D'Angelo Essentials

With an unmistakable voice and an innate ability to modernize the rich Black musical traditions that preceded him, D’Angelo helped birth the neo-soul movement of the mid-’90s. A demo tape and an impromptu piano recital for an exec earned him a deal at EMI, under which he released his 1995 debut, Brown Sugar. The album was a mix of earthy, vinyl-crackling soul that evoked Marvin Gaye and the edgy swagger of golden-era hip-hop. It featured a gorgeous reworking of Smokey Robinson’s “Cruisin’” alongside downbeat tributes to objects of his desires such as “Lady” and “Brown Sugar”. 2000’s Voodoo followed—a vulnerable meditation on love, fatherhood, sexuality and spirituality that heightened D’Angelo’s stardom via one of R&B’s all-time most memorable songs: “Untitled (How Does It Feel)”. After a lengthy hiatus, he returned in 2014 with Black Messiah, a stirring collection of soulful analogue grooves and sociopolitical lyrics that reflected the then-budding Black Lives Matter movement. D’Angelo passed away in 2025 following a battle with pancreatic cancer.