By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: Earl Gibson III/WireImage/Getty Images
D’Angelo was one of the pioneers of the Neo-Soul music genre. The music industry lost an exceptional talent. He was only 51 years old.
His music inspired and touched many artists that we see today, such as Beyoncé, Jill Scott, Jennifer Hudson, and many more. All of these artists paid their respect to him through social media.
His debut album, “Brown Sugar,” is one of the best R&B albums of 1995. The album had several good hits, such as ‘Brown Sugar, Cruisin, Lady, Me, and Those Dreamin’ Eyes of Mine.’ The album was so successful that it reached platinum status with the RIAA. D’Angelo also received four Grammy nominations.
Although he didn’t win any Grammys for Brown Sugar, he would go on to win a Grammy for his work on his second album, Voodoo.
D’Angelo was an artist with considerable talent. His songwriting ability and the sound of his music led him to collaborate with other artists from the same genre, such as Angie Stone, Erykah Badu, and Lauryn Hill.
It’s sad to think that Stone and now D’Angelo passed away in the same year. Both artists were a force in the Neo-Soul movement.
Before D’Angelo passed away, he was working on an album with Raphael Saadiq. We don’t know what’s going to happen with the album. The album may be released sometime in the future, or the production team and everyone else involved may take their time to develop a strategy or solution.
An album is never fully satisfied or the same after an artist has passed away. It was going to be D’Angelo’s fourth studio album. If the album does proceed, hopefully, it will do it justice with good lyrics and production behind it.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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