In the mid-90s, Questlove, the drummer for the Roots, was asked to contribute to the debut album of a new soul singer. He immediately declined. “I thought, ‘Meh, soul singers in the 90s—whatever,'” he later recalled. “I’m not doing it. Nothing about soul music in the 90s had moved me the way Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, or Lou Rawls did.”
A year later, after D’Angelo’s debut album Brown Sugar was released, Questlove completely changed his mind. Spotting the singer in the crowd at a Roots concert, he disrupted the entire performance by suddenly playing “an obscure Prince drum roll” to get D’Angelo’s attention—and it worked. “The only person that mattered to me that night was D’Angelo,” he admitted.
This led to a collaboration, with Questlove and D’Angelo forming the Soulquarians collective with producer J Dilla for D’Angelo’s second album, Voodoo. But the story also highlights the groundbreaking impact of Brown Sugar.
The album wasn’t just a critical and commercial success (it went platinum in the U.S.); it single-handedly launched a new era and sub-genre. The term “neo-soul” was coined specifically for it as a marketing label. While “neo-soul” later came to describe music that slavishly imitated the past, that wasn’t the aim of Brown Sugar. It featured vintage equipment, a Smokey Robinson cover, and echoes of Donny Hathaway and Al Green in D’Angelo’s falsetto, with hints of jazz, gospel, and blues. But the album was far from just a tribute—it was a product of its time, created by an artist as inspired by hip-hop as by Black music history, who admired Prince and emulated his auteur approach as a songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist.
Filled with fantastic songs and smooth, emotive vocals, Brown Sugar sounded like nothing else in 1995. Yet it was only the beginning for D’Angelo. His career was never smooth—he faced writer’s block, struggled with how his music was marketed, and battled drug and alcohol addiction, leading to long gaps between releases. But he continued to evolve; each subsequent album showed significant musical growth.
Voodoo, released in 2000 after four years of work, was more experimental and challenging than his debut. It abandoned traditional song structures for a looser, flowing style that required listeners to immerse themselves. The album had a darker tone, balancing sensual celebrations—like the Prince-inspired single “Untitled (How Does It Feel)”—with sparse funk and troubled reflections on Black masculinity. On “The Root,” D’Angelo sang, “I feel my soul is empty, my blood is cold and I can’t feel my legs. I need somebody to hold me, bring me back to life before I’m dead.” Despite covering vast emotional and musical ground, the album held together perfectly. You didn’t have to agree with critics who compared it to Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue or John Coltrane’s Giant Steps to recognize it as a masterpiece.
The long silence that followed was partly due to D’Angelo’s discomfort with his sex symbol status, sparked by the nude video for “Untitled.”The long wait for new music from D’Angelo finally ended with 2014’s “Black Messiah.” The album’s delayed arrival led Questlove to call it the Black equivalent of the Beach Boys’ famously unfinished “Smile.” Expectations were understandably high, and remarkably, “Black Messiah” lived up to them. Despite its long development, the album resonated deeply with the troubled times, released shortly after the police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown sparked unrest in Missouri. Its lyrics tackled gun violence and systemic racism, while its raw, layered avant-soul sound shifted unpredictably from intense to ethereal. Echoes of Sly and the Family Stone’s landmark 1971 album “There’s a Riot Goin’ On” could be heard, reimagined for a new generation. It was an outstanding work.
“Black Messiah” remains D’Angelo’s last album, though he released the single “Unshaken” in 2019. As recently as last year, when he collaborated with Jay-Z on the soundtrack for “The Book of Clarence,” there were rumors of a new project. His longtime partner Raphael Saadiq told reporters they were working on an album, but whether it will ever see the light of day is uncertain.
Some might see D’Angelo’s career as frustratingly sparse—it would have been wonderful to have more music from him. Yet, he leaves behind a flawless collection: just three albums over 30 years, each of exceptional quality. Questlove perfectly captured this dilemma when asked about D’Angelo during the long gap between “Voodoo” and “Black Messiah.” He said, “I consider him a genius beyond words. At the same time, I wonder how I can praise someone’s genius when they have so little to show for it. But then, his last work was so powerful that it has endured for ten years.” In truth, the music D’Angelo did share will endure far longer than that.
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about DAngelos music designed to be helpful for both new and longtime fans
Beginner Questions
1 Who is DAngelo
DAngelo is an American singer songwriter and multiinstrumentalist He is a key figure in the neosoul movement known for his incredible voice raw talent and groundbreaking albums
2 What is his most famous song
His most iconic song is Untitled largely due to its sensual music video However Lady and Brown Sugar are also massive hits that define his early sound
3 What does neosoul mean
Neosoul is a music genre that emerged in the 1990s It blends classic soul and RB with elements of hiphop jazz and funk It often has a more organic less polished sound than mainstream RB
4 Why is his album Voodoo considered so important
Voodoo is a landmark album because it completely changed modern RB It moved away from slick digital production to a raw liveinthestudio feel with loose hypnotic grooves inspired heavily by jazz and funk legends like J Dilla and Miles Davis
Deeper Dive His Style Approach
5 What makes DAngelos music experimental
He experiments with rhythm and sound His songs often have a drunken offkilter drum feel and layer many live instruments to create a deep textured groove rather than a simple clean beat
6 How is his music politically charged
While his early work was more romantic his later album Black Messiah is directly political It was released in 2014 during the Black Lives Matter protests and addresses themes of racism social injustice empowerment and spiritual redemption
7 Why is his music described as so sensual
The sensuality comes from his smooth gritty vocals the slowburning and intimate grooves and lyrics that are passionate and suggestive without being explicit It feels raw personal and emotionally charged
