Like Southern soul, Deep Soul is gritty, funky soul music that borrows equally from the fervor of Southern gospel and the hard-driving energy of R&B. It is distinguished by a passionate, gospel-tinged singer, punchy horns, chicken-scratch guitars, and tight rhythm sections. In deep soul, the singer tends to have more prominent gospel influences than those in Southern soul, but the music sounds essentially the same.

Like Southern soul, Deep Soul is gritty, funky soul music that borrows equally from the fervor of Southern gospel and the hard-driving energy of R&B. It is distinguished by a passionate, gospel-tinged singer, punchy horns, chicken-scratch guitars, and tight rhythm sections. In deep soul, the singer tends to have more prominent gospel influences than those in Southern soul, but the music sounds essentially the same. Deep soul emerged in the '60s and it reigned until the end of the decade, when smoother Philadelphia soul became popular. In the '80s and '90s, deep soul resurfaced as a revivalist genre.