It's no surprise, either, that critics have likened him to everyone from Marvin Gaye to Michael Jackson to early Prince; his falsetto is soulful and rich, he purrs in a sinuous tenor, and he constructs snaky, sexy, utterly danceable funk grooves. Along with notable young artists like D'Angelo and Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Maxwell's music marks a return to a more organic style, relying less on samples and more on live-band flow.
After author and critic Nelson George met Maxwell at a restaurant, he asked him to provide wordless vocals behind Samuel L. Jackson's narration of George's film To Be a Black Man. ''He's very much a student,'' George says. ''He asked questions about the evolution of black music. He's one of the few young R&B performers capable of real spontaneity.''
Flattered by those who call him the Next Thing, he also openly acknowledges the past in his music. ''Everything out there musically was inspired or influenced by something from the past,'' he says. ''It's not about creating some super-fresh new thing. If it doesn't lend itself to your history, how is it going to extend to your future? That's what's really brilliant about looking in children's eyes -- you can see their parents in them.''
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