Billets Maxwell

Gerald Maxwell Rivera (born May 23, 1973), better known by his middle name Maxwell, is a singer, songwriter, producer, and musician credited as a pioneer of the neo soul genre, alongside D'Angelo and Erykah Badu.

Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, Maxwell’s beginnings in music started after he was given a cheap Casio keyboard by a friend in 1990, which he used to compose his own songs. Taking the leap to perform at venues the following year, his smooth soul, jazz-influenced sound earned him a considerable amount of buzz throughout New York City, eventually leading to him earning a recording contract with Columbia Records in 1994.

His debut album Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite, released on April 2, 1996, propelled him as a central figure in the then-emerging genre dubbed as “neo soul.” Its mellow music production contrasted the hip-hop influenced R&B that was commonplace, and Maxwell’s versatile vocal style earned him comparisons to various soul singers of the past.

For his sophomore album Embrya, released on June 30, 1998, Maxwell ventured into an experimental direction that left critics and his primary listeners in a perplexed position. With the melodies standing back to allow the groove of the songs to shine, the album was commercially successful, and resulted in him developing a new fanbase off of its alternative R&B sound.

Entering the next millennium with his third album Now on August 14, 2001, Maxwell went away with the conceptual nature of his previous releases to take a more “in the moment” approach with each song. This album became his first to top the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, and would be his last before he would go on a lengthy hiatus from the industry.

With his return coming in the form of a surprise appearance at the 2008 BET Awards performing “Simply Beautiful” as part of a tribute for Al Green, Maxwell’s more conservative look with the departure of his afro and sideburns served as a lead-up for his fourth album BLACKsummers'night, released the following year on July 7, 2009. His most recent album thus far, blackSUMMERS'night, was released almost seven years later on July 1, 2016.