In an age where music is increasingly shaped by algorithms and artificial intelligence, Neal Conway stands as a beacon of musical integrity. A pioneer in soulful house and urban retro music, Conway is reclaiming the roots of the genre and infusing the industry with much-needed authenticity. Through his independent label, Urban Retro Music Group (URMG), he’s building more than just a catalog, he’s building a movement.
Conway’s legacy is already deeply embedded in music history. He co-produced the global hit “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless),” a song that brought the raw energy of underground house into the mainstream. His work with legends like Roy Ayers further cemented his reputation as a master of groove, melody, and message. Now, with URMG and its broadcasting arm, URM SoulPowerRadio, Conway is writing the next chapter, a chapter rooted in live musicianship, message-driven content, and Black musical tradition.
House music has come a long way since it was born in the late 1970s and early ’80s in Chicago’s underground Black and queer communities. Back then, the house was a safe haven, a sonic refuge where joy and community thrived in the face of oppression. As Beyoncé acknowledged while accepting her record-breaking Grammy for RENAISSANCE, a house-inspired album that won Best Electronic/Dance Album, “I’d like to thank the queer community for your love and for inventing the genre.” That acknowledgment reminded millions of house music’s origins, produced in basements and small clubs long before the genre exploded across Europe and mainstream airwaves.
Conway honors that lineage while pushing forward. “Music is almost not music anymore,” he says, critiquing the dominance of digital tools and synthetic sounds. For him, the shift from live bands to computerized production may have been convenient, but it left a void. URMG’s mission is to fill that void with warmth, truth, and soul.
URMG’s sound is a lush tapestry of jazz, neo-soul, and deep house, anchored by live orchestration, real strings, horns, percussion, and human touch. It’s a deliberate contrast to the overly quantized, AI-assisted tracks saturating today’s charts. Influenced by musical giants like Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, and Curtis Mayfield, Conway aims to make music that moves both body and spirit.
One of URMG’s flagship projects is the upcoming Urban Metropolitan Movement Project, a collaborative album inspired by the genre-defying brilliance of Quincy Jones. Featuring acclaimed neo-soul artists like Deborah Bond, Lori Williams, Colie Williams, and SOULe, the album brings together a collective Conway describes as “a musical family.” The result is a body of work that’s not just sonically rich, it’s culturally urgent.
Beyond music production, Conway’s influence extends to education and broadcasting. URM SoulPowerRadio isn’t just a streaming station, it’s a living archive and an educational tool, introducing Gen Z and Gen Alpha to the source material behind today’s sampled hits. By spotlighting underground artists and deep cuts, the station resists the commercial pressures of mainstream radio and celebrates the genre’s grassroots soul.
Breaking through in a corporate-dominated music landscape isn’t easy. Major labels control many of the airwaves, making it difficult for independent voices to be heard. But Conway remains undeterred. “It’s like water carving the Grand Canyon,” he says. “Slow, steady, and unstoppable.” He’s doubling down on platforms like college radio, Mixcloud, and community events to reach listeners hungry for real music.
Looking ahead, Conway envisions URMG producing multiple Grammy-nominated albums in the next three years and growing SoulPowerRadio’s audience to over 100,000. More than chasing accolades, his mission is about restoring music’s power to connect, heal, and inspire.
In a time when much of the industry prioritizes speed and spectacle, Neal Conway is choosing substance. He isn’t following trends, he’s setting a course back to the roots of house, back to the essence of soul, and forward toward a more conscious musical future.
