Soulful House is a sub-genre of House music, which most closely resembles Disco, MoTown, and Soul. Some consider Soulful House music to also draw elements from Deep House and Funky House, creating the sub-sub-genres of Deep Soulful House and Funky Soulful House. Soulful House songs are given structure by a vocalist, similarly to funky house, thus using a voice as a separate instrument rather than simply utilizing vocal samples, as is often done in deep house. In doing so, you can showcase both a vocalist and a producer’s talent. However, Soulful House music tends to have calmer vocals compared to the diva-like vocals commonly present in Funky and Disco House. Also, Soulful House tends to be written in a major key, rather than a minor key like Deep House which creates a happy and uplifting atmosphere, rather than a dark and moody one. In Soulful House music there is a lot of influence from early Chicago House fused with elements of the jazz funk movement of the late 1980s, as demonstrated by complex chords that are held throughout Soulful House songs, giving them a dissonant but funky and danceable feel.
At MN2S, we manage several labels that release a wide variety of music. One such label includes our namesake label, MN2S, which releases an amalgamation of House Music genres, yet most of the releases can be classified as Soulful House, more specifically Vocal Soulful House. Also, Restless Soul, started by Soulful House legend Phil Asher, releases Soulful House by himself as well as other producers and vocalists such as Bah Samba and Kai Alice, who are currently pushing the Soulful House scene forward.
