I don’t remember where I first heard D’Angelo but I do remember my earliest memories with D’Angelo. So his passing makes me look back… it makes me dig deep in my memory catalog to match up the sounds and the vibe with where I was at the time and what I was feeling. But then it also fast forwards to where I am now which makes me trip out to see how young D’Angelo is… how old D’Angelo was. Man… We just lost a first ballot hall of fame talent from the 90s fam…. this is devastating.
In 1995, I was living in 2 worlds as a 14/15 year old in San Diego. I was raised on gangsta rap music but I also appreciate the more mellow hip hop scene. The chill hip-hop I liked included artists like A Tribe Called Quest, Grand Puba, Del the Funky Homosapien, Gang Starr, and more. So while I could rap Brotha Lynch Hung lyrics with the best of them, I could also vibe out with some Common. Artists like Common, Digable Planets, The Roots, and Lauryn Hill would weave in some jazzy R&B type melodies to their tracks which then opened me up into a new genre. Sure I knew the R&B from the radio but in 1995, I got introduced to a new sound… I was introduced to D’Angelo.
In 94/95, I would get home from junior high school and go right to the TV so I would see what was on MTV and then flip over to BET. My thumb was ready to flip back and forth whenever one of them went to break or was playing something I didn’t like. BET was really my lane because I felt I was getting a true ear to the streets. I would see some cuts that I would never see on MTV. Then, I would be introduced to songs with the track itself and the visuals. An artist could truly bring me into the world and BET was giving artists to be seen and heard just like radio had always done. When an artist you had never heard like D’Angelo popped up, if he had the talent and the visuals were on point, the track and artist could be a hit. And when I heard the track “Brown Sugar” from D’Angelo, I knew… We knew! Everybody knew D’Angelo was sooooooooo dope!
Then, when a song was starting to blow up, you might see them perform the track live on a late night show or maybe in the studio at one of the music shows on MTV or BET. When this happened, you peeled an onion back and were able to show crowds who you really were. Seeing D’Angelo perform live back in 1995 was amazing. You just knew he was it. You didn’t even know what “it” meant but he was just different. He was cool.
When I would see my friends, sports and music were constant things to talk about for kids who really didn’t know to express themselves. We were just kids so it’s not like we were having long talks getting into our feelings… we were talking about how dope Jordan was in the playoffs, how amazing Bone was on the MTV Music Awards. We all had CD players and we would exchange CD’s or play each other songs that we enjoyed. It was always cool seeing all of your friends rap the same lyrics word-for-word of a track. It wasn’t as cool to sing word-for-word R&B but D’Angelo was bridging the gap. D’Angelo made R&B cool. When “Cruisin’” came out, you just knew…. We were all loving D’Angelo even if we weren’t over here singing all the words with our friends.
In 1995, you needed that D’Angelo album, Brown Sugar. If you didn’t have the cash to buy the cassette or the CD, you needed a music homie who could make you a dub of it…. you know, record it for you and give you a copy. Or they would lend you their copy but if they were a real music head, they weren’t letting you touch their collection. But we all had some D’Angelo on our mixtapes right? If you were scheming in ‘95 and you had to make a mixtape for a girl, you better show her you’re down with D’Angelo. I felt like D’Angelo was a way to let a girl know that you’re different than them other cats… You put “Lady” on a mixtape and you’re basically letting a girl know that you’re feeling her WITHOUT HAVING TO TELL HER THAT YOU ARE FEELING HER! Just listen to “Lady” and tell me it doesn’t hit.
If you have 3 smash singles from a debut album, you’ve officially landed. You’re here. D’Angelo was inescapable back in the Mid90s. That Brown Sugar album was in everybody’s Sony Discman. And if you were a music exec, an up-and-coming artist, or an established artist that saw talent, you needed D’Angelo on a track. A D’Angelo feature back then was like a guaranteed hit. So when I walked into the record store way back when and saw that GZA cassingle for “Cold World” with the ill art and the D’Angelo feature on the remix? That is a must cop.
What about that Lauryn Hill and D’Angelo track, “Nothing Even Matters” in 1998 tho? I know it’s a few years later after the debut but releases back then weren’t all the damn time like they are now. An artist could eat off of one project for years. Then use features and remixes to keep listeners coming back to their catalogs. I feel “Nothing Even Matters” meshed both of their styles perfectly… effortlessly. This is beautiful music right here.
Method Man and D’Angelo??? Cmon fam….
And I know a lot of you slept on Raphael Saadiq and D’Angelo with “Be Here”… Why does everybody sleep on Raphael Saadiq though?????? WHYyyyyyyyyyy???
Erykah Badu and D’Angelo from the High School High soundtrack???????????
Meth and D’Angelo running it back with Redman in the mix????
The Belly soundtrack????
D’Angelo was a vibe… D’Angelo is a vibe. D’Angelo passing really sucks… it’s also a reminder that we are not here forever. So as you go about your day, why don’t you throw on that 2nd album from D’Angelo. Voodoo… There’s a reason I didn’t speak on it here… Some journeys you just need to take on your own you know! RIP D’Angelo… you have left this earth but your soul lives in the music. Thank you for all that you’ve done and what is still left to do.