The cost was arriving after the neo-soul wave had already crested and the industry was turning toward harder commercial sounds. D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, and Lauryn Hill had already defined the movement by the time Musiq broke through, and radio programmers were losing interest in the quiet intensity that defined the sound. He kept making the music he believed in regardless of where the trends were heading. His second album Juslisen in 2002 went platinum and produced Halfcrazy and Don't Change. Just Friends (Sunny) became a slow-jam standard that radio played for years.

Halfcrazy is the one. The song is built around a sample of Donny Hathaway's Little Ghetto Boy, a choice that signals Musiq's deep awareness of his musical lineage and the artists who came before him. His vocal is unhurried and conversational, like a man explaining to his partner why love makes him feel irrational and vulnerable at once. He released eight studio albums across two decades.

He never became a household name outside the neo-soul faithful, but within that audience he was essential. He proved that a Black male vocalist could be tender without being weak and romantic without being corny.