D'Angelo

A Richmond, Virginia singer, multi-instrumentalist and producer whose three albums, Brown Sugar, Voodoo and Black Messiah, became touchstones of neo-soul.

Origin: Richmond, Virginia, United States
Years active: 1991-2025
Genres: neo-soul, R&B, funk
Labels: EMI, Virgin, RCA
Also known as: Michael Eugene Archer

Richmond to New York

Michael Eugene Archer was born in Richmond, Virginia, on 11 February 1974 into a Pentecostal family and played piano at the church where his father preached. With the Richmond group Precise he won three Amateur Night contests at the Apollo Theater in 1991, then left school at 18 and moved to New York. He put his Apollo prize money toward a four-track recorder and a keyboard, and wrote most of what became his first album at his mother's house in Richmond.

EMI signed him to a publishing deal in 1991 and a recording contract in 1993, and Kedar Massenburg, who helped negotiate the contract, became his manager. In 1994 D'Angelo co-wrote and co-produced "U Will Know" for the all-star group Black Men United. He composed the music and his brother Luther Archer wrote the words. It reached 28 on the Hot 100.

Brown Sugar

Brown Sugar came out in July 1995. D'Angelo sang every vocal and handled most of the production and instruments. Ali Shaheed Muhammad co-produced the title track, and Bob Power and Raphael Saadiq produced other songs. The album spent 65 weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at 22, and was certified platinum on 7 February 1996. Its singles were Brown Sugar, Lady, which reached 10 on the Hot 100, and a reading of Smokey Robinson's Cruisin'.

In Rolling Stone, Cheo H. Coker wrote that D'Angelo was no trailblazer but built on the examples of Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and Prince. The Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot wrote in 1996 that the album was arguably where the current soul revival started, and the term neo-soul was coined soon afterward by Massenburg.

Voodoo

Between albums he recorded covers and soundtrack songs, among them a duet with Erykah Badu and "Nothing Even Matters" with Lauryn Hill. He recorded Voodoo at Electric Lady Studios in 1998 and 1999 with Questlove, Pino Palladino and engineer Russell Elevado, among others in the Soulquarians circle. Questlove said the group spent 1996 and most of 1997 watching videos and jamming before the real recording began. Nearly all of it was cut live without overdubbing, the exception being Untitled (How Does It Feel).

Voodoo was released on 25 January 2000, entered the Billboard 200 at number 1 with 320,000 copies, and won the Grammy for Best R&B Album, shared with Elevado. The Untitled single won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, and its video, in which he appears from the waist up, made him a sex symbol. He grew uncomfortable with that image, went home to Richmond after the tour and stopped giving interviews in 2000. Rolling Stone placed the album at 28 in its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Black Messiah and after

Questlove called a third album 97 percent done in December 2011, and D'Angelo returned to the stage in 2012, premiering new songs in Europe that January. Black Messiah, credited to D'Angelo and the Vanguard, appeared digitally on 15 December 2014, earlier than planned. He had planned a 2015 release, but the protests in Ferguson moved it earlier. It debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200, topped the Village Voice Pazz and Jop poll and won Best R&B Album in 2016, when Really Love won Best R&B Song. The Second Coming Tour ran for 57 shows between February and November 2015.

He recorded "Unshaken", produced by Daniel Lanois, for Red Dead Redemption 2, released as a single in January 2019, played a Verzuz-linked show at the Apollo Theater in February 2021, and in 2024 appeared with Jay-Z on "I Want You Forever". D'Angelo died on 14 October 2025.

Records

Brown Sugar 1995 · EMI
The debut that Greg Kot called arguably where the current soul revival started.
Voodoo 2000 · Virgin
A live-in-the-room funk album cut at Hendrix's studio with Questlove, Pino Palladino and the Soulquarians.
Black Messiah 2014 · RCA
Credited to D'Angelo and the Vanguard, released early and digitally, fourteen years after Voodoo.

Songs

Brown Sugar Brown Sugar · 1995
The lead single, an organ-led groove that is really about marijuana.
Lady Brown Sugar · 1996
Its refrain is plain and its bass and guitar play off each other.
Cruisin' Brown Sugar · 1995
D'Angelo's reading of Smokey Robinson's 1979 hit, the only cover on Brown Sugar.
Untitled (How Does It Feel) Voodoo · 2000
A Prince tribute whose one-day video shoot made him a sex symbol.
Really Love Black Messiah · 2014
The lead single from Black Messiah, first heard in leaked snippets in 2007.

Prince, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, The Roots, Raphael Saadiq

Where to go next

Reference

D'Angelo A biography covering the three albums and the years between them.
Brown Sugar (album) Recording, music, sales and reception of the debut.
Voodoo (album) The Electric Lady sessions, the engineering and the songs.
Black Messiah (album) The long gestation, the surprise release, personnel and reception.
Brown Sugar (song) The lead single, with credits and contemporary reviews.
Lady (song) The two videos, the remix and the later samples.
Untitled (How Does It Feel) A detailed account of the song and its video.
Really Love (song) Credits, the 2007 leak and first live performances.

Writing and criticism

Rolling Stone review of Brown Sugar, 1995 Cheo H. Coker's review on release.
Stereogum: Brown Sugar turns 20 A look back at the debut and its influence.
Albumism: Brown Sugar turns 30 An anniversary piece quoting D'Angelo on making the album.
The Ringer: 20 years of Voodoo The making of Voodoo and the video, with players and engineers.

Interviews

Slate: behind the scenes on Voodoo Questlove, Palladino and Elevado on how it was recorded.

Sources

D'Angelo, Wikipedia
Brown Sugar (D'Angelo album), Wikipedia
Voodoo (D'Angelo album), Wikipedia
Black Messiah (album), Wikipedia
Brown Sugar, Rolling Stone (1995-09-07)
Brown Sugar turns 20, Stereogum (2015-07-02)
How does it feel? 20 years of D'Angelo's Voodoo, The Ringer (2020-01-24)