Gerald Maxwell Rivera[2][3][4][5] (born May 23, 1973), known mononymously as Maxwell, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Along with fellow musicians D'Angelo and Erykah Badu, Maxwell has been credited with helping to shape what has been termed the "neo soul" movement that rose to prominence during the late 1990s.[6]
Along with fellow musicians D'Angelo and Erykah Badu, Maxwell has been credited with helping to shape the "neo soul" movement that rose to prominence during the late 1990s.[10][65] Along with D'Angelo's Brown Sugar (1995) and Badu's Baduizm (1997),[65] Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite has been recognized by writers for beginning neo soul's popularity and helping the genre obtain commercial visibility.[66][67] However, in contrast to D'Angelo, Maxwell was more conventional in his approach on his debut album.[68]

In commenting on the "new soul revival" in music, Maxwell told Entertainment Weekly in 1997 that "everything out there musically was inspired or influenced by something from the past. It's not about creating some super-fresh new thing. If it doesn't lend itself to your history, how is it going to extend to your future? That's what's really brilliant about looking into children's eyes—you can see their parents in them."[12] The Washington Post called him "the Marvin Gaye of the '90s".[69] Its columnist wrote that Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite "heralded the arrival of a top-of-the-class graduate of the old school of soul, one who could sing about romantic aspiration and tribulation with heart-wrenching emotion. It was as if the aesthetic that Gaye ascribed to — 'music that has feeling, hope and meaning – all the things people are looking for' — had been rediscovered after a long, hedonistic interlude."