On today’s 5-on-5 we dig into the world of Solomon Fox, a North Carolina-born singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer who has quietly become one of the defining architects of the new soul wave.

Before he ever stepped to the mic as a solo artist, Fox was helping to shape the sound of others, co-creating the gospel-infused anthem “Stand Up” for the film Harriet and earning Grammy, Oscar, and Golden Globe nominations as a producer in the process.

His story runs straight through Durham, North Carolina, where he cut his teeth in the hip hop and R&B collective Young Bull, touring and helping revive a local scene while still in high school. From there he went to Harvard, studying Religion and Music under heavyweights like Cornel West, Vijay Iyer, and Esperanza Spalding.

That mix of church-bred harmony, producer discipline, and intellectual rigor would show up in his own records, where left-of-center soul arrangements, intimate vocals, and off-kilter lyrics sit comfortably next to funk-leaning grooves. Tonight, we trace that journey in five songs.

5 Essential Tracks by Solomon Fox

1: “Body’s An Ocean” (2021) 

Critics noted how Solomon leaned on stacked gospel harmonies, sparse keys and guitar, and heavy, unhurried bass lines that left plenty of space for his voice to sit front and center.

2: “Dreamcatcher” (2021)

Staying with the same album, we move to another cut that shows how he threads dreams, memory, and melody together. Across that project, Fox drew on R&B, soul, and gospel to build a slick, lovesick collection of coming-of-age musical snapshots that effortlessly glide into one another, showing an artist with a high ceiling of potential. That blueprint would carry forward as he moved from Bandcamp and word-of-mouth circles into a wider digital spotlight. 

3: “Weird” (2024) 

By 2024, his sound had jumped from local outlets to global timelines, thanks in part to a single that lived on Instagram and TikTok as much as in playlists. Along with its companion single “You Don’t Cook,” “Weird” racked up millions of views across Instagram and TikTok, putting his off-center R&B on the radar of listeners and legends alike, including Queen Latifah, Ty Dolla Sign, and T-Pain, who lauded his work.

This would set the table for his latest work, the 13-track fully self-produced album “Sweettooth.”

4: “Fallin’ Back (feat. Amaria)” (2025)

“Sweettooth” is a a five-year diary about one relationship and all the back and forth that came from it. One of the clearest windows into that story is a duet that unfolds like a 2 a.m. confession, written and produced in his bedroom and built around a hypnotic beatscape and dreamy chord structure. Solomon trades verses with songstress Amaria on a track that he pares down to warm synth washes, a relaxed groove, and two voices orbiting the same bad habit.

Compared to the boundary-pushing work he has done for artists like Smino and Thundercat, “Fallin’ Back” was less about him flexing his producer toolkit and more about letting vulnerability sit in the foreground. From there, Sweettooth opens out into a full emotional map: gut-punch breakups, sugar-rush infatuations, and the slow recognition that some connections are beautiful precisely because they cannot last.

5: “Blind Date Town” (2025)

Another cut that demonstrates Fox’s understanding of the music and cultural lineage of modern soul is “Blind Date Town.” It merges influences ranging from gospel choirs to D’Angelo to the contemporary soul renaissance. The result is music that feels familiar enough to hold you, and strange enough to keep you listening.

If you dig artists who embody the spirit of new-school soul and future-funk, keep listening to The Progressive Underground every Saturday evening at 6 p.m. on WDET 101.9 FM and wdet.org. For The Progressive Underground, my name is Chris Campbell. See you next time.

Each year, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered through a narrow lens. A quote. A speech. A dream, often stripped of the urgency, conflict, and radical clarity that defined his final years. This MLK Weekend edition of The Progressive Underground resists that flattening. Instead, the playlist traces King’s full moral and political arc, from spiritual grounding and collective grief to economic justice, cultural resistance, and the unfinished work he left behind.

Martin Luther King Jr. was not only a civil rights icon. He was a strategist under surveillance, a critic of capitalism and militarism, and a leader willing to lose popularity in order to tell the truth. The music selected here reflects that complexity.

Across six carefully sequenced and curated sets, this special moves through gospel-rooted endurance, protest music that forced America to confront itself, songs that examine dignity and self-worth, and contemporary voices carrying King’s questions forward. From Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone, and Curtis Mayfield to Kendrick Lamar, D’Angelo, and Kamasi Washington, the playlist treats music as historical witness and moral record. It also honors Detroit’s role in shaping King’s legacy, particularly through Stevie Wonder’s campaign to make Dr. King’s birthday a national holiday.

This is not a nostalgia set. It’s a listening experience designed to engage King as he actually lived and evolved, challenging, demanding, and unfinished. 

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

1st Hour

• “Let the Sunshine In”–Jimetta Rose & The Voices of Creation
• “Why? (The King of Love Is Dead)”–Nina Simone
• “People Get Ready”–Curtis Mayfield
• “Wholy Holy”–Marvin Gaye
• “Someday We’ll All Be Free”–Donny Hathaway
• “A Change Is Gonna Come”–Sam Cooke
• “Strange Fruit”–Billie Holiday
• “Winter in America”–Gil Scott Heron
• “A Dream”–Common feat. Will.i.am
• “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”–Gil Scott Heron
• “In the Name of Love”–U2
• “Compared to What”–Roberta Flack
• “Respect Yourself”–Staple Singers
• “Thinkin’ About Your Body”–Bobby McFerrin
• “Happy Birthday”–Stevie Wonder

2nd Hour

• “Alright”–Kendrick Lamar
• “The Charade”–D’Angelo
• “The People”–Common
• “6 Summers”–Anderson Paak
• “We The People”–A Tribe Called Quest
• “Everybody Loves the Sunshine”–Roy Ayers
• “I Am the Black Gold of the Sun”–Rotary Connection
• “Think of You”–Terrace Martin
• “Better Than I Imagined”–Robert Glasper
• “Faith, Courage & Wisdom”–Indie.Arie
• “Expansions”–Lonnie Liston Smith
• “Journey in Satchidananda”–Alice Coltrane
• “Truth”–Kamasi Washington
• “The Creator Has a Master Plan”–Pharoah Sanders
• “You Take Me Higher”–Fertile Ground

A whole bunch of new stuff today, including Father John Misty, Penza Penza, Sault and more, plus legendary Detroit DJ House Shoes stops by to close the book on 2025 with his favorite songs of the year.

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for January 9, 2026

• “The Old Law” – Father John Misty
• “Kaboom” – Penza Penza
• “Khayal” – Kazdoura
• “God, Protect Me from My Enemies” – Sault
• “Mountain Top” – Rio Kosta
• “What It Gave Me” – Jordan Rakei & Jalen Ngonda
• “Comin’ Home Baby” – Mel Torme
• “Over” – Loaded Honey
• “Green Juice” – anaiis
• “Contact High” – Mae Powell
• “Walk In The Night (Live)” – Grant Green
• “You Are Mine” – Jay Robinson
• “Turiya and Ramakrishna” – Alice Coltrane
• “Hit My Head All Day” – Dry Cleaning
• “I’m Afraid of Americans” – David Bowie
• “The Ghost of Tom Joad” – Rage Against The Machine
• “Citizen Kane” – HYUKOH
• “Tank!” – SEAT BELTS
• “Compared to What (Live at The Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland, June 1969)” – Les McCann
• “100 Yard Dash (Nicky D Remix)” – DeRobert & The Half-Truths
• “1969” – Stooges
• “Here’s The Thing” – Fontaines D.C.
• “Troglodyte” – Viagra Boys
• “Dogeared (feat. Kapwani)” – Armand Hammer, The Alchemist, Billy Woods
• “E.B.I.T.D.A.” – Clipse
• “Good Health” – De La Soul
• “L.U.” – Sault
• “Dumb Feeling” – Mei Semones
• “Sasayaku Sakebu” – Mei Semones

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

This week we are tapping in with GENA, a new project from Dallas-born, now L.A.-based vocalist Liv.e and legendary Detroit drummer and producer Karriem Riggins. The name is loosely inspired by Gina from the classic sitcom “Martin,” and the music moves in that same playful but grown lane, blurring jazz, R&B and left-of-center soul.

“Circlesz” is the first single from their collaboration, and it plays like a late-night loop: dusty drums, fluid keys and Liv.e’s floating vocal lines all orbiting each other in motion.

Here is GENA with “Circlesz,” and it is my Pick of the Week.

That was “Circlesz” from GENA, the duo of vocalist Liv.e and artist-drummer Karriem Riggins.

If jazzy, future-soul cuts like this are your lane, tune in to The Progressive Underground every Saturday evening at 6 p.m. on 101.9 WDET and at wdet.org. 

This week we are rocking with the legendary De La Soul, who just dropped a new album called “Cabin In The Sky.” It is part of Mass Appeal’s Legend Has It series, which links up classic rap crews with new projects for a new era.

De La steps back into the spotlight missing a core voice. Trugoy the Dove, also known as Dave, passed two years ago, but he is here posthumously alongside Pos and Mase, trading verses with a who’s who from progressive hip hop and beyond: Nas, Killer Mike, Black Thought, Q-Tip, Yukimi from Little Dragon and more, with production from heavyweights like Pete Rock and DJ Premier.

The cut we are about to get into is classic De La: laid-back, witty, conversational and groove-centered. Here is De La Soul with “The Package” off “Cabin In The Sky” and it is my Pick of the Week.

That was “The Package” from De La Soul, the lead single from their new album “Cabin In The Sky.”

If progressive hip hop like this moves you, lock in with The Progressive Underground every Saturday at 6 p.m. on 101.9 WDET and online at wdet.org.

Thanks for listening, and we will see you next time.