His is one of today's authentic voices.

I feel like Eric Robeson is the greatest songwriter I ever met.

With a body of work.

That inspires.

He's not only gonna give you a good show vocally, he's going to entertain, you.

Always striving to find the genuine.

There was something about him that I equated with Paul Robeson.

With a resolve that's withstood life's tough challenges.

His success came after he got dropped from the label.

And where others would lose their way.

The King of indie Soul has blazed his own unique path.

It was not in the plan of his life, right, that he be an artist under a label, being told what to sing.

He's a living embodiment of what independent soul music is right now.

But I take this love so serious.... Any problem you want to discuss.

Hi This is Eric Robeson, and this is my indie soul journey.

Going through understand Im not the problem, girl For more than 20 years, this two time Grammy nominated singer, songwriter, producer has delighted audiences around the world with his unique brand of what he calls honest music.

There's a reason why he's been called the king of independent soul and which he holds the moniker humbly.

Over his career, this happily married father of three has performed with R&B royalty and alongside some of the finest tenors in the business.

The blue and now its you baby.

He's written a catalog of songs for a wide range of R&B, soul and hip hop artists.

Let me tell you why I adore Howard Girls And he's even produced for superstars, all while becoming one of the leading pioneers in independent soul music.

But it's been a rough ride at times for the Man from Rahway who found stunning success early on, only to have it all snatched away.

And Eric faces the possibility that it could happen again.

I remember going into the big note and it just wasn't there.

and I'm thinking that Something's wrong.

The workshops are.

Very.

Eric was diagnosed with a hemorrhage on his vocal cords.

The voice that had won him awards and accolades, including two Grammy nominations, was at.

Risk.

And they put me on like reflux medicine.

I went on a reflux diet.

I was reading all these books on, I mean, everything they asked me to do.

I did everything.

And I came back and it was like the hemorrhage was worse.

And I remember the doctors leaving the room and I just broke down crying.

56 00:03:15,111 --> 00:03:17,155 I could count on one hand the times that I've seen him be that emotional.

And I love doing music, man.

I love doing it.

And I'm going to do everything by the book to make sure I can preserve this thing I love.

Tonight, he'll perform for the first time since his vocal cord operation, and he'll learn what lies ahead on his lifelong musical journey.

So yo, we are here at the studio where the band and I are getting ready to rehearse for the Birchmere, probably my biggest show since returning back from vocal cord surgery.

So it's a pretty important one.

I can't say I'm nervous just say that I'm hopeful and faithful, you know?

Born September 26, 1973, in Rahway, New Jersey, Eric was the first born son of James and Charlotte Roberson.

And it was clear from the get go the boy was a natural.

One of the plays they had a little kid Eric's age, you know, doing something in the play, and this little kid wouldn't do it.

So they said we would need a child to play this part.

So, Eric yelled out I'll do it.

My dad, who we all call Pop, was a regular 9 to 5er but definitely a musician.

We literally kept the guitar in every room in the house, so he would be in the living room watching TV and he'd pick up the guitar play and dinner time.

he would go in the kitchen and pick up the guitar and play.

It was just always musical.

It was the soundtrack of my childhood.

My older sister, Alisha, she was the really talented one in the family.

She, you know, played in bands.

She drew, she made clothes.

She just did everything.

And that's really how it rubbed off on me Eric.

Would spend high school, performing in plays and singing in talent contests.

He entered the Mister Black Teenage World Pageant and won.

the prize, a full ride to prestigious Howard University, and it would change the course of his life.

Eric first came off as a person of stature, just a tall dude coming in for voice lessons.

How are university music theater department was intimidating, to say the least.

These guys were so talented.

And that's where I met Mike Malone, who became like a big father figure and and like, say, my head coach.

Director Mike Malone, taught in the renowned musical theater department.

It was exactly the kind of fertile ground this gifted young performer needed.

My freshman year, my room was like, never empty.

It was literally music being made or people playing.

John Madden And it was like always, like a room of, like action.

And I really built some great friendships and some great music partnerships as well.

Howard would give him mad skills and a strong self-belief, so much so that the 19 year old would soon come to record a hit single one, which would send a young Eric like Icarus to the very brink of stardom, only to have it all come tumbling down 117 00:06:44,946 --> 00:06:47,073 My sophomore year.

I'm coming in.

I'm ready.

Know I'm in shape vocally, you know, I'm focused, you know, I'm like, Really?

Want to audition and I get casted as a tree.

I'm destroyed.

the day of the show.

Opening night.

Mike Malone comes out and goes.

Eric, I need to speak to you, so everybody was like "oooooo.." oh, what did I do now.

He pulled me to the side.

and he was like, I need you to play the lead tonight.

The guy's not going to be here.

You know, he got this commercial I come out and we do do the show and it was like I did the part like it was mine.

And and that was the moment where I think I earned a trust and respect, like Mike Malone.

then Eric scored another coup, a meeting with some top execs at Warner Brothers Records.

The budding singer songwriter had been going to class by day and working on music by night, and suddenly the 19 year old had a record contract.

He'd hit the major label lottery and his mother couldn't have been less.

Pleased when he got offered the deal with Warner Brothers.

I really personal was not happy at that moment because I wanted him to get through college first.

Eric's first effort was a sultry, mid-tempo groove with an infectious hook called The Moon.

And I remember walking to class or sitting in, you know, on the front steps of fine arts, you know, eating lunch or whatever.

And somebody'll be like, aint that the kid that sing that song, oh thats him right there, Oh no, thats that guy, thats that moon guy.

And it was like, Yeah you know, wow.

this is dope.

it was a top 40 R and B hit, it led to touring, performing and also a very tough choice.

My intention was to stay in school, you know, but I remember like the video being out and the song like hitting the radio and just the craziness at Howard alone, you know, I remember just telling my parents I can't do it.

So I left 159 00:09:05,086 --> 00:09:06,963 I guess I prayed a little too hard that keep them in school and he ended up getting dropped.

Eric was cut by Warner Records.

It was a bitter pill.

I got this big apartment downtown.

I had moved off campus.

I remembered catching a bus to school, and, you know, yoy have homies like, Yo, what's up with the album?

I'm working on it man, everything's cool, knowing that like the deals like falling through, you know?

And no other offers are coming in.

Eric landed on another deal with Island Records the day the company was sold I remember the day I went to sign signed a contract.

There was nobody there.

And when I got home, my manager called me, said, Yo, Hiram Hicks just took over Island.

I think he's dropping everybody.

And just like that, Eric was out of the majors and out of options.

But that was a moment.

I was like, you know what?

I'm going to go back to school.

It was painful.

Some of it, Yeah.

The pain was knowing how humbling he'd have to be to go back on that campus and have these people that said, Ah, you left.

Look at you now.

Eric threw himself into his studies, more determined than ever to find his own way.

I came back with such a focus.

I became a better student.

My grades were better.

I was a better person.

My lyrics went to another level when I went back to college because at that level of like loss, that darkness, that brick wall I ran into, I needed that in my life.

You know, I needed to be able to write that other side.

He honed his soul music skills through an unlikely venue, musical theater, learning to perform and connect with an audience in ways that would become a signature part of Eric's live show.

That time allowed me to reintroduce myself correctly.

In his senior year, a singular opportunity appeared.

Howard was going to stage the Broadway musical Jelly's Last Jam.

It was the first time a non Broadway theater would be allowed to produce a Tony Award winning play about the jazz great Jelly Roll Morton and Eric landed the lead role.

The crazy part with that one was they made me grow my hair out and they dyed my hair like some weird color, like almost like a reddish color and gave me like finger waves.

So imagine like my senior year, man, I got to walk around Howard's campus looking crazy.

A young performer would be following in the formidable footsteps of two legends, Gregory Hines and Brian Stokes Mitchell And he would nail it.

That was eye opening for me to see that he could actually do that.

Just just amazing, amazing cast and and a great, great production and a great send off man it was the way to.

It was the right way for me to end my Howard story.

After graduation, Eric embarks on the next phase of his musical journey.

I heard this music being made at a studio in Philadelphia.

Whatever this is, this is where I need to be at I went to Philly and just never left.

That studio belonged to legendary hip hop deejay, producer and TV star deejay Jazzy Jeff.

And it would be heaven on Earth for Eric.

Jazzy Jeff had four studio rooms in this basement of the bill, of a building, and just every toy you could possibly imagine musically and just phenomenal musicians just working all day.

The one thing that I felt that we lacked in a touch of jazz was songwriting 228 00:13:01,781 --> 00:13:04,116 I felt when I met Eric, Eric was hands down the best songwriter that I had ever met.

Eric is somebody who writes a very simple song that's very powerful and potent because it's the right word.

Eric had a way with his words and his melodies that separated him from everybody else.

To me.

In 1998, he had a chance encounter with an act on Sean Puffy Combs Bad Boy Records.

They were a new multi-platinum group called 112, and he had just the song for them.

And my godd friend Jarrel, who knew 112, we were all in the same studio.

And they walked into the studio and he introduced me and I was like, Hey, can I play a song for yall and they were like, cool.

So I took my guitar out and I played a song called Funny Feelings.

The Funny feelings, Funny feelings that you don't love me anymore and they were like yo we want it .

and I was like YES!, 248 00:14:19,483 --> 00:14:22,152 Eric Success with 112 led to another big break a publishing deal with EMI.

Suddenly he had songs placed with 16 different big name acts.

Out of those 16 songs Not one song came out.

Luckily, I was doing songs with my friends.

You know, Jill Scott was just a homie.

She was a friend.

Musiq Soulchild was was, was at homie.

He was a friend.

And luckily my friends started getting signed and selling millions of records.

Soon Eric had a string of solid hits for artists like Carl Thomas, Musiq Soulchild and Dwele.

He was now a bona fide professional songwriter, but he knew he would never rest until he gave it a shot and put out an album of his own at the time.

I had success in music, you know, I had placements, I had money, I had a publishing deal, you know, I could take care of myself, but I wasn't satisfied necessarily with what I was being able to create.

I had to also be a voice.

I also had to be an artist, had to feel that side of me.

My first album was called esoteric, and esoteric means only meant to be understood by chosen few.

who ever loved music.

Like I love this music.

And I was more than fine with just getting this out of my system and going back to being the songwriter I was.

People started finding the album.

With the independent release of three more albums, the Vault Volume 1.5, The Appetizer and Left.

Eric was winning over fans and music critics alike.

In 2006, he won the first of his Soul Tracks Readers Choice Awards.

He recorded a duet with three time Grammy winner Jill Scott and he cut several songs with then newcomer Vivian Green, including the hit single Emotional Rollercoaster.

284 00:16:21,063 --> 00:16:21,563 It seemed Eric was everywhere Nevertheless, being an independent artist remained a daily struggle, and every show posed Eric the same challenge.

I had to win each person one at a time, and Im gonna challenge you If you felt what was on that stage buy the CD.

if not go on and leave.

but Im gonna be standing right there, you gonna have to walk past me to get out of here Kenny.

Gamble told me long time ago.

He's like, You know what?

When you're making history, you never know it.

Never know when you're in it.

God willing, you'll be around to realize that something that you did had that level of impact.

I've always fought to try to be as independent as possible.

I think Eric jumped out on that branch before anybody else.

I remember having a million conversations with artists that Eric would always be the template.

His journey has been hard yet rewarding, but it could all change when Eric tries to perform tonight before a live audience.

For a person like Eric, there's performance after performance, night after night.

Very little downtime.

There's family that he has to take care of.

There's lack of sleep.

There's just the general pressure of the business.

We did the shows in November in Chicago when he had to have me literally speaking for him to the crowd afterwards.

I'm really saw.

A huge problem.

He showed me the x ray and he's like, This is really the concern because of this breaks open cracks or whatever.

It will leave scar tissue and I may not be able to sing.

Do I really go do this?

You know, now and take a break?

At the time that things was cooking.

You know, you got guys that if you're not performing, how they eat?

Eric and his family debated.

Then Eric made the call.

I said, Alright Let's do it, man.

Let's do it.

So we opted for the surgery, man.

And it was a tough decision.

Eric went into surgery and it went well.

But then it was time for the hard part.

When you leave here, like, we need you to be quiet till you come back.

I if you can not say a word, I'm like, I got a two year old and a four year old at home.

I got to talk like, What do you mean?

Like, don't talk at all?

And they were like, don't talk.

It was difficult because they like to hear Daddy's voice and daddy's sings to them.

And Dad is the one that reads books every night, and he'll read however many books that they want to read.

This jazz man, he played one.

Eric Robinson is about to learn his fate.

He had surgery to restore his prized voice.

And now the time has come.

For the moment of truth.

So listen, we got like 79 songs to sing for you all tonight.

But let's do it.

Not trying to keep score.

No more.

That's not what I'm in it for.

Trying to win.

Oh, I'm not trying to fight no more That's not what.

I'm in it for, baby.

Oh, no, no.

358 00:20:27,309 --> 00:20:28,393 360 00:20:40,197 --> 00:20:44,701 I'm literally still learning how to speak correctly, but singing now is like, easy.

I'm like a kid again.

I've known Eric for 20 some odd years, so when you can watch someone not only grow as an artist, but as a man, you know, as a father, you go through these life changes.

So I've watched a very bold, independent young man turn into a very smart and savvy man right now, being independent is in being independent is cool.

That's the buzz word that everybody I'm independent.

The industry pretty much has caught up to what Eric was doing, but now he's got such a great navigating of the independent side that I remember having a conversation with him and he said, Oh, man Ill never sign another deal as Long as I live.

I feel like we all have caught up to Eric.

You know, Eric was the trailblazer and basically knowing that you can do it on your own.

And I think it's incredible to have, you know, that type of legacy.

To even think that you've done ten plus albums is incredible with absolutely no end in sight is, you know, I'm trying to be him.

386 00:22:17,210 --> 00:22:19,921 388 00:22:24,718 --> 00:22:27,512 I'm very fortunate to be around and to have a career of 20 plus years.

My ambition and my passion has been louder than the no's and the setbacks, and I have a very healthy perception on appreciating what I have.

i have an amazing family, amazing fan base, and I'm able to do the music that I love and hear in my head without compromise.

These brick walls that you run into at times a lot of times is God, you know, He might put you through a hard time to keep me humble and keep me true, I think was, well worth going through it.

the show like tonight CROWD.

It makes everything worth it.

That's what it's all about.

Thank you.

Hey, this is Eric Robeson, and this has been my indie soul journey.