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The Identity Of Maxwell 's Performance At The Verizon Center

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In this paper, I will discuss the identity of Maxwell, derived from his performance at the Verizon Center. Maxwell’s performance represented his identity as a sensual male artist, whose appreciation for women grew from his mother playing the role of both parents. Furthermore, I will discuss how Maxwell’s influencers have played a role in his development as a Neo Soul artist. First, I will give background on the artist and the genre he belongs to. Next, I will provide background on the concert, such as the venue. Then, I will discuss aspects of his performance that mainly embody Maxwell’s identity. Finally, I will conclude with an overview of how Maxwell’s performance depicts his identity as a sensual, Neo Soul artist. Soul music is …show more content…

Maxwell suffered the loss of his father in a plane crash when he was just three years old, and after this tragedy, he saw his mother become the backbone of the household. The experience made him a deeply religious child, and he first began singing in his Baptist church in Brooklyn, where his grandmother would take him every Sunday for church service. At age of 17 Maxwell became serious about music, and the year was 1990 when he began writing his own songs using a cheap Casio keyboard given to him by a friend. Maxwell was greatly influenced by early- '80s R&B artist such as Al Green, Marvin, Gaye and Prince. While being compared to these artists who influenced him, Maxwell maintained his own style of Neo Soul. Soon, his fan base rose rapidly, and by 1991, he was performing in New York clubs holding up to the comparisons while paving his own path as one of the founding fathers of Neo-Soul R&B. Maxwell often says he was a nerd in High School, and his classmates couldn 't imagine the shy, awkward teenager being a Neo-Soul Pioneer (online video, YouTube, accessed November 2, 2016). After making a name for himself in the nightclubs, he began to get noticed by major record labels. He gravitated toward Columbia Records, but he had certain aspects of his
Page 3 identity such as his creative freedom that he did not want to relinquish. In 1998, in an, interview Travis Smiley, a MTV host who

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