horatio said:

No, apparently unlike I don't have a biased reason in an evaluation of D'Angelo. It would be one thing if D'Angelo had not made an album in eight years (and two in 13 years) because of situations beyond his control, but given that we know why he hasn't done anything of note it's hard to overlook or rationalize his inactivity.
[Edited 6/25/08 17:46pm]

LittleAmy said:

That's why I haven't said that.

Nor would I say that I have no respect for someone as an artist who, whether due to an addiction or not, only releases work for public consumption every ten years.

pie holes are closed for the evening

langebleu said:

I believe we're going in circles on this one, because we know why D'Angelo hasn't released music in eight years. Like it or not, that is how we know he exists. It would be one thing if D'Angelo said forget recording music in the mass music industry and decided he wanted to perform in a nightclub. But that's not the case here.

We need to let Graycap answer this one, but it didn't sound like he said D'Angelo sucks because he couldn't appease a personal satisfaction or dissatisfaction of buying one of his albums.
[Edited 6/25/08 18:32pm]

LittleAmy said:

pie holes are closed for the evening

horatio said:

Unless you pay the bills in my house -- and judging by your profile, I don't know if you pay ANY bills in ANY house -- I decide whether I continue to post in a discussion forum.

The only things you can choose to do are respond or move on. But you can't dictate what I can do any more than what I can dictate to you. Does that make sense?

LittleAmy said:

langebleu said:

Maybe u should READ my comment again.

laurarichardson said:

D'Angelo CDs are co-produced by Saadiq and or ?uest.

You can hear Prince's funk from Saadiq's guitar on D's "Lady".

Saadiq came from Prince's/Sheila's camp.


Saadiq has his own style, but he would probably acknowledge all of this...

So, for someone to argue any different without asking the people would be ridiculous (or at least reading their websites).

They've got respect for each other.. I've read it several times.
D talks about Prince in interviews. Prince talks about James, Sly, and Jimmy.

LittleAmy said:

When you are broken, it can be difficult to "pick-up the pieces", and move-on.

Alot of people talk about others doing so, but don't live it.


He will earn more money like most established acts by going-on tour..

His breaks are legendary, like Prince's consistency.


His single will receive airplay, just on curiousity alone.

guess we still can't have a D'angelo post without it deteriorating into a D vs P debate eh?
[Edited 6/25/08 22:44pm]

I also forgot to mention there is going to be prince cover on the jamesriver project.

The Best News So Far


Long-absent R&B singer D’Angelo will have a busy year, if all goes according to plan.
by Craig Belcher
June 26

Link


As Michael “D’Angelo” Archer faced legal problems in recent years that threatened to permanently derail his career, the promise of new material from the platinum-selling R&B singer seemed fragile.

An album rumored to be called “James River” never surfaced. New music from the singer remained “in the works” and not in the stores. But earlier this month something happened. One of the three D’Angelo projects scheduled for this year actually came out.

“The Best So Far,” a collection of songs from both of his previous albums, coupled with songs from soundtracks and a DVD of all his music videos, was released earlier this month. Later this year, deluxe versions of his debut “Brown Sugar” and the follow-up “Voodoo” are scheduled to hit stores. Predictably, these releases will cover a lot of familiar territory, without the slightest hint of what the singer sounds like now. One person who’s heard the new music isn’t telling much.

“He’s written enough for three or four albums,” says his manager, Lindsay Guion. The music industry veteran is quick to discuss the singer’s new record contract with RCA, his recent weight loss and his studio work ethic. But if you want to know about the music, you’ll have to wait.

“I’m not at liberty to discuss song titles at this time,” he says.

The as-yet-untitled project features collaborations with producer Raphael Saadiq, John Mayer and Cee-Lo Green and is being recorded in San Francisco and Los Angeles. A single is scheduled for a fall release, with an album of new material to follow in early 2009. That would make four releases within a year for the singer, an effort that requires cooperation from different record companies, a committed artist and someone with solid connections to make sure everything’s on point. Luckily, D’Angelo has that special someone.

Enter Clive Davis, a respected music industry executive who guided the careers of Janis Joplin, Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys and many others. Davis signed D’Angelo to RCA Music Group and J Records shortly after his most recent legal problems stemming from a 2005 car accident, concluded in a Powhatan County courtroom. With an industry heavyweight like Davis on his side and a new record deal, a career restoration seems entirely plausible, even though the legendary star-maker has since stepped down as the chief executive of Sony BMG Music Group.

Guion says D’Angelo has made some changes of his own since his 2006 court appearance, the last time he was photographed by the media. He’s lost about 70 pounds, thanks to a regimen of weightlifting, diet and martial arts. Also, the 34-year-old singer, who often ran into trouble behind the wheel, now has a driver, he says.

“I think he’s very focused right now,” Guion says. “He looks good, he feels good and he’s performing better.”

Guion says the release of D’Angelo’s older material will position the Pentecostal minister’s son for a triumphant return.

“The timing was perfect for Virgin/EMI to release ‘The Best So Far,’” he says. “Once that happens, his audience is going to be ready for new music from him.”

After almost a decade between releases, his audience is just hoping the new music will be ready.

Yawn.....

Copycat said:

Graycap23 said:

AlexdeParis said:

I'm equally stoked to see these releases.

Copycat said:

everyone is

regardless of his personal demons and setbacks, this is one talented mutha who in my opinion made one of the most ballsy 2nd releases ever.

He left the safe motown soul songs, for abstract funk, jazz, and hybrids.

When he chooses to release something I will be there.

aalloca said:

So will I and my great grandkids.

The worse thing for D'Angelo's career = being compared to Prince.

Too much pressure.


I hope that the brother is healthy and strong.

Linn4days said:

He is 100% responsible for that !
Right down to allowing a "Challenge" to Prince to be printed in the liner notes to his 2nd album.

LittleAmy said:

.....

(You forgot that some wanted to be "Off The Wall MJ" too... and some others wanted to be immediate reincarnations of other Neo Soul entertainers.. It seemed like a wicked, greedy, gold-rush of phoniness.)
[Edited 7/8/08 22:09pm]

CosmicDancer said:

I think that his handlers/promoters/ and that slam poet had more to do with that..He probably OKed it though..



I'm sure that they learned form it.

Still, I laughed at people thinking that Prince was the bad-guy regarding his response when he tried to turn his fans on to D'Angelo on "Emancipation".
[Edited 7/8/08 21:53pm]

There's no "probably" to it, of course he OK'd it. He wanted that. He was feeling himself too damn much and thought he could take a shot at P. It was arrogance at its best.

To be the son of a preacher man was once African American cultural royalty. As traditional churches have grown empty many of us have been left to wander these haunted castles like that displaced Prince of Denmark, contemplating the paths of our mothers: that electric lady that landed us here in the first place. The Aquarian Age is a matriarchal age, and if we are to exist as men in this new world many of us must learn to embrace and nuture that which is feminine with all of our hearts (he-arts). But is there any room for artistry in hip hop’s decadent man-sion? Have we walked our Timberlands soleless…soul-less? When you pour that wine on the ground in that video shoot that has become your life will you be ready to hear the voice that pours from the bottle to inebriate the very ground on which we walk? It is libations such as these that are the start of every voodoo ceremony. And let us not forget that that is why we have come.

We have come in the name of Jimi, Sly, Marvin, Stevie, all artists formerly known as spirits and all spirits formerly known as stars. We have come in the tradition of burning bushes, burning ghettos, burning splifs, and the ever-burning candles of our bedrooms and silent chambers. We have come bearing instruments and our voices: Falsetto and baritone, percussion and horns. We have come adorned in the apparel of the anointed: leather and feathers, jeans and t-shirts, linen and cashmere, and even polyester. We have come to seduce and serenade the night and the powers of darkness. We speak of darkness, not as ignorance, but as the unknown and the mysterious of the unseen.

Envision this: a lone man in a haunted room surrounded by glowing instructments. What sounds are evoked from a room where Jimi once slept? What are the rewards of those who tend to their God-given talents as they would have the Creator tend to their spirits and daily lives? What happens when the artist becomes the conjur man?
These are questions that seem to be null and void in the face of all the glitter and glamour that has dominated most successful Black artistry of recent years. We seem to be more preoccupied with cultivating our bank accounts than cultivating our crafts. Nowadays, I find my peers more inspired by an artist’s business tactics than their artistry. In fact, we do not seem to mind an artistry that suffers in the face of seemingly good business. More artists seem to yearn to own their own labels, etc., than they seem to yearn to master their crafts. No, we cannot allow any more Bessie Smiths to occur, but once an artist owns their own publishing the question then becomes, what are you going to publish? Of course, I am using the word “artist” loosely. I, personally, believe in an art as it exists in the context of the phrase “thou art God”. In this phrase, art is the word that connects the individual (thou) to their higher self (God) or to that which is universal. Using such a standard, most emcees might become embarrassed.

Whoa! Why am I attacking hip hop? ‘Cause I’m a lyricist, son, a lyricist that has had to serve as his own inspiration when most of my peers seem to idolize Donald Trump more than Sly Stone, when they don’t seem to realize that Jimi Hendrix was and is a sonic Bill gates. Oh shit, don’t make me call no names.

Now, you may ask, “Well what does this have to do with D’Angelo?”
My answer: Inspiration.
Here is a peer that is focused wholly on his craft and has given himself the challenge of bettering himself. I mean really, D could have come out with any ol’ follow-up album after Brown Sugar dropped so that he could double his sales “While he’s still hot.” You know, an album that sounds just like Brown Sugar, uses all the same formulas, so that audiences don’t have to think ….or grown, they just keep liking the same shit. He could even sample songs that you’re already familiar with so that you don’t have to go through the “hard work” of getting used to a new melody or bass line. Y’all don’t hear me.

You might respond, “Lyrics? Yo, I can’t even understand half the shit that D’Angelo be saying. That nigga sounds like Bobby McFerrin on opium.” And I’d say, “You’re right. Neither can I. But I am drawn to figure out what it is that he’s saying. His vocal collaging intrigues me.” Or you might say, “But his shit don’t sound all that original, he just sounds like he’s trying to be Prince or some shit.” And I’d say, maybe you’re right. At times he does. We often study the breathing techniques of our inspirations (inspire means to breathe in or to make breath, inhale). And that’s also true for most of you, emcees. I mean, don’t ¾ of y’all niggas sound like NAS? The difference is that D’Angelo has allowed influence to simply take its place among his own intuitive artistry. He works to find his own voice within his many influences. I’d pay to see Prince’s face as he listens to this album (Ahmir, ? of The Roots, said that the Artist lets Black people call him Prince). Do you think he’d feel robbed or inspired? My opinion, over the years as I’ve sat in countless conversations about why it is that the Artist puts out half the shit he does (you know the half I’m talking about) is because he lacks any new inspiration. Once again an artist is faced with the reality of having to serve as their own inspiration after they have worn out all their Sly, Jimi, Marvin, Stevie ( I do not mean to ignore the many inspirational female singers, I’m just making a point as regards this male vocalist)…

Damn, is there any way to speak of that which is feminine without having masculinity right in the middle of it? Female. Woman. Unless, of course, these words came first and we later dervied male and man from them. Somehow, I doubt that. We need a new language to go along with this new age. And a new music.

Thus, we have come. As we prepare to journey, we must decide which elements of our sonic past we are going to pack to carry with us into this new day this new sound. The distilled ambiance of an Al Green song, the ambiguous sexual majesty of a Prince song, the creative genius of Stevie Wonder…D’Angelo has made his choices, carefully weaving them into his character, and has courageously stepped into the void bearing these sonic offerings to be delivered to the beckoning goddess of the new age. I do not wish to overly dissect this album. It’s true dissection occurs in how it seeps into your life shapes your moments. What you were doing when you realized he was saying this or that? How it played softly in the back ground when you first saw him or her. How you kept it on repeat on that special night. You’ll see. These songs are incantations, testaments of artistry, confessions of an Aquarius as he steps into his own. ---text written by Saul Williams

^^^ I've tried to avoid this, but can someone please tell me what portion of these liner notes shows direct disrespect of Prince? It it the fact that Saul questions why Prince puts out "half the shit he does" and his "lack of inspiration"? This is the same shit that Prince fans themselves bitched about for years. Prince had just released a string of watered down shit... Emancipation, New Power Soul, Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic. After these albums and these liner notes do you remember what he followed up with??!!?! Rainbow Children, one of his most inspired albums in a long time. I swear mofos try to make mountains out of molehills with this liner note shit. Throughout the liners, Prince is consistently revered as an inspiration for D'Angelo... yet because the author says some shit that EVERYBODY was thinking and feeling too it makes him disrespectful?!!?! GTFOHWTBS...

bsk3601 said:

It's plain and simple: To call out a musical genius when all your ass has is 2 albums in 5 years (at that time) is ridiculous, regardless of P's questionable output and SOME fans reactions to it. D' allowed Saul's words, so it all falls on D'. It especially looks bad now since he hasn't dropped shit SINCE then.

LittleAmy said:

Sums up my feelings totally. Why is it today when an artist can play an Instrument..and not even that great...these Labels/MTV/BET wanna call them a genius? Everybody is so quick to make somebody a hero.

I'm sorry, I have watched dozens of performances with D'angelo & listend to his Albums(all 2 of them). He's talented, but the hype is Beyond overrated. He can't even sing better than Maxwell...who I mention because they are about the same era. And he can't even dance that great. What honestly does he do SO GOOD?!