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D'Angelo

 
Black Biography:

D'Angelo

rhythm and blues singer; composer; music producer

Personal Information

Born Michael D'Angelo Archer on February 11, 1974, in Richmond, VA; son of a Pentecostal minister and a legal secretary.
Education: Attended high school in Richmond.
Religion: Pentecostal.

Career

R&B vocalist, recording artist, composer, and producer. Formed group Michael Archer and Precise at age 16 and began writing original songs; won, along with rest of group, amateur contest at Harlem's Apollo Theater three times; signed to EMI label at age 19; wrote and produced song "U Will Know" for Jason's Lyric soundtrack; released Brown Sugar, 1995; released Voodoo, 2000.

Life's Work

The rediscovery of older styles of black popular music has been a hallmark of African-American music near the turn of the century. The classic figures of soul, R&B, and even jazz have come once again to exert an influence on younger performers, who find connections between those older styles and the features of the hip-hop and electronic dance music they grew up with. One of the most creative of these young revivalists, and the one who drew most directly on the raw, sensual power of such classic artists as Marvin Gaye, has been D'Angelo--who indeed shows signs that he may match that master's combination of sex appeal and sheer musical originality.

D'Angelo was born Michael D'Angelo Archer on February 11, 1974, in Richmond, Virginia. With a father and grandfather who were both Pentecostal preachers, his upbringing was naturally a religious one, soaked in gospel music. His mother, a legal secretary name Mariann Smith, was a jazz enthusiast who introduced her son to the musical complexities of jazz trumpeter Miles Davis as well as to the soul and R&B music of the 1970s. She bought her son his first electric keyboard, but also tempered a mother's natural supportiveness with a critical ear. Quoted in Contemporary Musicians, she recalled that "[w]hen he started writing he'd write a song and bring it to me right away...And he knows I will critique him. I've always given him the opportunity to express himself, but I'll tell him what I think."

Shaken by Gaye's Death

The singer who made the strongest impression on the young musician was Marvin Gaye, and Gaye's violent death in 1984 shook him up a great deal. "The night he died my nightmares started," D'Angelo told Interview. "I couldn't listen to any song of his for years. I was petrified of them. I would weep. My mother took me to a psychiatrist to try to get a grip on it. The psychiatrist said something like, Unconsciously I had phobias about similarities between Marvin's relationship with his father and my relationship with my father..."

At age nine, D'Angelo added vocals to his piano and organ skills. By the time he was 16, he had formed his own group, called Michael Archer and Precise, and had begun to accumulate compositions of his own. A precocious songwriter, he composed between the ages of 17 and 18 most of the material that would appear three years later on his debut album. The group began winning talent shows in the Richmond area and making plans for bigger things. With a repertoire evenly divided between originals and soul classics, they headed for an event that had set many an R&B artist's career on its way--the Amateur Night competition at the famed Apollo Theater in New York's Harlem neighborhood.

They ended up winning the contest three times, and D'Angelo quit school and headed for New York at the age of 18. Another major musical inspiration around this time was Prince, whose triple threat of sensual vocals, multi-instrumental capabilities, and production skills had revolutionized music in the 1980s. D'Angelo set out to become the same kind of all-around musician that Prince was. In addition to his keyboard and vocal skills, he is proficient on drums, saxophone, guitar, and bass, and he has produced recordings by such artists as Brandy, SWV, Mary J. Blige, and The Roots.

Three-Hour Audition at EMI

Just as Prince's range of skills had impressed the recording executives he approached, D'Angelo found a ready reception when he auditioned for the EMI label in 1993. He dazzled EMI executives with a three-hour piano recital and was signed to a contract. EMI broke in their hot new property with a single release, "U Will Know." The song, co-written and produced by D'Angelo, was included on the soundtrack of the film Jason's Lyric. The song featured an all-star ensemble that included R. Kelly, Boyz II Men, Tevin Campbell, and Lenny Kravitz. Not yet 20 years old, D'Angelo was playing in the big leagues.

D'Angelo's debut album, Brown Sugar, was released in 1995. The album became one of the top recording events of the year, selling over two million copies and crossing over to the pop charts with its three hit singles: the title track, a cover of Smokey Robinson's "Cruisin'," and the pop Top Five "Lady." D'Angelo wowed influential New York crowds with his initial concerts in support of the album, and the buzz only grew stronger. A definite ingredient in its success was the co-production work of Ali-Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest, who was responsible for the seamless integration of hip-hop beats into D'Angelo's old-school-influenced material.

Brown Sugar was honored with three Soul Train awards and three Grammy nominations, and D'Angelo picked up an American Music Award for Best New R&B Artist among numerous other honors. His live shows thrilled female fans, and he stayed in the spotlight in various ways, contributing music and production work to film soundtracks, including Spike Lee's Get on the Bus, and joining with Lauryn Hill for a duet on Hill's 1998 debut The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. But material for a sophomore release was slow in coming. D'Angelo headed back to the South, spending time in South Carolina and in his hometown of Richmond and reconnecting himself with the African-American musical history that had first inspired him.

Sophomore Release Showed Hendrix Influence

To the classic soul vocals that he had mastered, D'Angelo gradually added a musical layer shaped by guitar-based funk. He immersed himself in the music of Sly and the Family Stone, Parliament and Funkadelic, James Brown, and Jimi Hendrix. D'Angelo recorded his Voodoo CD in Hendrix's Electric Lady studios in New York, telling Entertainment Weekly that "I began to see the connection between him and everybody else--Sly, George Clinton--and I started to realize that Jimi was just as much a pioneer of funk as those guys were." The result was an album that Time termed "a masterpiece," a blend of funk, jazz, hip-hop, ambient music, and D'Angelo's usual soulful vocals. The album featured contributions from rappers Redman and Method Man and jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove. Voodoo was released in February of 2000, and made its debut at Number One on Billboard magazine's pop chart.

D'Angelo, thanks to the depth of his encounter with the music of the past, had gained the combination of chart-topping popularity and critical respect by the year 2000. Though he was only 26, he had himself already influenced a host of other artists; what some critics called his "neo-soul" music had blazed the way for such performers as Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Macy Gray, and others. "I got something I'm seeing; I got a vision," he told Time, explaining his aim to infuse the black popular scene with music of high artistic quality. "This album [Voodoo] is the second step to that vision." That vision seems an immensely promising and far-sighted one.

Awards

Best R&B Artist, Best R&B Single, Best R&B Album--Males, Soul Train Music Awards, 1996; Best New R&B Artist, American Music Awards, 1997; three Grammy award nominations for Brown Sugar.

Works

Selected discography

  • Brown Sugar, EMI, 1995.
  • Voodoo, EMI, 2000.

Further Reading

Books

  • Contemporary Musicians, volume 20, Gale, 1997.
Periodicals
  • Billboard, February 19, 2000, p. 96.
  • Ebony, April 2000, p. 78.
  • Entertainment Weekly, January 21, 2000, p. 104; February 4, 2000, p. 28.
  • Interview, January 1996, p. 64; February 1999, p. 106.
  • Jet, July 3, 2000, p. 58.
  • Time, January 24, 2000, p. 70.
Other
  • Additional information was obtained on-line at www.allmusic.com.

— James M. Manheim

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Artist:

D'Angelo

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See D'Angelo Lyrics
  • Born: February 11, 1974, Richmond, VA
  • Active: '90s, 2000s
  • Genres: Rhythm & Blues
  • Instrument: Vocals
  • Representative Albums: "Brown Sugar", "Voodoo", "The Best So Far..."
  • Representative Songs: "Brown Sugar", "Untitled (How Does It Feel)", "Lady"

Biography

D'Angelo was one of the founding fathers and leading lights of the neo-soul movement of the mid- to late '90s, which aimed to bring the organic flavor of classic R&B back to the hip-hop age. Modeling himself on the likes of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Curtis Mayfield, and Al Green, D'Angelo's influences didn't just come across in his vocal style -- like most of those artists, he wrote his own material (and frequently produced it as well), helping to revive the concept of the R&B auteur. His debut album, Brown Sugar, gradually earned him an audience so devoted that the follow-up, Voodoo, debuted at number one despite a five-year wait in between.

Michael D'Angelo Archer was born February 11, 1974, in Richmond, VA, the son of a Pentecostal minister. He began teaching himself piano as a very young child, and at age 18, he won the amateur talent competition at Harlem's Apollo Theater three weeks in a row. He was briefly a member of a hip-hop group called I.D.U. and signed a publishing deal with EMI in 1991. His first major success came in 1994 as a writer/producer, helming the single "U Will Know" on the Jason's Lyric soundtrack; it featured a one-time, all-star R&B aggregate dubbed Black Men United. That helped lead to his debut solo album, 1995's Brown Sugar. Helped by the title track and "Lady," Brown Sugar slowly caught on with R&B fans looking for an alternative to the hip-hop soul dominating the urban contemporary landscape; along with artists like Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell, D'Angelo became part of a retro-leaning, neo-soul revivalist movement. Brown Sugar received enormously complimentary reviews and sold over two million copies, and D'Angelo supported it with extensive touring over the next two years.

And then -- not much of anything happened. D'Angelo took some time off to rest and split acrimoniously with his management; meanwhile, EMI went under, leaving his 1998 stopgap release Live at the Jazz Cafe out of print. On occasion, D'Angelo contributed a cover tune to a movie soundtrack, including Eddie Kendricks' "Girl You Need a Change of Mind" (Get on the Bus), the Ohio Players' "Heaven Must Be Like This" (Down in the Delta), and Prince's "She's Always in My Hair" (Scream 2). He also duetted with Lauryn Hill on "Nothing Really Matters," a cut from her Grammy-winning blockbuster The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Still, fans awaiting a proper follow-up to Brown Sugar remained frustrated -- at first by no news at all, and then by frequent delays in the recording process and the scheduled release date. Finally, the special-guest-laden Voodoo was released in early 2000 and debuted at number one, an indication of just how large -- and devoted -- D'Angelo's fan base was. The extremely Prince-like lead single, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)," was a smash on the R&B charts and won a Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal; likewise, Voodoo won for Best R&B Album. Reviews of Voodoo were once again highly positive, although a few critics objected to the looser, more atmospheric, more jam-oriented feel of the record, preferring the tighter songcraft of Brown Sugar. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
Wikipedia:

D'Angelo

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D'Angelo
Birth name Michael Eugene Archer
Born February 11, 1974 (1974-02-11) (age 35)
Origin Richmond, Virginia, United States
Genres R&B, neo soul, funk, soul, hip hop
Occupations Singer-songwriter, keyboardist, producer
Instruments Vocals, piano/keyboard, Hammond Organ, drums, bass, Rhodes piano, guitar
Years active 1994 – present
Labels EMI, Virgin, J
Associated acts Soulquarians, Questlove, Raphael Saadiq, Angie Stone, The RH Factor
Website http://www.dangeloonline.com/ dangeloonline.com

Michael Eugene Archer[1][2][3] (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo, is an American R&B and neo soul singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer.

D'Angelo is known for his production and songwriting talents as much as for his vocal abilities, and often draws comparisons to his influencers, Marvin Gaye, and Prince. D'Angelo was one of the most influential artists during the rise of the neo-soul movement.

His first two studio albums, Brown Sugar and Voodoo, have garnered much commercial and critical acclaim, and have been cited as "two of the most excellent and singular R&B albums of the past 15 years" [4]. Rock critic Robert Christgau has dubbed him as "R&B Jesus".[5].

Since the year 2000, D'Angelo has conducted no interviews, live performances or released any new material, save for minor collaborations with other artists, and sporadic unfinished demos leaked to the internet. A follow up album to Voodoo, has been rumoured and speculated since the mid-2000s (decade) but is still pending release or announcement.

Contents

Early life

D'Angelo was born Michael Eugene Archer, in Richmond, Virginia on February 11, 1974, to a Pentecostal preacher father, and a mother he described as "powerful." He was raised in an entirely Pentecostal family. Strict, they forbade interaction with other church members. His time deep within Pentecostalism left Archer with several notable memories, including seeing his 9-year-old brother catch "the Holy Ghost." He would later recall one of his memories as a 12-year-old:

"I saw this one lady, she used to catch demons. She used to always catch 'em. And one night at this revival in the mountains, she caught a demon. She was going out of her way to disrupt. She ripped the Bible apart. She was being sexual. Stripping. Foaming at the mouth. She was speaking an evil tongue. I had never heard it before, but I knew it was evil. And this brother from the choir, he and the evangelist tried to get it out of her--to exorcise her, and she was screaming, "No! No!" She crawled out of there on all fours. There was a graveyard out back, and she was jumping on the hoods of cars. And the whole church went out and made a circle around her and started praying and singing. Then my grandfather laid hands on her. And it was over."[6]
D'Angelo

Archer's musical talents were discovered very early on. At 3, he was spotted by his 10 year-old brother, Luther, playing the house piano.

"Mike was three - and it was not banging," Luther says with awe. "It was a full-fledged song, with melody and bass line. Shortly thereafter, he started playing for my father's church. My father had a Hammond organ, and he had to slide down to reach the pedals, but he did that very well." [7]
Luther Archer

Musical career

By his late teens he was offered a publishing deal by Jocelyn Cooper of Midnight Songs and penned the hit song "U Will Know" on the Jason's Lyric soundtrack. It was performed by Black Men United for the Jason's Lyric motion picture soundtrack.

Shortly after, he was signed by Gary Harris and he began recording his debut album for EMI records. Brown Sugar was released in June 1995. Though sales were sluggish at first, the album was eventually a hit, due in large part to "Lady," a Top Ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, peaking at #10. This helped kickstart the burgeoning neo soul singers of the 1990s: Maxwell, Erykah Badu and others. The album was a critical success as well, and appeared on many critics' "best of" lists for the year.

In the five year gap between Brown Sugar and the follow-up, D'Angelo appeared on several soundtracks, including Belly ("Devil's Pie"), frequently singing covers like "Girl You Need a Change of Mind" (Eddie Kendricks, Get on the Bus), "She's Always in My Hair" (Prince, Scream 2) and "Heaven Must Be Like This" (The Ohio Players, Down in the Delta), as well as appearing on Lauryn Hill's landmark The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill on the duet "Nothing Even Matters".

Voodoo

The much-delayed follow-up to Brown Sugar, Voodoo, was finally released in 2000. It debuted at #1 and went on to win 2 Grammy Awards, one for Best R&B Album, and the other for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. The lead single was 1999's "Left & Right" (featuring Method Man and Redman), but it was the album's second single, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" (a tribute to the legendary artist Prince), that became a huge R&B hit buoyed by an innovative yet infamous video featuring a presumably nude D'Angelo (from his face to his hips). The video was nominated for 4 MTV Video Music Awards and currently ranks #44 in VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Videos. He also performed "Be Here" (with Raphael Saadiq) from Saadiq's album Instant Vintage. After Voodoo's release, D'Angelo embarked on what would become one of the most fabled series of live soul shows in history, "The Voodoo Tour". Consisting of a live group entitled "the Soultronics", (assumedly assembled by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson of The Roots) which engulfed arena-size stages with various dancers and instrument players, it was one of the most attended shows of the year. The tour was taken all around the world, one of the most notable performances being the Free Jazz Festival in Brazil. The live show was a thinly-disguised homage to Prince's late 80's shows, in its grandeur and conceptual stage set up/setlist. Slum Village (then in its original line-up of Jay Dee, Baatin & T3) opened for D'Angelo on several dates, and soul-tinged R&B singer Anthony Hamilton sang backup within the band.

In 2002, Q magazine named him in their list of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die", and in 2003 Voodoo was ranked at number 488 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Pitchfork Media rated it at #44 on their list of the best albums of the 2000s.

Personal life

Archer's critical and commercial success both have dramatically and disappointingly impeded in recent years owing to his descent into drug addiction. In January 2005, D'Angelo was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance, and driving while intoxicated. He pleaded guilty to the DUI and marijuana charge and, on April 13, was given a fine and suspended sentence and his driver's license was revoked. On September 12, he received a three-year suspended sentence on the cocaine possession charge. On September 19, 2005, just a week after being sentenced for cocaine possession, D'Angelo was critically injured in Powhatan County, Virginia, when the SUV he was riding in hit a fence, ejecting him from the vehicle. He was not wearing a seatbelt. In August 2006, D'Angelo is confirmed to have exited a rehabilitation stint on the island of Antigua.[8] On August 10, 2007, D'Angelo was sent to court on charges relating to the car accident. These charges included reckless driving and driving with a suspended license. He pleaded guilty to these charges and was ordered to pay a $1,250 fine, in addition to forfeiting his license for 15 months. He also received a nine-month suspended jail sentence.

Recently

A follow-up to the Voodoo album has yet to be released; however, in recent months, D'Angelo is said to be hard at work on a third album, tentatively titled James River.[9] After a long period of inactivity, D'Angelo has made guest appearances on several albums, including releases by J Dilla, Common [10], Red Hot & Riot and The RH Factor.

In August 2006 he began collaborations with Common and Q-Tip. He also entered discussions with Jermaine Dupri on how to market what appears to be a forthcoming LP, though the official news of a release has not been made public yet.[11] Although music for his own album has yet to materialize, D'Angelo was featured on the song "Imagine", by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, from his album Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, released on November 21, 2006.

On April 17, 2007 a new song called "Really Love" was leaked on Triple J Radio in Australia by Questlove[12] D'Angelo also had a guest appearance on Common's 2007 album, Finding Forever on the track, "So Far to Go", a song that first appeared on J Dilla's 2006 release, The Shining.

After his 10 August 2007 court proceeding, he confirmed that new music is "in the works" although the album remains untitled [13]

On June 24, 2008, Virgin EMI released an enhanced greatest hits CD/DVD which will include top hits, rare tracks & seven previously unreleased music videos from D'Angelo. According to the press release, the new collection is titled The Best So Far… because D'Angelo is far from finished, currently writing and recording his highly anticipated next musical chapter." There will also be a digital album, video downloads, and ringtones available on the day of its release.[14] In November 2008, D'Angelo's collaboration with Q-Tip was officially confirmed with the release of the Q-Tip album The Renaissance which features D'Angelo on the track Believe. His third studio album, set to be titled James River, was said to be released in 2009. D'Angelo revealed that his 2009 album would be called James River and that Prince would work heavily on the disc. Apparently the collaboration list reads like a who's who in the R&B, neo soul movement. Unfortunately, 2009 came and went with no album being released. Below, his manager, said of the purported album:

"James River,” D’Angelo’s first studio effort in nearly 9 years, is also sporting a collaboration with Gnarls Barkley’s Cee-Lo Green. Green joins Raphael Saadiq, Mark Ronson, and Roy Hargrove, who have already contributed to D’Angelo’s forthcoming album.

On January 29, 2010, an incomplete song named '1000 Deaths' was leaked on to the internet and uploaded to Youtube, it was said to possibly be from the James River album, however, after four days on February 3 it was deleted due to a copyright claim by D'Angelo. Also his official website went offline in November 2009, however, it now links to D'Angelo's official Myspace Page with a banner reading 'Album & Tour Summer 2010'.

Discography

Albums

Year Album Chart positions Certification Sales
US US R&B
1995 Brown Sugar (Studio album) 22 4 US: 2x Platinum US: 2,000,000
2000 Voodoo (Studio album) 1 1 US: Platinum US: 1,500,000
2010 TBA James River (Studio album) - - - -

Singles

Year Title Chart positions Album
US Hot 100[15] US R&B/Hip-Hop[15]
1994 "U Will Know" (as a part of Black Men United) 28 5 Jason's Lyric OST
1995 "Brown Sugar" 27 5 Brown Sugar
"Cruisin'" 53 10
1996 "Lady" 10 2
"Me and Those Dreamin' Eyes of Mine" 74 25
1998 "She's Always In My Hair" Scream 2 OST
"Devil's Pie" 691 Belly Soundtrack/Voodoo(2000)
1999 "Nothing Even Matters" (Lauryn Hill featuring D'Angelo) 1052 25 The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
"Break Ups 2 Make Ups" (Method Man featuring D'Angelo) 98 29 Tical 2000: Judgement Day
"Heaven Must Be Like This" 74 Down In The Delta OST / Live At The Jazz Cafe
"Left & Right" (featuring Method Man & Redman) 75 18 Voodoo
2000 "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" 25 2
"Send It On" 33
"Feel Like Makin' Love" 1092
2002 "Be Here" (Raphael Saadiq featuring D'Angelo) 61 Instant Vintage
2007 "Imagine" (Snoop Dogg featuring Dr. Dre & D'Angelo) 1072 Blue Carpet Treatment
"So Far To Go" (Common featuring D'Angelo) Finding Forever
2008 "I Found My Smile Again"3[16] 1062 The Best So Far...
  • 1 — peaked at the Airplay chart.
  • 2 — peaked at the Bubbling Under chart
  • 3 — iTunes single only

Other

This list excludes recordings which only include samples of D'Angelo recordings.

References

External links


 
 
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Copyrights:

Black Biography. Contemporary Black Biography. Copyright © 2006 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "D'Angelo" Read more

 

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