The music industry forever changed in 2001 after Philadelphia native Res released her debut album, “How I Do.” Although she took so many artistic risks, by blending so many different genres into a single listening experience — highlighting societal disillusionment as a Black woman — the genre breaking project faced lukewarm reception and was ultimately forgotten by the majority of public consciousness. Still, by not sacrificing her artistic vision and identity, she ultimately inspired generations of women of color in sound and ethos. “How I Do” proves to them and the broader music industry that women of color can create whatever songs they please. It carried a torch that should be reinvigorated and celebrated as an important part of Black music history.
The impact of “How I Do” is first shown in the process of its creation. It featured the collaboration between Res and co-writer Santigold, who would later become her own lauded singer and songwriter, were hometown friends. This would be Santigold’s first credit for writing published music and likely inspired Santigold to further push social and musical boundaries in her own way. This impact alone would be enough to show how important “How I Do” is as a piece of music history, as Santigold’s music helped define the sound of the 2000s and itself impacted further artists down the line. This album was the first showcase of Santigold’s prowess as a songwriter, and without this credit it would have been more difficult for her to get a platform to change the landscape of music.
The historically unsung hero here, though, is the singer Res and her sonic vision in genre bending. Her art called for a mixture of genres on a single album all coming together to make a texturally engaging listen with a lovely voice to guide us. While primarily defined as neo-soul, hip-hop and alternative R&B, Res also dabbled in genres such as trip-hop, reggae, alternative rock and, arguably, grunge or post-punk.
Just as captivating as the sounds of this record are the lyrics Res sings with such power. Take “Golden Boys”, for example: an eclectic blend of modern jazz and neo-soul with trip-hop drums and lyrics about lying to people about yourself due to insecurities and being seen as shallow, playing into the hands of mass media and consumerism. This song is one of the greatest opening tracks of all time largely in part due to how well the lyrics aged, but also the presence of the vocals as they’re sung. The next song, the alternative rock “They-Say Vision”, explores themes of non-conformity, which keeps the social analysis and criticism theme consistent.
The perfect definition of Res’ output, however, is “Tsunami” and the bonus track attached to it, “Say It Anyway.” What starts off as a solemn R&B ballad about becoming independent from a previous love interest becomes a high-energy grunge song with the most abrasive instrumentation on the entire album courtesy of drums and an electric guitar about celebrating the break-up and not caring about what the other party thinks or says about them. This is an epic not just about breaking up, but finding freedom.
It’s no secret that disparities run rampant in the music industry. It’s easier for a white man to obtain mainstream success and establish themselves than a person of color, especially a woman of color. The institutions which facilitate success in the industry create added difficulties for these demographics. This is reflected by the fact that executive positions in the music industry are disproportionately held by white men. The voices of the marginalized are absent or stifled in many of these spaces without much else to do except take direct action.
What does this have to do with “How I Do”? It could be argued that Res, and by proxy Santigold, are fighting back against systemic racial and gender oppression especially in the music industry by expressing herself as she is without compromising her artistic vision as much as to lose its authenticity. The result is an album that, although receiving little airplay and recognition on release, not only stands the test of time sonically and lyrically but will also be culturally relevant for an extremely long time, breaking boundaries in the process.
Furthermore, as an artist, Res has directly or indirectly influenced several Black women artists. The inspirations range from people like English vocalist and songwriter Estelle to, indirectly, blender of the electronic subgenre jungle and neo-soul Nia Archives.
Res is one of the first — but far from the last — artists who empower women artists of color to nurture their authentic creativity as they see fit, to encourage them to act without conformity or concern for what other people want to think, control and manipulate. By refusing to be defined by a single genre, Res shows how arbitrary and even useless labels can become to define experiences especially if applied by people detached from them. Experiencing and platforming the art of the marginalized is a start to giving us the voices we need to advocate for ourselves, breaking the oppressive cages boxing us in and showing how we can challenge the status quo in the process.