What Is Musiq Soulchild's Net Worth?
Musiq Soulchild is an American R&B/soul singer-songwriter and author who has a net worth of $9 million. Musiq Soulchild has made a name for himself with his one-of-a-kind music style that blends contemporary R&B, soul, funk, alternative, blues, and jazz as well as some gospel influences and hip hop. Musiq has earned numerous Grammy nominations, and he has released nine studio albums, including the Platinum albums "Aijuswanaseing" (2000) and "Juslisen" (2002) and the Gold albums "Soulstar" (2003) and "Luvanmusiq" (2007). "Juslisen" and "Luvanmusiq" both reached #1 on the "Billboard" 200 chart and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and the singles "Just Friends (Sunny)," "Love," "Halfcrazy," "Dontchange," "B.U.D.D.Y.," "Teachme," "IfULeave" (featuring Mary J. Blige), and "SoBeautiful" were top 10 hits on the "Billboard" Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Soulchild has guest-starred on "Soul Food" (2000), "Half and Half" (2004) and "The Game" (2007), and he published the book "143 – Love According to Musiq" in 2012.
Early Life
Musiq Soulchild was born Taalib Hassan Johnson on September 16, 1977, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He grew up in a Muslim household with eight younger siblings, and he has described himself as the "black sheep of the family." As a teenager, Soulchild earned a reputation for being gifted musically, performing a cappella on the street, beatboxing for MCs, and scatting at jazz clubs. He said of his stage name, "There were people who knew of me but they didn't really know me; they just knew me as 'that music dude.' So after getting that so much, I was like, 'Just call me Musiq.' It was so fresh to me because if I had to be called anything, I would have wanted to be called Music. That's how much I dug it; when you see me, I want you to automatically think of music. The stage name "Musiq Soulchild" is technically two ideas. 'Musiq' is the front man and 'Soulchild' is the idea behind it. It's basically me as an artist in this generation, representing the traditions and the legacies of the past soul stars." Musiq dropped out of high school at the age of 17 to pursue a music career.
Career
Soulchild signed a contract with Def Soul Records in 1998, and he released his debut album, "Aijuswanaseing," on November 14, 2000. The album was certified Platinum, and it reached #24 on the "Billboard" 200 chart and #4 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The single "Love" reached #2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and #24 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, and "Just Friends (Sunny)" reached #6 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Musiq followed his successful debut with 2002's "Juslisen," which topped the "Billboard" 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts and went Platinum. The single "Halfcrazy" reached #2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and #16 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart," and "Dontchange" reached #3 and #17 on those charts, respectively. Soulchild's next two albums, 2003's "Soulstar" and 2007's "Luvanmusiq," were certified Gold. "Luvanmusiq" reached #1 on the "Billboard" 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, and "Soulstar" reached #3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #13 on the "Billboard" 200 chart. "Luvanmusiq" was released by Atlantic Records and featured the singles "B.U.D.D.Y." and "Teachme," which both peaked at #2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
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In 2008, Musiq released the album "OnMyRadio," which reached #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #11 on the "Billboard" 200 chart and featured the top 10 singles (on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart) "SoBeautiful" and "IfULeave" (featuring Mary J. Blige). Soulchild then released the 2009 EP "A Philly Soul Christmas / Christmas Musiq," and it reached #9 on the "Billboard" Holiday Albums chart. His sixth studio album, 2011's "MusiqInTheMagiq," reached #3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and he followed it with 2015's "Husel Music," 2016's "Life on Earth," and 2017's "Feel the Real." "Life on Earth" reached the top 10 on the "Billboard" Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Top R&B Albums, and Independent Albums charts, and "Feel the Real" reached #11 on the Independent Albums chart. Musiq has also released the EPs "The Pre-Up – EP" (2014) and "The eTeRnAL pEaCe EP" (2015), and he collaborated on albums with Syleena Johnson (2013's "9ine") and Hit-Boy (2023's "Victims and Villains"). Soulchild has performed on tracks by other artists as well, such as "Break You Off" by The Roots (2002), "Nothing at All" by Santana (2003), "Why Me" by Ice Cube (2008), "Chocolate High" by India.Arie (2008), and "Your Turn" by Ty Dolla Sign (2020).
Personal Life
In 2009, Musiq welcomed a son with Kameelah Williams, a singer for the girl group 702. His daughter Satori was born in 2017. Soulchild wears sunglasses during interviews and public appearances due to a lazy eye. During a 2011 interview on the Power 105.1 show "The Breakfast Club," he explained, "When I was mad young, my uncle was trying to feed me and I was mad rebellious, I wanted to feed myself and he was like nah, and he was trying [to] take the fork away from me. So he was feeding me and I wouldn't let go, so his hand slipped and jerked back into my eye." Soulchild said that his mother came into the room when she heard him crying, adding, "She looked at my eyes and took me to the hospital. That's where the doctors patched me up and my eye was never the same after that."
Awards and Nominations
Soulchild has earned more than a dozen Grammy nominations: Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Love" (2002), "Halfcrazy" (2003), "B.U.D.D.Y." (2008), "Sobeautiful" (2010), and "We're Still Friends" (2011), Best R&B Album for "Juslisen" (2003), "Luvanmusiq" (2008), and "Feel the Real" (2018), Best Urban/Alternative Performance for "Forthenight" (2004) and "Are You Experienced?" (2005), Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Ifuleave" (2010) and "Chocolate High" (2010), Best R&B Performance for "I Do" (2017), and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for "Black Radio III" artist: Robert Glasper" (2023). He has been nominated for five BET Awards, winning for Best Male R&B in 2001. Musiq was nominated in that category in 2003 as well, and he also received nominations for Best New Artist (2001), the BET Centric Award (2007), and the BET J Award (2009). In 2002, he won an ASCAP Award for Best Male R&B Artist and a Soul Train Award for Best R&B/Soul Single – Male for "Love," and he earned an American Music Award nomination for Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist and an MTV Video Music Award nomination for the MTV2 Award for "Musiq: Halfcrazy."
