Artist Guide

Roi "Chip" Anthony #26 The New Generation Southern Soul

#26 ranked Southern Soul Artist

"Thickness (w/Dj Jubilee/Pallo Da Jiint & Ice Doll)"

Roi "Chip" Anthony #26 The New Generation Southern Soul

See the chart.

Listen to Roi "Chip" Anthony singing "Thickness" on YouTube.

March 1, 2023:

Daddy B. Nice's Profile:

Following in the significant footsteps of fellow Louisianans Bryson Bernard (Cupid) and Tucker James (Tucka), Roi "Chip" Anthony is the latest and largest talent to emerge from the south-Louisiana musical gumbo of zydeco, swing-out, bounce and its various permutations of R&B. His oeuvre oscillates between ballad and mid-tempo, with an occasional rap collaboration, and with a strong melodic element that may sound exotic and even un-melodic at first to southern soul fans used to blues-based chord structures. Where typical southern soul emphasizes a groove (the blues influence), Anthony's catalog---not to mention Cupid's and to some extent Tucka's early work---pursues melodies with a much more leisurely yet almost jazz-and-bebop-like tenacity.

With almost two decades of dues-paying behind him with his sibling-harmony group Le'Git, various solo songwriter/singer/producer efforts, and production gigs from hiphop to mainline R&B (including Keith Sweat), Anthony finally and definitively crashed the southern soul gates with his 2021 album release Leo King. This collection, although initially overlooked by the greater southern soul market, became a blockbuster and fan favorite, serving notice that Anthony had arrived and could no longer be ignored as a New Orleans anomaly.

The first big breakthrough from Leo King was a collaboration with singer/guitarist-extraordinaire Tyree Neal, member of the famous Louisianan Neal family and in particular cousin of the late Jackie Neal, celebrated diva of early contemporary southern soul. "Going Back" was Roi "Chip's" first bonafide southern soul hit single, garnering more than two million YouTube videos.

Next from Leo King was the single "Thickness," a masterful blending of a "bounce" groove overlaid with a slow, symphonic, string-section-dressed melody so lush it fairly gushed opulence. Making it even more eventful was a rap verse. And overlaying everything, like a Greek god lounging on a bed of clouds with his head propped on his fist, was the Roi "Chip" Anthony vocal. This song, and particularly the production behind the instrumental track, was impossible to ignore, not least because "thick" (i.e. "big," and taking pride rather than shame in "thickness") was a theme and message dear to the southern soul audience.

Finally (although there were many other choice tracks), there was the single "Head To My Toes". Simple in structure compared to "Thickness," "Head To My Toes" was more of a typical southern soul single. "I've never had a love like this before..." Roi repeats over and over. "...That makes me feel so good (so good, so good...) / From my head to my toes."

Anthony's star is shining brightly. His years of seasoning as a performer, his tool-belt of production expertise, and his ready access to longstanding hiphop collaborators like Lil' Runt and Ice Doll, bode well for his highly-anticipated follow-up to Leo King and the future in general. Roi's also gaining exposure on the southern soul-chitlin' circuit, mingling with other southern soul stars on multi-act venues, including appearances on the prestigious Blues Is Alright Tour.

************

For the latest updates on Roi "Chip" Anthony, scroll down to the "Tidbits" section. To automatically link to Roi Anthony's charted radio singles, awards, CD's and other citations on the website, go to "Roi Chip Anthony" in Daddy B. Nice's Comprehensive Index.

************

--Daddy B. Nice

About Roi "Chip" Anthony #26 The New Generation Southern Soul

Loureaville, Louisiana-born Roi "Chip" Anthony made his professional start in the nineties group Le'Git, in which Roi, along with his two older brothers Chris and John, specialized in a harmony-rich R&B with Louisiana swing-out elements. (Listen to the brothers' cover of the Tyrone Davis classic “Leaving Me” on YouTube.) In the 2000's young "Chip" (Roi's nickname) branched out as a solo artist, writing and producing not only his own but Le'Git's and other artists' work as well. "True Soul Experience," his first solo album, appeared in 2007, followed by "True Soul Lifestyle" (2008), "Who Am I" (2011) and "Gonna Do Me" (2015), but 2018 was Anthony's break-out year. He not only produced (and co-wrote) a Keith Sweat album but tackled his first recorded effort acknowledging the greater (beyond New Orleans) southern soul audience. "The So Good Project" was followed by "Leo King," in 2021, which took that quest for wider recognition to a much higher level with the release of the hit singles "Going Back" (with southern soul's Tyree Neal), "Head To My Toes" and "Thickness," all proclaiming in no uncertain terms that a major new artist had arrived. Recognition has come slowly, but today Anthony is a bonafide Gulf-Coast star and musical brand to be reckoned with in the greater world of southern soul.

Tidbits