Impromptu Discussion & Tribute to D'angelo

Streamed live on Oct 14, 2025  Freakapotamus Podcast

Join me and special guests tonight as I honor the one & only r&b recording artist D'angelo who passed away today Oct 14, 2025 at the young age of 51.

Call in, share your D'angelo thoughts, stories and favorite music.

#dangelo #ripdangelo #voodoo #brownsugar #blackmessiah #randbmusic #neosoul #soulmusic #funkmusic #michaelarcher #angiestone #podcast #youtuber #podcaster #questlove #theroots #rafaelsaadiq #erykahbadu #questlove #laurynhill #common #qtip #tribecalledquest #rafaelsaadiq #soulquarians #jimihendrix #electricladystudios

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Welcome to the freak of potential podcast. Let's go. Now you're holding it. The real russell.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Freak a potamist podcast with the real Russell. All things RB, funk, soul, and prints. Let's get into it.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Just after I wipe away last year. I guess he's better up and he was before. I used to cry for Trace cause he was my only friend. This kind of caused my shoe every day. But sometimes, sometimes that ain't always too.

SPEAKER_09 2:55

Sometimes it's no time so bad, so bad. Sometimes I think all good things they say ever last.

SPEAKER_03 3:47

Real Russell. Here we are once again. Mr. D'Angelo. We lost today. I think we had cancer.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

Here we are.

SPEAKER_03 4:25

Pull together a uh D'Angelo tribute tonight. Tonight, we're gonna talk about we're gonna talk about some D'Angelo. We're gonna talk about uh his musical history, his career, play some music, play some videos, just chop it up and celebrate the short life of this incredible genius.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

What's going on, brother? Hey Russell. Thanks for having me on the show. Better circumstances, but um exactly here we are again. Yeah, I know we're gonna lead off with that one, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:40

I didn't know what I should lead off with, and uh maybe that would be appropriate to uh yeah, but uh we're gonna try not to keep it somber tonight, right?

SPEAKER_05 5:54

Yeah, yeah, it's kinda yeah. After that one, that's gonna be a tough one to follow, but I think we can we could pull it off.

SPEAKER_03 6:02

Yeah, I think so too. So trying to turn this into a celebration of eat as positive, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

And he was a talk.

SPEAKER_03 6:27

Anyway, we'll remove that real quick to move on to some more upbeat uh stuff. I don't know what are you what are you thinking, man? What are you thinking on this day?

SPEAKER_05 6:41

Uh you know, I'm I'm still in shock, probably, just like everybody else, you know. Um you know, I was at lunch, you know, just kind of my normal lunch routine, and just happened to jump on social media, and then there was a guy that, you know, he made a post, you know, like, you know, hope you know, tell me this isn't true, or hopefully it's a hoax.

SPEAKER_11 7:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 7:10

And I don't know, something just said just go, you know, go online and look it up. And lo and behold, we lost uh another one of our, you know, you know, artists, entertainers. You know, just one of the best to do it.

SPEAKER_03 7:30

Absolutely, man. You know, like you, I was at lunch. I was telling you this earlier. Um just having lunch and uh happened to be scrolling through uh Instagram and I saw a post made by Susannah Melbourne about it. And of course, everybody in the comments was like, is this a hoax? You know. So my usually my usual go-to is TMZ for the facts. Yeah, unfortunately. Yeah, unfortunately. Um, so I went to TMZ. Sure enough, that's the very first thing that they had posted. Uh the latest thing that they had posted was about the angle. Yeah, man. Yeah, nobody saw this one coming. This is one of those uh, you know, disbelief situations.

SPEAKER_05 8:24

Yeah, you know, um I know, you know, kind of being at the age that I am now, you know, I always I'm starting to think back to like, you know, I grew up with my grandparents, you know, and you know, that's back in the days, you know, you was just that one television, you know, no cable, no, you know, no social media, no cell phones. And I kind of remember, you know, like even that, you know, through the years, you know, whether they were in their 60s, their 70s, their 80s, you know, a lot of times, you know, if they hear about, you know, some, you know, like a Hollywood legend or some great, you know, jazz artist or something passing away, you know. Um, and I think like in the case of D'Angelo here, you know, I know like probably depending on the age, like I say, where they are in proportion to where that entertainer was, you know, like so-and-so dies at you know, 67, and they, you know, my grandfather be like, young man, yeah, you know, and here I am with D'Angelo right here. You know, I'm 59, he's 51. It's just like that's a you know, that's a youngster, you know, like well, you know, but you know, um things like cancer, though, it you know, cancer that's an equal opportunity employer, unfortunately. You know, um, from the smallest of babies to the you know, most ancient of elders, you know, it's something that you know it doesn't discriminate. Not at all. And I think you know, what makes it even more tragic in that you know, because here, you know, us as fans, you know, not knowing what's going on, right? Not knowing how long he had been battling this, and you know, we're sitting back waiting, like, well, when's the next album coming out? When is the next album coming out? Yeah, and then you kind of you know jump in today with this, and it's just like, damn.

SPEAKER_03 10:36

Yeah, you know, funny thing, yesterday I was just thinking about D'Angelo. I'm like, man, I always think about D'Angelo. When are we gonna get some new music? Because I've been reading that he was working on some new music. I was like, when is this happening, you know? Um, because the last time we heard from him as far as um albums was like 2014.

SPEAKER_06 10:56

Yeah, with the yeah, here we go with the the Black Messiah.

SPEAKER_05 11:00

Black Messiah, yeah. I mean, the strong album. It's like, yeah, every 10 years or so, but when he shows up, he shows up and showed out, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:13

Another funny thing, before I actually heard the news, there was a car behind me playing D'Angelo music. They were playing cruising, and they were playing that whole first album, and then another car passed me at the light, they were doing the same thing. I'm like, wow, this is how ironic. Those two cars playing D'Angelo music, and then like five minutes later, I found out about it, so that's why.

SPEAKER_05 11:42

Yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, if you look at social media, you know, just like with any entertainer, but I think you know, today with somebody like D'Angelo, you see, I mean, just every post, every other post, you know, it's uh it's a heartfelt tribute, or somebody sharing a memory, somebody sharing their favorite album. Um, you know, somebody was sharing some, I would say, some very rare tracks that I might have to, you know, look into at some point and you know, dive into.

SPEAKER_03 12:24

Yeah, exactly. I know there's a lot of stuff out there um by him that wasn't um officially released that you might be able to find. Um I found a lot of stuff on YouTube over the years uh that he's done.

SPEAKER_05 12:39

Yeah, back in um oh god, uh 2000, I don't want to say maybe 2009. Or maybe I don't know, uh maybe it was about 10 years ago. Um, but yeah, I found the live at the circus, and then that was one that was kind of circulating around. Yeah, and that was kind of like from the voodoo era. Yeah, I think I uh the actual I burned it to a disc. Actually, it took two discs to burn it to, but uh lost one disc, but I still got it on like a drive somewhere, a flash drive or something, yeah. Somewhere too. And I mean, you know, I guess we'll you know we'll dive into you know just how dynamic of a performer he was, you know.

SPEAKER_03 13:28

Yeah, definitely. Uh let's see. Australian Julie says, uh, hey, all it can be taken from any of us. Uh enjoy what you have. Yeah, absolutely. Cancer sucks for sure.

SPEAKER_06 13:39

Yeah. Yeah, lost lost my dad to that.

unknown 13:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:46

Yeah, it it runs in my family as well. I've had quite a few relatives um succumb to it as well. It's just, you know, sometimes you don't see the signs. You know, you can show up, go to the doctor one day and all of a sudden they they spring it on you, you're in stage four or stage three, you know. But uh supposedly he had been battling this for quite some time, just kept it private, you know, which I understand that.

SPEAKER_05 14:15

Yeah, you know, again, you know, like us, you know, just in the mainstream, you know, we're sitting here not knowing what's going on. I'm looking at it from the perspective of, well, damn, I just saw him in the Sly Lives documentary. Like, wait a minute. Yeah, you know, and I know those things take like a couple of years to produce, but it was just like still, you know, it was just like, damn, just saw him in the documentary. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:45

Let's see, we got some more comments coming in. Stephanie Mills, what's up, Stephanie? Uh hey Russell Richard, everybody's honoring D'Angelo as much as he deserves. Prayers way up. And for Angie and D'Angelo's son Michael, he lost his parents uh seven and a half months apart. Yeah. That's gotta be tough. I thought about that as well. Yeah. For those of you who don't know, uh D'Angelo's birth name is Michael Eugene Archer, uh, born February 11th, 1974, Richmond, Virginia. Um a lot of his influences. Uh of course Prince, he was a huge Prince, Prince fan. Um Marmy Gay, Curtis Mayfield, Al Green, Stevie Wonder to name a few. Plus, you know, you got um hip hop world influenced them. Signed with EMI Records and released his debut album, Brown Sugar, 1995, blending soul, funk, jazz, and hip hop. Some hits off of the brown sugar album Lady and Cruising, uh remake of uh Smokey Robinson's Cruising Brown Sugar, and established him as a new soul icon. Would you think, would you say he's probably the pioneer, uh the one who actually started the neo-soul movement?

SPEAKER_05 16:25

Uh definitely. Um, I know that's a term that he hated. That was uh his um his manager at the time, uh K.R. Massenberg was the one that came up with that. Because I think he was managing D'Angelo, and I think he was managing Erica Badu, but somewhere in between those two artists, yeah, uh, he became an executive at Motown and was instrumental in getting Erica on the Motown.

SPEAKER_11 16:55

Right.

SPEAKER_05 16:55

Um, but yeah, but that was that was something he came up with. And to me, I would say as far as yeah, maybe kicking off that genre, but once that label was put on it, to me, it really became a way, I think, for like radio to just like they do with everything else, or corporate, you know, record companies, whatever, to kind of homogenize it. And I mean, and it's not a slap in the face to a lot of the other artists, but I think like D'Angelo and Erica Badu, I think it was just beyond, you know, just ballads with them, uh, you know, um, especially you know, D'Angelo, like you you know said earlier, huge Prince fan, huge funkadelic fan, you know, had Jesse Johnson in his band, you know, in the later years. And to kind of limit him to just that kind of mid-tempo or ballad style, I think that was a disservice to him. And I think even to Erica, because I think, yeah, she had a strong, you know, debut that kind of also changed history along with uh Brown Sugar.

SPEAKER_11 18:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 18:20

But I think as she started to become more diverse, you know, incorporating more hip-hop elements, more old, you know, older RB. Um, you know, I think um she even sampled a wings cut that was funky too on uh one of her albums. With those two, I think they went a class by themselves. Uh with the whole Neo Soul thing, I think it got just kind of watered down to this very clean. Um, I kind of call it everybody's trying to do a Stevie Wonder ballad, but clean, you know, clean and polished. Or an old Earth, wind, and fire, but you know, clean and polished.

SPEAKER_10 19:06

Right.

SPEAKER_05 19:06

And like I said, not a slap in the face, but I've had, you know, where some of my musician friends, I think out of the four of us, I think I was probably the bigger D'Angelo fan, right? You know, where they would, you know, they would bring me a Van Hunt, they would bring me um, I see, you know, maybe something like a music soul child or something like that. And like I said, as great as they were, yeah, like I said, the polished, well-produced, you know, good craftsmanship of songs. But for me, it was just that pure artistry, you know, just him, like I said, trying to emulate prints in that way of just being an artist and not being limited by, okay, I'm just the ballad dude, you know, or I'm just gonna give you the mid-tempo sound so it could just get on the radio. You know, I think he was definitely much more than Neil, so I agree with that totally.

SPEAKER_03 20:03

Um so yeah, the next album that he came out with was uh the Voodoo album in uh 2000. One of my favorite tracks off that album was uh uh Send It On.

SPEAKER_05 20:21

Ah man, yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 20:30

Yeah, send it on. Let's see. That uh some people call that uh one of the greatest RB albums of all time.

SPEAKER_05 20:39

Yeah, that album, yeah, that is it's weird because it it really factors um for me as far as like just memories, you know, not the album. I can get into the you know influences and all that and how the album was made and all that, but as far as like a listener and the impact that it had on me was um that came out uh just right around the time that my daughter was born. Okay, so we're talking, yeah, 2000. So that album dropped that year. Then um kind of I don't know if it was that same year, a little bit later on. Um, my son, so he would have been 14 about that time. And you know, like his world was Bone Thugs and Harmony, um, just about anything on No Limit. And um, let's see, Bone Thugs and Harmony, No Limit. Oh, um, DMX. You know, so that was kind of his range. Um, but it was two things. Uh one day, one day he calls and he says, Um, you know, um, you know this album, uh Purple Rain, this movie? I was like, Yeah. I was like, Yeah, finally, you know. He's in, you know, and uh, but he was talking about like, yeah, you know that song, The Beautiful Ones. I was like, Oh yeah, you know, do you have that? I was like, oh yeah, right, that and what's going on. But I the other thing that he discovered was the track that you're about to play now was Send It On. Yeah, which um I don't know, I haven't played it in a long time, and I was just kind of took it because of where D'Angelo was when he wrote it. Yeah, because he was going through like this writer's block, yeah, at the time. And I think he heard um there's uh what he um does an interpolation of in that is Coolin' the Gangs, uh Sea of Tranquility, and that's off their very, very first album. So before Jungle Boogie, Hollywood Swinging, before all of that, it was their very first album, and that's the track that was on it. So he kind of sampled that, and that kind of gave him the inspiration to write this song. And he said he kind of wrote it um as far as like lyrically, because I think you know, at the time his son was born, so it was kind of a you know, a little bit of a tribute to him, right, in regards to that song. So when I listened to that song, you know, ever since you know my son discovered it, you know, it was kind of like you know, that's a connection that we definitely have is through that particular song.

SPEAKER_11 23:26

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:27

Let's pause it right there. And for those of you who uh are not familiar with send it on from that album, there's a little video clip for you real quick. That was really quick. Oh yeah. Let me uh let me go to the playlist here, get you some send it on if I can find it here real quick. Oh, do I have it in the playlist tonight? Yes, I do. Here we go. Actually, this is the live version. Very distinctive sound. He had a unique sound for sure.

SPEAKER_11 24:38

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:43

The one thing that I really enjoyed about D'Angelo or admired was his ability to layer his vocals and layer his harmonies.

SPEAKER_05 24:54

Yes, yeah. Uh, if you go online, um you know, look up uh Russell. Uh I'm gonna I'm gonna butcher his last name now because just kind of where we are right now. Uh Russell Elvado. Okay, and that um has been D'Angelo's engineer. Um actually he was kind of brought in at the end of Brown Sugar, but for voodoo and for Black Messiah, he's kind of like what Jeff Emmerich is to like the Beatles, or um, you know, what Steve Hodge was to Jamie Lewis.

SPEAKER_10 25:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 25:40

Um, and if you there are interviews with him, and he talks about like the voodoo album and black messiah and the process they went through to go, you know, how uniquely uh D'Angelo records his background vocals.

SPEAKER_11 25:56

Right. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 26:01

Yeah, and I mean, you know, and that comes out of the school of uh of Prince. Oh yeah, and uh Marvin Gaye to me, who are the the two bests at background vocal, you know, as far as like putting your own voice and track after track after track, different keys, different directions, those are the best, and I mean, you know, he studied best. I guess, yeah, you know, now that I think about it, I used to put Janet Jackson at number three with layered background vocals, but I'll put D'Angelo at about number three with that, Michael as well, Michael too, Michael too. But to me, like I said, Marvin and Prince are the top two. I would say Marvin first, because the way he was just so tortured and driven, yeah, especially in the 70s, yeah. Um Prince driven in a kind of in a different way, you know, as far as like pure musicianship or pure creativity, yeah, with that, and again, D'Angelo being such a good student. Oh, yeah, you can't be able to create his own lane with that.

SPEAKER_03 27:14

Oh, yeah, you can definitely hear the influence for sure. Yeah, and uh listening to the way he stacks his his harmonies, man.

SPEAKER_05 27:23

Definitely, and this is the live version, but yeah, definitely, you know, if anybody out there hasn't heard the studio version, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:36

Yeah, we're just trying to avoid the the copyright copy. But yeah, definitely check out the the album version. You can definitely hear the harmony, uh the the the stacks of harmonies that he does, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 27:51

And you know, and this elevates um sea of tranquility because it's it's really just an instrumental track on uh cool and the gangs album, right? So to for him, like I say, just to take you know uh sample that, you know, recreate it with live musicianship and create such a great vocal arrangement around it, you know. Like I said, again, it's a testament to his genius.

SPEAKER_03 28:22

Exactly. Let's see um some spam coming in, comments. Oh no, okay, we'll ignore that, but uh there's the live version to send it on. Um also from that album we had, of course, uh the hit single untitled How Does It Feel, which became iconic partly due to the central video that both elevated and complicated his career. Um, yeah, that was it was controversial at the time, I think. And he uh went through a little bit of flack about it, but it won two Grammys, best RB album, best male RB vocal performance. Yeah. Definitely prints all over that one, man. When it came out when it first when I heard it for the first time before his vocals came in, I was like, oh, another Prince track, we got some new Prince music. Uh then his vocals came out, I was like, whoa, that's that's D'Angelo.

SPEAKER_05 29:32

Yeah, that um uh you know, I guess uh shout out to Quest Love too, because you know, I think that was you know, you talk about all the dynamic duos throughout music history, yeah. You know, when those two got together to produce a D'Angelo album, you know, it it there's a magic in it. I mean, there's you know, when you listen to all the albums, I mean, especially the first one, uh, Quest Love wasn't involved with the first album. Yeah, um, but I would say by the time you get to Black Messiah, Quest Love's not on every song on it, yeah. But you can still feel especially um, I don't know if you're gonna get into another life, um, which is probably my favorite from that album. Um, but again, you know, that kind of magic when you have that collaborator, yeah, that, you know, like I said, all the dynamic duos in history of music, you know, they should be, you know, mentioned in the same sentence as them.

SPEAKER_03 30:43

Yeah, according to my uh my research, uh Quest Love was an intricate part of the voodoo album drummer and co-architect of the voodoo sessions creative chemistry defined so quinarian sound.

SPEAKER_05 30:58

Yeah, but I think um I think it was an interview with with Quest Love. Yeah, I think it was. Um he looked at it like this was their uh demo tape or audition tape for Prince. Like it's like, dude, we want to work with you, you know. This is what we sound like, you know. Hopefully you think us worthy to want to do something. Now, whether they did some stuff together and it's in the vault, who knows? But I would say not only is it a good audition tape for Prince, but uh it ended up again changing mu making and changing you know black music.

SPEAKER_03 31:45

Yeah, for sure. Speaking of uh uh Untitled, How Does It Feel? I do have a video clip for that, hopefully longer than send it on. Let's throw that up for people and bring back some memories for some folks.

SPEAKER_10 33:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 34:04

For sure, absolutely.

SPEAKER_06 34:08

Sorry about that.

SPEAKER_03 34:09

I'm kinda wiggling this around a little bit. Oh, that's all right. Anyway, um, I'm gonna throw out the call-in number for those folks who are watching and you want to call in and maybe talk about D'Angelo, uh, share some of your stories or memories or uh what your favorite D'Angelo song is. There's the number right there, 803-400-8812, as Richard and I continue to talk about and vibe out, do some D'Angelo. Um let's see, what do you want to talk about? We're doing this from the cuff tonight. This is very impromptu, last minute uh decision of course today. Uh they released the news, and uh most of you like us found out today. So this is uh I had to compile something to do tonight for uh to honor and celebrate D'Angelo in the best way possible. So we're winging it.

SPEAKER_01 35:10

Yeah, say off the top of the dome. Off the top of the dome. Uh let's see.

SPEAKER_05 35:18

Yeah, I'm trying to you know, it's why, because it's only been, you know, it's three albums, and they're like, you know, like 10 plus years apart each.

SPEAKER_10 35:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 35:31

Uh so you know, like with Prince, you know, there's every year virtually there was, you know, an album you can attach a whole bunch of memories to.

SPEAKER_10 35:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 35:43

Um I guess I know with D'Angelo, like I said, Send It On is a good one, or the Voodoo album. Like I say, you know, that was you know, I, you know, one of the highlights of parenthood for me, you know, like I said, newborn daughter, and then like I said, a son that being close to, and you had that. Um I don't know, like uh I don't know, Black Messiah was kind of off the cusp, because that was 2015, so that was kind of like after Artificial Age by Prince. So it's like just kind of those two albums back to back. You know, it just it seemed like you know, for me, I think like music was becoming fun, yeah. Again, you know, because it's like with with the mainstream, you know, there's 30 different songs, you know, by five different you know, the five same five producers, yeah, you know, and so just hearing those albums, it was kind of like a breath of of fresh air, because it's like you know, 2014 Prince, great album. Then the next year, you know, just out of left field, black messiah drops, yeah. And you know, and I think, and that was during a time of you know, because you, you know, you had the Michael Brown going on, you know, you know, Freddie Gray, all of that was going on, and you know, this wasn't just an album, like everything else at that time was you know, here's the party, here's you know, here's this, here's somebody cheating on so-and-so, so-and-so, here's the you know, all these songs that are going nowhere. And, you know, here he has on Black Messiah, you know, you got a song like The Charade. Yeah, you know, it's like all we want was a chance to talk. Instead, we still getting outlined in chalk, you know, where you're getting some, you know, not even hip hop is doing that anymore. You know, with the you know, with the commentary.

SPEAKER_03 37:57

Yeah, I was gonna say a lot of that album uh had a lot of uh social justice themes on it. Um and it included a lot of uh you know spirituality and protests. And uh at that time I think uh the Ferguson unrest was happening. Um a lot of um black identity on that album as well.

SPEAKER_01 38:24

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:27

He had a lot to say on that one.

SPEAKER_05 38:31

Yeah, and I think he wasn't done because it was supposed to have been a follow-up to that.

SPEAKER_03 38:38

Yeah, yeah, I remember that. I remember hearing about the possibility of a follow-up to it as well. Like a volume two or something. Yeah. Um that album he was backed by his band The Vanguard. And that particular album won Best RB album at the uh 2016 Grammys. Rightfully so.

unknown 39:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:03

Um we're talking earlier about him collaborating with Quest Love, some other people that played a part uh in creating his signature sound. Also, some of these names I'm not familiar with. Uh Pino Paladino.

SPEAKER_05 39:23

Oh yeah, yeah. Bass play extraordinaire, yeah. One of the few people left on the planet that has mastered the James Jameson style of bass playing, and yeah, and I and that definitely another key ingredient um from the voodoo sessions on. I think uh he was um he's played for a lot of people, but when D'Angelo met him, um, he was playing uh for BB King at the time, and then after that, like I said, he came on to the voodoo sessions and he's also on um Black Messiah too. But yeah, definitely that's um, I would say, yeah, probably one of my favorite bass players, you know, modern. Yeah, you know, or you know, last 30 years, yeah. I would say, you know, favorite uh bass player.

SPEAKER_03 40:16

Yeah, I gotta check more of his work out. Um there was one uh James Poiser, that sounds familiar to you.

SPEAKER_05 40:25

Yeah, he's uh keyboard player. Um yeah, he was uh instrument, I think more so with the live band uh during the voodoo era. Um, but he's done a lot of stuff on um uh Erica Badu's albums, kind of like around 2003. I think he he's might I think he's on Mama's Gun. Um what's the one? Um, she's got the big after Worldwide Electric, I think the name of that is. Um, yeah, correct me in the comments on the on the title. But yeah, he's uh you know done a couple of um tracks on her albums. Um, I think too, Roy Hargrove. Okay, to the late great Roy Hargrove.

SPEAKER_03 41:15

Yeah, Grammy winning jazz trumpeter.

SPEAKER_05 41:18

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:20

Um Charlie Hunter.

SPEAKER_05 41:23

Yeah, uh guitar player. I'm not familiar with his history, but I think oh man, did he did he pass? Did he pass? I think he passed away after Voodoo. And then that's another one. You know, somebody you know correct me on that one. Right. But it was one of one of the guitar players around the voodoo period um that passed away, and that kind of messed D'Angelo's head up for a while.

SPEAKER_03 41:58

Wow, yeah, and of course, we all know and love uh Raphael Sadiq. Yeah. Yep, fellow Neil Soule pioneer who wrote and played on Voodoo and toured with D'Angelo in the early 2000s. Yeah, I actually have a clip of him and uh Raphael Sadiq together performing.

SPEAKER_06 42:22

Are you gonna play? Yeah, you gonna play that video?

SPEAKER_04 42:27

Let's see what happens. This is I'm going to make it more. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 43:46

Okay. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_05 43:48

Yeah, I said I thought you were gonna play uh be here.

SPEAKER_11 43:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 43:52

But I guess yeah, you yeah, the the copyright police will the YouTube police will jump on that one because that was the video. I don't think that's

SPEAKER_03 44:03

Yeah, I'm kicking myself because uh Raphael Sadiq was just in my city on tour uh during his one man show and I heard Michael Dean talking about the show on uh one of his recent podcasts, and uh he was kind of breaking it down as to you know what exactly uh Raphael Sadiq did, and he basically told his story as a one-man show. I'm kicking myself for not getting tickets for that.

SPEAKER_05 44:29

Yeah, I'm trying to Yeah, it's getting to the point now, it's like gotta check them out while they're here.

SPEAKER_03 44:38

Exactly. Yeah, I'm kicking myself for that one, I'm kicking myself for not going to the Maxwell one.

SPEAKER_05 44:48

Yeah, I don't know if D'Angelo ever came here or not, because I think, well, if he toured, you know, like I said, I was you know knee deep in parenthood, so yeah. Yeah, so it's you know, food and food and diapers and all that, yeah. So that that took precedent over uh over kicking it, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 45:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:14

I'm just gonna throw some background, some of D'Angelo background music up as we keep it moving here. This is actually a live track featuring Quest Love on the drums. Not too long, it's a four-minute track. Some of the other uh collaborations that D'Angelo has done. Uh he's worked with uh Erica Baidu, collaborated on Your Precious Love in '97, performed together live. Both were key, soul penarians. Great Lauren Hill. D'Angelo appeared on Nothing Even Matters from her classic album, The Missed Education of Lauren Hill in '98. Um tributed to the uh let's see, he worked with Q tip as well. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 46:18

Um album. Yeah. Yeah. All of those uh recorded at uh Jimi Hendrix Electric Lady Studios. Okay, yeah, that was the Paisley Park before there was ever Paisley Park, you know, actually before there was ever Prince, actually, but um, yeah, ever since Jimmy passed, that was the go-to studio. Um, you know, if you've heard Talking Book, Intervisions, Fulfilling His Personale, all most of those tracks were recorded at Electric Lady, um Lena Horn recorded there in 1970 or 71.

SPEAKER_11 47:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 47:04

A lot of great artists have kept that studio going. And around two, um, I think like the late 90s, I think it's early as 96. It's uh when uh Quest Love and D'Angelo held camp at Electric Lady and recorded voodoo, um commons like water for chocolate, yeah. Um Erica Badu Mama's Gun. Yeah, that was recorded there.

unknown 47:32

I don't know.

SPEAKER_05 47:33

Uh I think, yeah, Q-tip solo joint was recorded there too. So all of that is what you call, yeah, the Soul Quarians, you know, um, that whole collective common, Quest Love, Jay Dilla, James Poiser, Erica Badu, you know, just the exchange of ideas, you know. They had all every studio in that building back and forth, you know. Some work on Voodoo, come back, work on Mama's Gun, go back and work on for like water for chocolate.

SPEAKER_03 48:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 48:08

On that, and that was a like I say, from the late 90s up until when Voodoo was finished.

SPEAKER_03 48:18

This is uh remake of the uh SOS bands, tell me if you still care.

SPEAKER_05 48:24

Yeah, okay. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 48:29

Uh, yep, work with the roots, Method Man Red Man appeared on the remix of Left and Right in '99. Of course, his ex, he worked with Angie Stone, early career collaborator and former partner. She co-wrote uh several songs on Brown Sugar.

SPEAKER_05 48:52

Yeah, and uh Mother, yeah. Uh yeah. She called she got a co-writing credit on uh send it on too, I think.

SPEAKER_11 49:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 49:03

Let's see if I can need to go back and read some of those liner notes from the albums to catch some of the stuff that I might have missed or forgotten.

SPEAKER_01 49:13

Let's see left right.

SPEAKER_05 49:21

Yep, yep, she got co-writing. Credit on send it on.

SPEAKER_03 49:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 49:29

Uh as well as the of course, again, the members of Cool and the Gang with the use of uh Sea of Tranquility.

SPEAKER_03 49:44

Um earlier we were talking about the fact that um recently, in the recent years, because one of the major reasons that Jesse Johnson left the original seven was to go tour with D'Angelo. Um I'm gonna throw up a video. I mean, I gotta gotta grab it from the uh the folder real quick. I'm gonna see if you notice something. I know you're gonna notice you probably already know the story, Richard, but uh I'm gonna throw it out. Where is it? Oh of course it's gonna be in a format that I let me see if I can uh convert it format while we're talking. I gotta I gotta show this video. It's actually a little small interview. Okay. Yeah, let me just keep some music going and it won't get quiet on us. How could he not do that one? Yeah, I wish I would have gotten the opportunity to see D'Angelo live, but he yeah, like he never came never even came close to my series.

SPEAKER_05 52:14

Yeah, I gotta remember if he did or not. Like I said, those I don't know if I can say I was out of the loop what was going on. But uh it it was probably a thing I just couldn't couldn't make it.

SPEAKER_03 52:34

Like I say, I you know yeah, it might have happened here as well at some point. I'm sure that at some point he was definitely in Atlanta or maybe Charlotte, but Atlanta's only like three hours away from where I am, so maybe I just like you was tied up with life.

SPEAKER_05 52:59

Yeah, yeah, I know uh a couple of years after Voodoo, this might have been 2002, 2003. Uh he was at uh Vintage Vinyl here, and he was uh doing a signing there, and I did go to that. Okay, and um I forgot which CD I had signed, or do I still even have it? I gotta look it up, but um yeah, I got to ask him just like a well, basically the number one question was when is the next D'Angelo album coming out? Yeah, and you know, he was like he couldn't really talk about it, but it was like in so many words, he was like, Oh, we're gonna, yeah, we we getting ready to leave. Uh I forgot what label they were on at first, but it's like, yeah, we're getting ready to leave there. We're going on Def Jam. Uh the executives, they they trying to split me and D'Angelo apart. And uh yeah, I was like, damn.

SPEAKER_06 54:13

That's like not the answer I expected to hear.

SPEAKER_05 54:16

You know, I count that as a as a definite like highlight.

SPEAKER_11 54:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:26

All right, let's uh fade out on that one and uh go back to what we were talking about earlier. Um we're talking about him uh working with Jesse Johnson, or is Jesse Johnson actually playing guitar for him on tour? I'm gonna pull in a video real quick. Um you'll probably recognize this right away.

unknown 54:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 54:58

I know that guitar. Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_04 56:48

Beautiful.

SPEAKER_06 56:50

Beautiful.

SPEAKER_05 56:51

So good. Say, do that stuff, Parliament. Yeah, it's on the clones of Dr. Funkenstein album, and that was inspired by a phrase that folks here in the 70s used to say here in the good old STL, do that stuff. George Clinton heard that and said, I'm writing a song about that, and there it is.

SPEAKER_03 57:18

There it is. Wow, for those of you in the purple circle, if you didn't notice during that video, the the pink guitar, if you look back on the first Jesse Johnson's review album, that's the actual guitar on the album that was given to D'Angelo by Jesse Johnson. It's amazing. That guitar is still sounds good. If that's the original guitar, and supposedly it is the original guitar, it still sounds good. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_05 57:54

Yeah, I'm sure. Yeah, either you know, Jesse or you know, D'Angelo probably you know kept it well maintained. Oh yeah. I don't know. It might, you know, might still have still have the original pickups in it.

SPEAKER_11 58:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 58:09

Yeah, but like I say, you know, you do what you gotta do to keep it keep it working though, if if not.

SPEAKER_03 58:16

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 58:17

But uh yeah, the body on it and the neck still looks pretty solid.

SPEAKER_03 58:23

Everybody that's joined tonight once again, call in numbers 803 400-8812. If you feel like you want to call in and talk about some D'Angelo, please feel free. I got a comment here from uh Trina McDonnell. Watch us all stand in line for a slice of the devil's pie. The cadence in this one, a gift and talent, D'Angelo. R I Michael Archer.

SPEAKER_05 58:49

Oh man, let's see that that track.

SPEAKER_03 58:54

Slice of the devil's pie.

SPEAKER_05 58:57

Uh yeah, I um and my son, we saw, we watched um in the theater, actually, we saw the movie Belly where that where Devil's Pie was originally commissioned uh for that film in that. And um when that came on the screen and the the the whole montage of you know how they were you know running their business in that movie, and that was the montage. Um that song was used in the montage of that. Was uh I was I was blown away. I think I got the belly soundtrack just off the strength of that track, but you know, knowing that it was on voodoo as well, you know, it was kind of good to have that included in the album, too. And yeah, shout out to um DJ Premier, kind of one of my favorite DJs or hip-hop producers, um, for collaborating with D'Angelo on that one. His turntable skills on that. Yeah. So we got the time to eat. This is how it be, mistake.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:17

Oh, yeah. I'm gonna probably be in the middle of a uh a three or four-day D'Angelo uh playlist over the next few days, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:25

No doubt. No doubt. Um, what's that? Uh it might be circ uh circulating on YouTube still. Um, and it's broken up into four parts. Um, what festival was that? I think it was the Bonaroo Festival, and I think every year, I forget what they call it. Um, it's a segment during that whole festival, uh where they they get a uh featured artist to do a set, and that year uh it was D'Angelo, and this was like just as you know, as the beginnings of his comeback, right? So this is like around 2012, I think. And he put together like the super group of super groups, because you of course obviously you had Quest Love on drums, yeah. Um, you had uh Jesse on guitar, uh I forget who the secondary guitarist was on that. Um, I know Pino was on bass and uh Eric Leeds was on Sacks.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:29

Oh wow, okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:31

And like I said, it's on YouTube, and it's like I said, it's broken up into four different segments, but um I can't remember if they mix it between like the rehearsals and the actual uh performance, yeah, or if part one was just them coming together and doing the rehearsals, right? Um, but for me, two of the standouts are two of my favorites. In fact, I got a the first one, I got a deeper love for that song now than when it was originally on the Times Pandemonium album, yeah. And that's um where D'Angelo, they do a cover of um My Summertime Thang. Okay, there's that, and like I said, I it I was kind of always indifferent to that track, yeah. But ever since D'Angelo performed that track, uh, and like I say, with that super group, because you had Jesse on guitar, yeah, like I said, you know, Eric is on Saks, you know, with a you know, with his cool horn arrangement or something. And you know, I just started looking back in that song, like, yeah, okay, this song's not bad. And knowing the history of it, like that was Jam and Lewis's favorite track, they were fighting to get that track onto before they got fired, yeah. Fighting to get that track onto you know what would have been Ice Cream Castles.

SPEAKER_11 1:02:49

Right.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:51

But when um The Time got back together in 1990, you know, Jam and Lewis, you know, again, they fought hard to get that track put on uh pandemonium.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:01

Yeah, I definitely gotta go to YouTube and pull that up, man. I haven't seen that yet.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:05

Yeah, but um that and then they also do a cover of um The Beatles, uh She Came In Through the Bathroom Window.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:14

Two, and it's done, you know, it's it's flipped, you know. I mean the Beatles version is cool, but the way D'Angelo and that band flip it, yeah, is you know, it's a whole different level, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:28

Yeah, I was I was skimming through YouTube today and and discovered there's so many full-length uh live concerts, D'Angelo, all over YouTube, man. I'm gonna be in uh D'Angelo Heaven over the next week or so.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:43

Yeah, I you know, and I hope some of this stuff officially gets released. I know there was a there was supposed to have been like after Voodoo, there was supposed to have been a live album.

SPEAKER_11 1:03:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:54

Um, but that got shelved. And I think what is it? I think the footage in uh where they're there, I think Brazil. I think that footage was originally supposed to be a DVD or well, yeah, DVD that was supposed to have come out about that time, but none of those ended up seeing the light of day. I don't know if that was because I think at that point he did change record labels because let's see, what is well no, yeah. He was on Virgin Records then, and I think somewhere between like 2006-2007, uh, I think he ended up with RCA or something like that.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:37

Yeah, I think he started out with um EMI.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:42

Uh yeah, that was uh yep, you're right, EMI. Yep, and then um yeah, Black Messiah's on RCA. So it might have been just like a little rights issue, or if since D'Angelo was no longer part of Virgin Records, then I guess they shelved the idea for doing the live DVD and live CD.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:08

Yeah. Yeah, man. You know, clearly he did a lot, lot uh more touring than uh putting out albums, spent more time on stage. Which that's a sign of a true musician. If you spend more time on stage uh than you do in the studio, it says a lot. So I'm not mad at him.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:37

Well, you know, the live stuff that that pays the bill sometimes better than you know your record royalties depending on your depending on your contract.

SPEAKER_11 1:05:47

Right.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:48

But you know, he was also that perfectionist, you know, like Stevie Wonder, like Dr. Dre. Yeah. Where, you know, a lot of times you really I was watching something, they were talking about, I think. Talking about Dr. Dre or somebody where it was like you have to go in and go, all right, give me that album. Come on, we're putting it out. Leave it alone. Don't don't add nothing else to it.

SPEAKER_11 1:06:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:10

And I think, you know, he was definitely one of those, you know, perfectionists. Um you know, afforded the luxury to be able to take 10 plus years in between albums.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:26

But like I said, each one was always a step above the last one.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:30

Yeah, probably one three. Probably one of the main reasons we haven't gotten anything in so long, or uh one of the reasons that we're waiting on the new material is because he's such a perfectionist and wants it to be up to his standards before he releases anything. So I'm hoping that whatever he was working on most recently is either near completion or maybe in the can just unreleased. Hopefully we'll it'll see the light of day.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:12

Yeah, and how all of that came to be in the first place, you know, it's like we're, you know, hopefully he has some kind of a state plan in place. Um, you know, a plan for, you know, and again, it's sad, you know, that when you kind of face with your own mortality like that, you know, kind of in the way that David Bowie was faced with that, and everything that David Bowie did to tie up a lot of loose ends, you know, including, you know, dropping a finished album, right? On top of that. But I mean, you know, two, it's a thing of you know, we're we're fans, we're the mainstream, we're the consumers of this, and it's you know, it's almost automatic that our brains always go to that, like, you know, where's the next record? Where's the next record? You know, right? When is this? You know, oh my god, you know, now all this stuff is in the vault, and we want it and we need it, and you know, it's kind of like trying to remember, you know, artists are human beings too, you know. Like I said, you know, again, something like cancer or any type of you know, life-threatening disease, yeah. You know, it's it doesn't care if you're D'Angelo, it doesn't care if you're David Bowie, right? You know, it comes for you, and when it comes to that, you know, it's like, yeah, probably the most important thing is the life that you lived at that point, and that's bigger than you know, it's bigger than any record, it's bigger than any vault that's around, you know, and trying to keep that in perspective, too, absolutely, you know, but also to knowing, you know, when we talk about these entertainers, you know, especially our black entertainers, you know, where you have a David Bowie that could tie up all of his loose ends and and have a plan for his estate, you know. Um the Beatles, both the surviving members and the family members running the respective estates of Lennon and Harrison. Yeah, you know, for every story where you could see that level of, I don't know what you want to call it, quality, then you know, there's entertainers that have died broke, that have died in debt, you know, or didn't have that plan in place. Like I said, the Prince Estate, prime example. Um, you know, just um no plan, you know, and now I guess that's when the vultures start swooping in. And I'm not saying that you know the Prince Estate are literal vultures, but when there's no plan in place, you know, these are the people that are left in charge, and yeah, somehow you got to keep the legacy going. Um, if you are a family member, and that's the hardest thing, too. You know, there's people that fight over$20, yeah, you know, when somebody passes away, and it's like, you know, it's hard to say, you know, to make those type of decisions. You know, how do you keep a million-dollar plus estate going? You know, what do you do with all that material to ensure that your future generations go on? You know, I mean, you know, you take a Paul McCartney, for example, you know, his grandson graduated from Yale a few years ago. So, you know, like I said, on the flip side of that equation, you know, I'm just hoping that, you know, uh Michael Arthur Archer Jr. is going to be all right.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:16

You know, with both uh his father D'Angelo and his mom Angie Stone, you know, is you know, I want to see him, you know, in, you know, like I said, it's not up to us to make that decision, and it's kind of weird just even talking about it. But yeah, I would like to see him in the same position that a Sean Lennon is.

SPEAKER_11 1:11:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:38

You know, running the estate, you know, overseeing the quality of the mixes, overseeing the quality of the packaging, and like I said, keeping that money for the future generations.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:54

Totally agree, man. D'Angelo definitely made an impact on music for sure.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:00

And this one that started it all here. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:06

Hopefully, uh Mike Prince. We can uh keep his legacy alive through music, through video.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:17

Oh, yeah, yeah. I don't think you know, your show, my show, we're not gonna let it be forgotten. No, absolutely not.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:29

Well, all right, man. I think we've been going for about an hour and 15 now. It was great. I'm glad we did this. Thank you so much for coming on and uh being my co-pilot tonight. Pretty much covered uh his uh history musically.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:50

Yeah, I hope we did, hope we did it some some justice. Yeah, I hope so as well. Yeah. Like I said, you know, we're I know, like I said, I'm in, you know, just in shop.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:04

Yeah, yeah, still trying to process it.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:08

Yeah, and I'm just you know, just trying to think about what that's like I said, it's a you know, it's another human life that is no longer here, but at the same time, you know, that spirit goes on. I guess to end it on a on a positive note, yeah, definitely. And then is that Tracy Wizard? Yeah, we lost a great one today, yeah. Most definitely. We lost uh lost a great one. But I guess, you know, like I said, not to get you know, you grieving is part of the process, and even though we never met him personally, yeah, you know, it's just the thing. Like I said, you know, we're talking all of our memories, you know, about what his music meant to us, where we were when the music was playing, and yeah, all of that. And I think that's the next best thing to actually knowing that person, it's not all closed, but yeah, you know, like I said, not to mistake it for acting like we know the person or the human being, but just grateful for that artistry and just hoping that he did what he was put on this earth to do. And like I said, you know, now his spirit's resting, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:25

Yeah, absolutely. You're talking earlier about uh during the time that uh How Does It Feel uh came out, and uh that was about the time that your your uh child was born.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:38

I'm sure, yeah, yeah. Well, the well, the whole voodoo album period, uh, as far as my daughter being born, because that was you know, up until or through the time she was, I mean, that was in my car non-stop because yeah, you know, I wasn't really thinking about being, you know, doing music as much anymore and all of that. Yeah, um, but that was like I said, that was one of the you know, probably the album that was in the heaviest rotation, um, you know, just the months leading up to and even after she was born with that. But the track Send It On, like I said, that's you know, when you talk about father-son bonding, yeah. Um that one, like I said, and that was him discovering that on his own. You know, I don't think I was playing that in the car with him or not, but yeah, like I said, somehow he discovered that on his own and you know, came to me with it. And like I said, that was, you know, like I said, a period where, like I said, we were bonding over a lot of stuff, like music in that regard. Yeah, um, you know, there's just you know, certain movies and stuff, you know, that like you know, he got game and poetic justice, yeah, you know, those are father and son movies, you know, yeah, and stuff. But yeah, with that album and that particular song, like I said, though it it does kind of you know conjure those memories or it built those memories in that I could look back on with a fine.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:12

Probably a lot of connections between certain songs that he did, like you know. I guess what I was leading to was I'm sure that uh when uh how does it feel came out, a lot of people here on this earth today were conceived because of that song. Yeah, you're new. They're probably what uh about 26 or 27 now. Yeah, probably had no idea.

SPEAKER_06 1:16:46

I've I've added it to a playlist or two, or well, back in the day, uh a cassette tape once or twice.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:56

Well, yeah. Thanks, D. Definitely an impact, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:17:03

Yeah, anyway, man.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:05

I appreciate you coming on again. And uh you want to uh let folks know where they can find you. You have your own podcast and everything going on.

SPEAKER_05 1:17:14

Yeah, uh Mari Music Talk, it is still in effect. I was trying to, I was really trying to get ready to put some episodes together, but um now I'm going to kind of take a step back, like I said, kind of reflect on uh D'Angelo's music for a while, and yeah, I'll probably um do something at that point. But um, it's on YouTube, uh so Amari Music Talk. Uh also uh become a Patreon supporter as well. So that's Amari Communications on Patreon, and you can find me all over social media. Uh, but the quickest way to all of those links, um, just hit up Richard Cole Music.com.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:03

There you have it, man. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what you do with uh your next D'Angelo episode.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:11

Yeah, so hey, uh probably by the yeah, probably with the new year. Like I said, I'll probably start having the co-hosts and everything back to like I was trying to start up before. So definitely you got to come on and join the party.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:30

Oh, absolutely, man. Say the word, I'm there. I've had you on quite a few times, and I'm always grateful when you come on. We always have a good time.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:37

Oh, yeah. Yeah, like I said, I wish it was better circumstances today. But you know what, though? We, you know, again, you know, death is not the end, it's the beginning. Exactly. And at this point, celebrating so much. Yeah, celebrating. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:51

All right, man. I'm gonna drop you out real quick, but thanks again, and uh with you later, bro. Appreciate it. All right, thank you. All right, have a good night, man. All right, you too. All right, there you have it, folks. Thank you so much again, Richard, from joining. On that note, I will wrap it up here. Thanks to you who joined in tonight. Celebrate the life and legacy of D'Angelo. And of course, uh, if you want to head over to YouTube, I'm over on YouTube. Subscribe there, hit the bell for future notifications for whenever I drop a new episode, you'll be notified. Um, check out my uh other uh social media platforms over on TikTok, uh, over on uh Instagram, and I have a Facebook group. I have two Facebook groups, actually. And then uh I'm over on Twitch, new to that. So check me out there. Um all under the handle of the Freak Eponymous Podcast, at the Freak Eponymous Podcast. Thank you guys once again for joining. And as I always say, uh live, love, and dream y'all. And we will see you on the next episode. Peace y'all. Thank you.