Maxwell (born in Brooklyn, New York on May 23, 1973) is a Grammy Award Winning American R&B artist. He was enormously important in defining and shaping the soul sub-genre, neo-soul, over the latter half of the '90s. He recorded some of the most ambitious R&B of his time, becoming wildly popular and often earning critical raves in the process. What was more, his recurring theme of romantic monogamy set him apart from the vast majority of his bump'n'grind lover-man contemporaries. Maxwell capitalized on his breakthrough with the MTV Unplugged EP, taken from his live MTV performance.