- The Music of Red Dead Redemption 2 (Original Soundtrack) · 2019
- Voodoo · 2000
- Brown Sugar · 1995
- Unshaken - Single · 2019
- Brown Sugar · 1995
- Voodoo · 2000
- Voodoo · 2000
- Voodoo · 2000
- Voodoo · 2000
- Voodoo · 2000
- Voodoo · 2000
- Voodoo · 2000
- Voodoo · 2000
Essential Albums
- A whirlwind of success left D’Angelo feeling sold for parts. Following his seminal album, 2000’s Voodoo, the neo-soul staple slipped into the shadows, disillusioned by his subsequent objectification, and burdened by personal struggles. Thus began one of music’s most memorable vanishing acts, only to resolve 14 years later, with the release of the multi-instrumentalist’s aptly titled third album, Black Messiah. R&B had gone through a series of evolutions during D’Angelo’s absence: There’d been the turn-of-the-century futurism of groups like Destiny’s Child and TLC, and the rise of Drake-inspired rapper-singers. But unlike several legacy acts who bent to the next big sound, D’Angelo remained firm in what felt true to him. Though he initially wanted to perform all of the album’s instrumentation himself—an idea inspired by his idol, Prince—D’Angelo’s love of collaboration prevailed, and he eventually called on fellow members of the Soulquarians, the legendary collective he’d worked with on Voodoo. He also recruited singer-songwriter Kendra Foster, who co-wrote more than half of Black Messiah’s 12 songs. This would be an album produced in an atmosphere of controlled chaos—one that would capture the same experimental spirit that had made Voodoo a neo-soul masterpiece. Recorded, processed and mixed using analogue equipment, Black Messiah captures the vintage funk and soul sounds of its predecessor, intertwined with a sociopolitically rich message. "It’s about people rising up in Ferguson and in Egypt and in Occupy Wall Street and in every place where a community has had enough and decides to make change happen,” D’Angelo writes in the album notes. “It’s not about praising one charismatic leader but celebrating thousands of them.” It’s an urgent album—and a timely one. Originally slated for release in 2015, Black Messiah arrived in late 2014, due to verdicts in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner killings. Songs like “1000 Deaths” and “The Charade” centre on the Black experience, while the Grammy-winning “Really Love” centres on a message of love, coexisting with the singer’s past hits.
- 1995
Albums
- 2014
- 2000
- 1995
Artist Playlists
- No one does experimental soul better than this avant-R&B sophisticate.
- He was a meticulous forerunner of slick neo-soul.
- The greats who schooled the neo-soul pioneer.
- The mysterious neo-soul maestro seduces with ease.
Singles & EPs
Live Albums
- 2013
Compilations
- 2008
- 2004
Appears On
More To Hear
- The story behind the hit that pushed D’Angelo out the spotlight.
- The kings of late ’90s soul compare catalogues.
- Estelle pays tribute to the icon: D'Angelo.
- Q-Tip, Natasha Diggs, and Renee Neuville pay their respects.
- Throwbacks from Rick James, Prince, and Diana Ross.
- illegal Civ plays new music they're into, and classic music they're inspired by
About D'Angelo
With an unmistakable voice and an apparently innate ability to modernise the rich Black musical traditions that preceded him, D'Angelo birthed the neo-soul movement and became one of the definitive musicians of the '90s and 2000s. Michael Eugene Archer (born in 1974) grew up in Virginia as the son of a Pentecostal minister, sprouting musical roots from playing piano as a child and winning three consecutive talent shows at Harlem's Apollo Theater as a teen. His demo tape and an impromptu piano recital for an exec earned him a deal at EMI, under which he released his 1995 debut, Brown Sugar. The album—a mesh of earthy, vinyl-crackling soul evoking Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson and the edgy swagger of golden-era hip-hop—was the foundation for neo-soul, a subgenre that would continue to blossom with acts like Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and Maxwell. Writer's block crippled D'Angelo's musical output in the following years, so he sparsely released cover songs until finding inspiration in his first child's birth. The result was 2000's Voodoo, a vulnerable meditation on love, fatherhood, sexuality and spirituality, co-produced by the Soulquarians crew of musicians, known for crafting Black diasporic grooves that eschewed structure without sacrificing focus. The album heightened D’Angelo’s stardom, but at a cost: fan reception of the steamy video for “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” and the album’s accompanying tour made him feel oversexualized, and alcoholism and depression led to a hiatus of nearly 15 years. He returned in 2014 with Black Messiah, a stirring collection of soulful analogue grooves and sociopolitical lyrics that reflected the then-budding Black Lives Matter movement. D'Angelo doesn't create on the usual industry timeline, but working on his own schedule has been more than enough to make history.
- HOMETOWN
- Richmond, VA, United States
- BORN
- 11 February 1974
- GENRE
- R&B/Soul