Marrk said:

Has he done anything as good as Andres' 'The Love Below'? Nope. That gave me more of a Prince vibe. Content, humour, sound. Still one of my favourite albums this millenium. Why he inducted Prince at the Rock hall. Yeah?

Has he done anything as good? Yeah for sure. You're not wrong in that The Love Below is more in the style of Prince though.

Marrk said:

Has he done anything as good as Andres' 'The Love Below'? Nope. That gave me more of a Prince vibe. Content, humour, sound. Still one of my favourite albums this millenium. Why he inducted Prince at the Rock hall. Yeah?

If Andre 3000 bothered to learn instruments like Prince and D'angelo has done, then he'd be one of our greatest musicians. His ear is something else for sure. He is more creative than D'angelo, and covers alot more terrain, and uses alot more of his music palette. However D'angelo is very good at doing what he's best at, and never fails. His nuances and perfectionism. That's both a positive thing, and a not so positive thing. The positive thing, is that all of his albums sounds very well pieced together, and the overall concepts are waterproof. His problem is that his fear of making mistakes, can make him seem a bit pretentious for some, boring for others, and for me as a fan he just seems slooooow. I bet he'd be even more interresting if he could put down his guard some, do some crazy hasty punk inspired stuff that is very in the moment. It's quite possible he needs to be taken a bit more out of his comfort zone. That's where the true genuises blossom.

D'angelo is a BLACK thing..

he'll never be a Prince.. Lenny... Hendrix.. Marley type of crossover mass appeal and acclaim dude.

MD431Madcat said:

VooDoo is better than most albums.

MD431Madcat said:

D'angelo is a BLACK thing..

he'll never be a Prince.. Lenny... Hendrix.. Marley type of crossover mass appeal and acclaim dude.

I recall when Prince was, in every practical sense, a BLACK thing until 1999/Purple Rain. Rock critics dug him, but AOR and top 40 radio ignored Black artists who played rock/funk. Were it not for the overwhelming support he received from urban radio and his mostly Black fanbase, it's possible Prince would not have made it out of the Twin Cities to achieve crossover status. You can completely disagree with me.

[Edited 7/7/16 10:19am]

with lots of respect... i do disagree with you...

Prince was acting Gay .. singing like a woman and rocking out on tunes like 'I'm Yours and 'Bambi'

in 79/79 Very much NOT a Black thing! ***although the record company was trying to steer him towards his so called 'Natural fanbase'

Identity said:

MD431Madcat said:

D'angelo is a BLACK thing..

he'll never be a Prince.. Lenny... Hendrix.. Marley type of crossover mass appeal and acclaim dude.

I recall when Prince was, in every practical sense, a BLACK thing until 1999/Purple Rain. Rock critics dug him, but AOR and top 40 radio ignored Black artists who played rock/funk. Were it not for the overwhelming support he received from urban radio and his mostly Black fanbase, it's possible Prince would not have made it out of the Twin Cities to achieve crossover status. You can completely disagree with me.

[Edited 7/7/16 10:19am]

MD431Madcat said:

love him & his current band inc Jesse are incredible BUT seeing him live slightly borders on a Prince tribute act. Last album IMHO was spectatcular.

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

love him & his current band inc Jesse are incredible BUT seeing him live slightly borders on a Prince tribute act. Last album IMHO was spectatcular.

I´ve seen him live two times and liked what I saw very much but if anybody asked me, I could not really say what it is that makes people say that his live show looks like a Prince tribute.

What would you say? Is it the fact that his two backup singers and dancers looked a little bit like Wally and Gregory in their white t-shirts and shades?

Or that he works with Jesse Johnson and Alan Leeds?

Or the piano segment?

I mean, other than that I could not really find anything that was reminiscent of a Prince show, regardless of the era.

Not judging what you´re saying, just curious here.

KoolEaze said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

love him & his current band inc Jesse are incredible BUT seeing him live slightly borders on a Prince tribute act. Last album IMHO was spectatcular.

I´ve seen him live two times and liked what I saw very much but if anybody asked me, I could not really say what it is that makes people say that his live show looks like a Prince tribute.

What would you say? Is it the fact that his two backup singers and dancers looked a little bit like Wally and Gregory in their white t-shirts and shades?

Or that he works with Jesse Johnson and Alan Leeds?

Or the piano segment?

I mean, other than that I could not really find anything that was reminiscent of a Prince show, regardless of the era.

Not judging what you´re saying, just curious here.

Yeah, I don't think his shows resemble Prince shows any more closely than Prince's resembled, say, James Brown's--which is to say, there's a clear influence because both artists are part of the same lineage, but it's by no means a ripoff.

MD431Madcat said:

D'angelo is a BLACK thing..

he'll never be a Prince.. Lenny... Hendrix.. Marley type of crossover mass appeal and acclaim dude.

That's BS. Back in the late 90's and early 2000's, depending on what city, you could go into a Neo Soul show that had D' Angelo or The Roots and sometimes it would be MORE White people there than Black people.

MattyJam said:

I mean, maybe it's just me, but I've never seen the appeal. I've heard the first two albums and much of it is self-indulgent and meandering. And I'm sorry, but I don't even think he's that funky! Give me the far superior (and more original) Van Hunt any day. He seems to think that by gathering together as many ex-Prince musicians as possible that it will somehow turn him into the real deal, but he can play with Jesse and Blackwell till the cows come home, he'll still be nothing more than a pale imitator. He buries his vocals in the mix to disguise the fact that he actually has fairly limited chops as a vocalist. His songwriting is either pastiche, or just loose sketches of ideas and I've yet to hear any real skill from him as an instrumentalist. Am I the only Prince fan who doesn't rate this ridiculously overrated cat? [Edited 7/3/16 0:50am]

Nope.

CalhounSq said:

Not every dude singing in falsetto is trying to imitate P. Yes, he'd be a likely influence, but you have to take them for who they are... & if he's making good music, that's what should matter most.

Right on, right on.

dystopiandanceparty said:

KoolEaze said:

I´ve seen him live two times and liked what I saw very much but if anybody asked me, I could not really say what it is that makes people say that his live show looks like a Prince tribute.

What would you say? Is it the fact that his two backup singers and dancers looked a little bit like Wally and Gregory in their white t-shirts and shades?

Or that he works with Jesse Johnson and Alan Leeds?

Or the piano segment?

I mean, other than that I could not really find anything that was reminiscent of a Prince show, regardless of the era.

Not judging what you´re saying, just curious here.

Yeah, I don't think his shows resemble Prince shows any more closely than Prince's resembled, say, James Brown's--which is to say, there's a clear influence because both artists are part of the same lineage, but it's by no means a ripoff.

fair comments. I watched with a bunch of fellow hardcore purle headz & seeing Jesse in the band, the copied horn riffs..the "hit me 5 times" leading into the "vegas" scream etc made us all laugh BUT in a good way. That night he wore his purple heart on his sleeve. Truly hope he continues to progress on his last album, keeps healthy & doesn't leave the next CD too long.

Exactly why i cant take the dude seriously...

He seems to have nothing to say unless Prince said it first!

Eric Leeds Blow Your Horn... Cut em' Jesse... Good Gawd...

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

love him & his current band inc Jesse are incredible BUT seeing him live slightly borders on a Prince tribute act. Last album IMHO was spectatcular.

and?

How many white wanna be hip hoppers are there in the world?

and how many of them can afford the concert tickets that many minorities cant?

GhostChick said:

MD431Madcat said:

D'angelo is a BLACK thing..

he'll never be a Prince.. Lenny... Hendrix.. Marley type of crossover mass appeal and acclaim dude.

That's BS. Back in the late 90's and early 2000's, depending on what city, you could go into a Neo Soul show that had D' Angelo or The Roots and sometimes it would be MORE White people there than Black people.

[Edited 7/10/16 11:55am]

MattyJam said:

I remember in the late 90s, I reviewed music for my college paper and went to a D'angelo and the Soultronics concert, supporting "Voodoo," at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles that was, to this day, one of the best concerts I've ever attended - just awesome! I had just finished giving "Voodoo" a great review and, at the time, I thought D'Angelo and PM Dawn (who had recently put out two great albums in a row with "Jesus Wept" and "Dearest Christian...") were going to pick up the mantle from Prince and claim the 2000s as their decade. (I was really saddened when Prince B passed so soon after Prince, but since he was in a lot of pain at least the silver lining is that he's at peace now.)

"Voodoo" has some killer tracks on it ("Spanish Joint" is my fave, but there are plenty that really kick ass) and a great overall vibe/mood as an album. I really thought D was going to keep putting out great albums throughout the next 10-15 years, growing musically, blowing up as a superstar, etc. Just didn't happen.

D'Angelo's "Voodoo" and PM Dawn's "Jesus Wept" and "Dearest Christian..." gave me the most hope for the next decade or so of new music. I expected a new millenium with D'Angelo and PM Dawn consistently putting out groundbreaking music and leading the way. I guess I'm not much on predictions . Still, even if D doesn't do anything else of note, "Voodoo" is a great accomplishment/legacy. I wasn't quite as into "Black Messiah" as many orgers, but he's definitely a top-shelf talent.

As far as the 2000s... I still kinda feel like there's a gap in music history during that period due the absence of a generational-level artist or two really emerging and "claiming" the era... I kinda feel like it was D's for the taking, but for whatever reasons, it just didn't work out that way.

[Edited 7/13/16 10:10am]

wizardtelly said:

gandorb said:

D'Angelo is great in his own way, but he doesn't release new records often enough for me to develop a real interest. He should work harder and be more disciplined -- come out with those songs, change the mood every two or three years, grow! Don't let 14 years go by between albums.

gandorb said:

Aerogram said:

D'Angelo is great in his own way, but he doesn't release new records often enough for me to develop a real interest. He should work harder and be more disciplined -- come out with those songs, change the mood every two or three years, grow! Don't let 14 years go by between albums.

yeah, I gotta say, this is the biggest hurdle to me ever putting him on a Prince-type level.

Not that quantity is what it's all about but... we're talking a 25 year career, 3 albums?

"D'Angelo's really gotta search his heart deeply on being part of the problem or the solution. What's his whole consciousness? He's got to own his masters,"

Prince(1988 Icon mag)