All In The Family! 10 Black Music Cliques That Ruled The Charts

Source: Live Nation

We’ll be celebrating Black Music Month all June long, bringing you weekly stories on the pioneers who paved the way for Black musicians to rise up the charts in addition to profiling the many currently pushing the culture forward.

When a collective of musicians know how to play well together, it can create lasting memories on all levels for fans — we get high-energy remixes on the charts, joint interviews that always make for good viewing and even collaborative concerts if their schedules link up. In short, many of our faves have come to the realization that it’s easy to dominate the industry when you clique up.

The Soulquarians https://t.co/igXgz9EaqW

— Lerato Sekoere (@Mosotho_Griot) May 14, 2023

RELATED: 20 Greatest Black Duets Over The Past 20 Years

Speaking of collaborative concerts by crew members, R&B queen Erykah Badu will be hitting the road this summer with her fellow Soulquarian brother Yasiin Bey, formerly Mos Def. As the flyer also teases “more extraordinary guests,” we’ll definitely be holding out hope that we see an on-stage reunion with all the group members at their upcoming Unfollow Me Tour.

Fingers crossed!

It got us thinking about a few other music collectives throughout Black music history that rocked the Billboard charts and beyond as a solid unit. Who could forget the joint effort of Timbaland’s production and Missy Elliott’s songwriting turning both Aaliyah and Ginuwine into modern day R&B icons? Imagine trying to choose between the members of Wu-Tang Clan when you have Liquid Swords, Tical and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… to choose from — that’s not even including their debut group LP, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)! What Diddy formed with Bad Boy, even with the many mishaps that’ve gone down over the past few decades, still continues to prove that he knows how to market a superstar or two.

Take a look at 10 standout collectives of Black musicians that made history when they came together, and let us know some of your favorite Black music cliques:

• 1980: Kurtis Blow Gives Us ‘The Breaks’
• 1978: Marvin Gaye Gets Vulnerable With “Hear My Dear”
• 1976: Natalie Cole Makes History, Wins Best New Artist

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