• Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise & Fall of the Motown Sound by Nelson George, 1985.

• Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye by David Ritz, 1985.

• Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom by Peter Guralnick, 1986. ︎

• The Death of Rhythm and Blues by Nelson George, 1988.

• One Nation Under A Groove: Motown & American Culture by Gerald Early, 1995.

• Miss Rhythm: The Autobiography of Ruth Brown, Rhythm and Blues Legend by Ruth Brown, Andrew Yule, 1996.
  

• Just My Soul Responding: Rhythm and Blues, Black Consciousness, and Race Relations by Brian Ward, 1998.

• A Change Is Gonna Come: Music, Race & the Soul of America by Craig Werner, 1998.

• Calling Out Around the World: A Motown Reader by Kingsley Abbott, 2001.
  

• Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story by Ray Charles, David Ritz, 2004.

• Luther: The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross by Craig Seymour, 2004. ︎

• Higher Ground: Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, and the Rise and Fall of American Soul by Craig Werner, 2004.
  

• Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke by Peter Guralnick, 2006.

• Party Music: The Inside Story of the Black Panthers Band and How Black Power Transformed Soul Music by Rickey Vincent, 2013.
  

• Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, 2013.  ︎

• Love, Peace and Soul: Behind the Scenes of America's Favorite Dance Show Soul Train by Ericka Blount Danois, 2013.

• My Life with Earth, Wind, & Fire by Maurice White, Herb Powell, 2016.  ︎

• Got to Be Something Here: The Rise of the Minneapolis Sound by Andrea Swensson, 2017.

• Bruce W. Talamon. Soul. R&B. Funk. Photographs 1972–1982 by Pearl Cleage, 2018.

• Time Is Tight: My Life Note by Note by Booker T. Jones, October 2019.
  

• Move On Up: Chicago Soul Music and Black Cultural Power by Aaron Cohen, 2019.

• The Meaning of Soul: Black Music and Resilience Since the 1960s by Emily J. Lordi, July 2020.

• Why Solange Matters by Stephanie Phillips, April 2021.

• It Ain't Retro: Daptone Records & The 21st-Century Soul Revolution by Jessica Lipsky, July 2021.

FILMS & SERIES

• The T.A.M.I. Show (James Brown & The Rolling Stones), dir. Steve Binder, 1964. 2h 3min. ︎

• Soul to Soul, dir. Denis Sanders, 1971. 1h 36m.

• Wattstax, dir. Mel Stuart, prod. Stax Records, 1973. 1h 43min. ︎

• Soul Power, dir. Jeff Levy-Hinte, 2008. 1h 33m.

• Unsung, prod. TV One. November 2008 - Present (15 seasons). Some highlights:

• "Phyllis Hyman," Season 1, Episode 1.
• “Rose Royce,” Season 3, Episode 1.

• “Sylvester,” Season 3, Episode 2.
• “Vesta Williams,” Season 4, Episode 10.
  

• “Millie Jackson,” Season 4, Episode 15.
• “Kid ‘N Play,” Season 8, Episode 7.
  
• “H-Town,” Season 8, Episode 16.
  
• “Blue Magic,” Season 12, Episode 4.
  
• “Avant,” Season 12, Episode 7.
  
• “Michel'le,” Season 13, Episode 9.
  
• “Betty Wright,” Season 14, Episode 15.
  

• Barbara Lynn & Friends, 2009. 58m.
  

• Finding the Funk, dir. Nelson George, 2013. 1h 18m.

• Mr Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown, dir. Alex Gibney, October 2014. 2 hours.

• What Happened, Miss Simone? dir. Liz Garbus, 2015. 1h 41m. Available on Netflix.

• Hitsville: The Making of Motown, dir. Benjamin Turner, Gabe Turner, 2019. 1h 52m. ︎

• Summer of Soul, dir. Questlove, 2021. 1h 57m.

• Respect, dir. Liesl Tommy, 2021. 2h 25m.

• Companion read: “Aretha Franklin and the Futility of Trying to Portray Her Onscreen” by Salamishah Tillet, The New York Times, August 2021.

• DJ Monalisa on D'Angelo's “Brown Sugar” by Heat Rocks, March 2018, 41 minutes.

• Lyrics Born on Curtis Mayfield's "Back to the World" by Heat Rocks, February 2019, 51 mins.

• “A Band On The Right Side Of History” by Us & Them, July 2021. 35 minutes.

• “Mary J. Blige – The Tour (Review)” by Craig Seymour, Metro Weekly, July 1998.

• “Jody Watley, Staying Power” by Craig Seymour, Pride Guide, 1999.

• "D'Angelo: Soul Man" by dream hampton, Vibe Magazine, April 2000. 

• “Rick James, ‘Street Songs’” by Craig Seymour, October 2001.

• “Monica, Pain Is Love” by Craig Seymour, VIBE, October 2002. 

• On Ray Charles: “The Resurrection and the Light” by Greg Tate, Village Voice, August 2004.

• “Luther Vandross: A Tribute” by Craig Seymour, VIBE, October 2005.
  

• “Amy Winehouse and the (Black) Art of Appropriation” by Daphne A. Brooks, The Nation, September 2008. ︎

• “'I Thought He Was a Messenger': Making Stevie Wonder's 'Talking Book'” by Chris Williams, The Atlantic, October 2012.

• “James Brown: An Oral History From His Bandmates” by Michael Dunaway, Paste, October 2014. ︎

• “The Many Battles of Nina Simone” by Claudia Roth Pierpont, The New Yorker, August 2014.

• “Behind the Scenes of D’Angelo’s Black Messiah” by Chris Williams, RBMA, May 2015.

• “The Soulquarians at Electric Lady: An Oral History” by Chris Williams, RBMA, June 2015.
  

• “Berry Gordy: the man who built Motown” by Mick Brown, The Telegraph, January 2016.

• “Souls Intact: The Soul Performances of Audre Lorde, Aretha Franklin, and Nina Simone” by Emily Lordi, Women & Performance, 2016.  ︎

• “James Baldwin and The Sound of Soul” by Emily J. Lordi, The New Centennial Review, Vol. 16, No. 2, 2016.

• “BitchTapes: Forgotten Women of Funk and Soul” by Laina Dawes, Bitch Media, April 2016.

• “The Making of Minnie Riperton's 1974 Masterpiece 'Perfect Angel'” by Chris Williams, Okayplayer, February 2018.
  

• “Barbara Lynn” by National Endowment for the Arts, July 2018.

• “Drenched in glory: how Aretha gave voice to embattled black women” by Daphne A. Brooks, The Nation, August 2018.

• “How Aretha Franklin Earned Her Crown As the Queen of Soul” by Jason King, Pitchfork, August 2018.

• “Remembering Aretha's Voice in the Civil Rights Movement” by Taylor Crumpton, Playboy, August 2018.

• “The Clairvoyance of the Fourteen-Year-Old Aretha Franklin” by Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, August 2018.

• “Divine Diva: The Gays Who Shaped Aretha Franklin’s Gospel Soul” by Craig Seymour, August 2018.

• "15 Years Later: The Oral History Of Alicia Keys' 'Diary of Alicia Keys' Album" by Camille Augustin, VIBE, December 2018.
  

• “The Making of Brandy's Timeless Self-Titled Debut Album, According to Producer Keith Crouch” by Chris Williams, OkayPlayer, 2019.

• “Unsung Women of Motown” by Ashawnta Jackson, Sisters, March 2019.
  

• “How Isaac Hayes Changed Soul Music” by Emily J. Lordi, The New Yorker, October 2019.

• “Remembering Bill Withers' Singular Voice on 'Lovely Day'” by Craig Jenkins, Vulture, April 2020.

• “The Stutterer's Song” on Bill Withers, by Emily J. Lordi, The Point Mag, April 2020.

• “Soul Music Gave Me Surrogate Fathers — Then Helped Me to Know My Own” by Santi Elijah Holley, LEVEL, June 2020.

• ““O-o-h Child”: The Chicago Birth of an R&B Anthem” by Dave Hoekstra, New City Music, July 2020. 

• “A Lover's Blues: The Unforgettable Voice of Margie Hendrix” by Tarisai Ngangura, Longreads, September 2020.

• “Remember the Sound: An Oral History of Philadelphia International Records” by John Murph, TIDAL, February 2021.

• “How James Brown’s Star Time Revolutionized the Box-Set Game—and Cemented His Legacy” by Michaelangelo Matos, Pitchfork, May 2021.

• “Midnight Girl/Would You Like to Love Me: On Two of My Favorite Songs by My Father” by Harmony Holiday, Black Music and Black Muses, April 2021.

• “How Ronald Isley Became a Multigenerational Sex Symbol” by Bonsu Thompson, LEVEL, June 2021.

• “The Origin Story of D'Angelo” by Chris Williams, Okayplayer, June 2021.

• “The Ugly Battle Over Nina Simone's Life Story” by Cheyenne Roundtree, The Daily Beast, August 2021.

• “What Made Aaliyah So Special Is Complicated” by Aisha Harris, NPR Music, August 2021.

• “In Labelle And Beyond, Sarah Dash Could Never Fade Into The Background” by Maureen Mahon, NPR Music, September 2021.

• “R&B en Español Is on the Rise, But Who Gets to Have Visibility?” by Jennifer Mota, R29 Somos, September 2021.