'Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite'

The number films, books or records that almost never make it out into production is pretty vast. Maybe the suits in the offices that make decisions about release are just too shortsighted or dumb.

Maybe the book, record or film are just not very good and are successful in spite of themselves. It's impossible to understand if something is going to make money even if everything inside of you tells it it won't.

Maxwell was in his early 20s when Columbia Records gave him complete creative control of his debut album and even allowed him to produce it. This is a kid with no history or actual fanbase needed for a Columbia release and they're giving him the keys to daddy's car.

He recorded the album and it sat on the shelf for a year for any number of reasons, which include Columbia not thinking it was going to be very successful financially.

Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite started slow on the charts although it was a critical hit. With enough singles and exposure in films and whatnot, it was certified gold a year after release and has sold two million overall.

Maybe more significantly, and I realize that the heads of Columbia can't pay their stockholders with this, is that it became a large part of the neo-soul scene that included D'Angelo and Erykah Badu. To be honest, I don't know what this really means outside of it being new, young artists doing pretty standard soul music. Listen to it and it's not unlike what others did before or after. Maybe it's all marketing.