In an era dominated by digital beats and autotune gloss, Bruce Big Daddy Wayne is rewinding the clock to a time when music had grit, groove, and heart. His latest album, Urban Serenade (2025), is a deeply personal and quasi-biographical project that captures the raw emotion of classic 70s Soul, not as a modern remix, but as an authentic time capsule that could have dropped seamlessly in 1972. Following the success of The Get Down (2022), this new release explores love, loss, and resilience, inspired in part by the passing of Wayne’s mother in 2004. Dubbed “The King of Retro Soul,” Bruce Big Daddy Wayne continues to keep tradition alive, one heartfelt note at a time.
Q: Bruce, congratulations on the release of Urban Serenade! What inspired this album, and how does it differ from your previous work like The Get Down?
A: Oh Right On! Thank you. Well, Urban Serenade comes from a much deeper, more personal space. I’ve been through a lot since 2022. I got real introspective on this one. I mean, don’t get me wrong – I still talk about the hot stuff, but I also have an inspirational song, Beauty In You, and the song I made for my mother, I Miss You Mama. The Get Down was a celebration: feel-good driving-with-your-woman kind of music ya know? But Urban Serenade? That’s about reflection. It’s about my life after I made The Get Down, love, intimacy, and the human experience. You know I mentioned before I lost my mother in 2004, and that pain, that emptiness, it lingers. I poured all of that emotion into this record. It’s not just music; it’s therapy, it’s truth, it’s me.
Q: You’ve often been called “The King of Retro Soul.” What does that title mean to you, especially in today’s music landscape?
A: (laughs) You know, I came up with that title. So I guess it’s self-proclaimed. (laughs) I started singing professionally in 1997. Since then and up until this day, I haven’t heard an artist yet who sings that traditional soul music like I do, so I crowned myself. Hey man, I live and breathe this thing. I came up singing and dancing on the street corners of Harlem when I was just five years old. My heroes are people like James Brown, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and Jackie Wilson; they shaped my sound and my soul. So much of what you hear nowadays, to me, is just mindless music with no feeling. I like to make music that makes you think, dance, and well, make love to. Listen, I say it all the time: “I won’t stop Soulin’ till the ball stop rollin’.” As long as there’s breath in me, real soul music will live.
Q: You’ve said this album feels like something that could’ve been released in 1972. Can you talk about the creative choices that make that possible?
A: Absolutely. So this project was a sort of hybrid thing. The only instrument I’m proficient in are the drums. So for the most part, all of the drum parts were played by me on my electronic kit going through software. All the other instruments I played by ear. Man, it took forever. I had to play chord by chord and put it all together. From the instrumentation to the production, I wanted authenticity, that analog warmth; the stuff you hear in an Al Green song or maybe even Mayfield, you know? I wanted it to sound like it was made in Muscle Shoals or Motown, not on a laptop. The songs have storytelling, and they have arrangements, bridges, verses, and breakdowns, just like the old days. When I listen to it, I can imagine it spinning on vinyl, with that little crackle before the groove kicks in. That’s what I wanted: an album that feels alive.
Q: Tell us about “Reap What You Sow,” one of the standout tracks from Urban Serenade. What does that song mean to you?
A: “Reap What You Sow” is a message wrapped in melody. It’s about consequences: emotional, spiritual, and personal. We all plant seeds with our actions, and life has a way of bringing that energy back around. I wanted it to sound like a sermon over a groove, something Marvin or Curtis would do. It’s one of those tracks that just came from the gut. You can hear it in my voice.
Q: You’ve mentioned before that traditional soul music is “hidden, but not dead.” What do you mean by that?
A: Well, just look around. When you watch commercials or movies, they keep going back to old soul and R&B tracks. Why? Because it’s timeless. It speaks to the human condition. I really believe history repeats itself. People are hungry for realness, for music with heart, melody, and message. Traditional Soul may not be in the spotlight right now, but it’s there, waiting for its revival. I want to be a part of that conversation. I’m hopeful I’ll live to see that day when real songwriting and arranging are appreciated and embraced again.
Q: For your longtime fans and new listeners discovering your work, what do you hope they take away from Urban Serenade?
A: I want them to feel. Not just listen, feel. I want them to slow down, sit with the music, and connect to something real. Each song tells a story, and those stories are pieces of my life. If even one person out there hears it and says, “Man, that’s my story too,” then I’ve done my job. That’s what soul music has always been to me – about connection and raw emotion.
Conclusion
With Urban Serenade, Bruce Big Daddy Wayne cements his legacy as a bridge between eras, honoring the soul greats of yesterday while writing new chapters for tomorrow. His music doesn’t chase trends; it revives tradition. As he says, “Traditional soul music is somewhat hidden today, but it isn’t dead.” Urban Serenade is proof of that; a heartfelt, analog embrace in a digital world, reminding us all why real music never goes out of style.
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