burkina said:

I like to read the stuff on this site but never post any reply... For once, I though I could add some positivity to the thread.

I don't get the criticism of D'angleo. I mean, since when an artist has to be prolific to be respected? Shall we also trash Sly Stone and Donny Hataway then?

Creation is a difficult and dangerous process. True artists "put their skin on the table". Some find it easy while others do not come out unscathed.

I would rather wait 12 years between albums than getting a dishonest and watered down project every couple of year, because once you have started compromising, it becomes almost impossible to find your authentic voice again (BTW, does it remind you of someone here?)

It's too bad that D'angelo had a lost decade. But in my book, he has still produced the most creative album of the 2000's and will always get my respect for that as well as not selling out

Amen

burkina said:

I like to read the stuff on this site but never post any reply... For once, I though I could add some positivity to the thread.

I don't get the criticism of D'angleo. I mean, since when an artist has to be prolific to be respected? Shall we also trash Sly Stone and Donny Hataway then?

Creation is a difficult and dangerous process. True artists "put their skin on the table". Some find it easy while others do not come out unscathed.

I would rather wait 12 years between albums than getting a dishonest and watered down project every couple of year, because once you have started compromising, it becomes almost impossible to find your authentic voice again (BTW, does it remind you of someone here?)

It's too bad that D'angelo had a lost decade. But in my book, he has still produced the most creative album of the 2000's and will always get my respect for that as well as not selling out

Very well said

burkina said:

I like to read the stuff on this site but never post any reply... For once, I though I could add some positivity to the thread.

I don't get the criticism of D'angleo. I mean, since when an artist has to be prolific to be respected? Shall we also trash Sly Stone and Donny Hataway then?

Creation is a difficult and dangerous process. True artists "put their skin on the table". Some find it easy while others do not come out unscathed.

I would rather wait 12 years between albums than getting a dishonest and watered down project every couple of year, because once you have started compromising, it becomes almost impossible to find your authentic voice again (BTW, does it remind you of someone here?)

It's too bad that D'angelo had a lost decade. But in my book, he has still produced the most creative album of the 2000's and will always get my respect for that as well as not selling out

But he did sell out........he sold himself out 2 chemical dependency and wasted what could have a been a GREAT career.

Graycap23 said:

burkina said:

I like to read the stuff on this site but never post any reply... For once, I though I could add some positivity to the thread.

I don't get the criticism of D'angleo. I mean, since when an artist has to be prolific to be respected? Shall we also trash Sly Stone and Donny Hataway then?

Creation is a difficult and dangerous process. True artists "put their skin on the table". Some find it easy while others do not come out unscathed.

I would rather wait 12 years between albums than getting a dishonest and watered down project every couple of year, because once you have started compromising, it becomes almost impossible to find your authentic voice again (BTW, does it remind you of someone here?)

It's too bad that D'angelo had a lost decade. But in my book, he has still produced the most creative album of the 2000's and will always get my respect for that as well as not selling out

But he did sell out........he sold himself out 2 chemical dependency and wasted what could have a been a GREAT career.

Not to mention testing the sex symbol market of getting buck naked in a video while he was clearly uncomfortable with the attention after said video made him more popular for his nakedness than the actual music he was doing.

Ifsixwuz9 said:

Graycap23 said:

But he did sell out........he sold himself out 2 chemical dependency and wasted what could have a been a GREAT career.

Not to mention testing the sex symbol market of getting buck naked in a video while he was clearly uncomfortable with the attention after said video made him more popular for his nakedness than the actual music he was doing.

Yes.....that as well.

Ifsixwuz9 said:

Graycap23 said:

But he did sell out........he sold himself out 2 chemical dependency and wasted what could have a been a GREAT career.

Not to mention testing the sex symbol market of getting buck naked in a video while he was clearly uncomfortable with the attention after said video made him more popular for his nakedness than the actual music he was doing.

Did Erykah Badu sell out to when she got naked? I could see it if he started making pop shit... but the video ahd a point with the song.. Was it necessary? No it wasnt but it didnt seem to affect his music. Its one thing when your trying to sell just soley an image which D was never really about... I could see if he had a bunch of videos where he was trying to be naked in...

mjscarousal said:

Ifsixwuz9 said:

Not to mention testing the sex symbol market of getting buck naked in a video while he was clearly uncomfortable with the attention after said video made him more popular for his nakedness than the actual music he was doing.

Did Erykah Badu sell out to when she got naked? I could see it if he started making pop shit... but the video ahd a point with the song.. Was it necessary? No it wasnt but it didnt seem to affect his music. Its one thing when your trying to sell just soley an image which D was never really about... I could see if he had a bunch of videos where he was trying to be naked in...

Well, this isn't about Erykah Badu's 12-year stint between album #2 & album #3 and the the why of it. Because she doesn't have this particular item on her professional resume.

But back to D'Angelo, he tried the buck naked sex symbol market. It backfired because he A) he was uncomfortable with it, and B) he got more attention for being buck-naked in one video than he did for the artistic merit for the whole of the two albums he'd released during that time. He sold out. It backfired for him as I described above. No shame, it is what it is.

.

[Edited 1/23/12 12:35pm]

mjscarousal said:

Ifsixwuz9 said:

Not to mention testing the sex symbol market of getting buck naked in a video while he was clearly uncomfortable with the attention after said video made him more popular for his nakedness than the actual music he was doing.

Did Erykah Badu sell out to when she got naked? I could see it if he started making pop shit... but the video ahd a point with the song.. Was it necessary? No it wasnt but it didnt seem to affect his music. Its one thing when your trying to sell just soley an image which D was never really about... I could see if he had a bunch of videos where he was trying to be naked in...

That "Untitled" video totally changed D'angelo's image to a sex symbol & the women could have cared less how many instruments he played or how well he sung. They came to the shows to see his body. I can understand how uncomfortable that made him to a man that already had low self esteem. His ex & baby mama Ahgie Stone confirmed how she had to boost his ego all the time before his first album came out. The buff body never changed how he felt on the inside. So he choose to walk away from the spotlight and bury himself in a drug den.

Well thankfully he was smart enough to get away from the spotlight until he was ready to get back into it. Some people feel pressured to stay out there spiral deeper and burn out. It's interesting the that so many seem like they wanna see the brother fail. I think he is very focused and will come out a better musician than he was before. Anybody says that he spent the last 11 years wasting away, you will be proven wrong. We're used to artists being on our timeline. I wish Prince would've taken a good 5 to 10 break from releasing any music. He might have given us another "Sign Of The Tmes" by now. I expect notning less than a masterpiece from D'angelo.

sunlite said:

Well thankfully he was smart enough to get away from the spotlight until he was ready to get back into it. Some people feel pressured to stay out there spiral deeper and burn out. It's interesting the that so many seem like they wanna see the brother fail. I think he is very focused and will come out a better musician than he was before. Anybody says that he spent the last 11 years wasting away, you will be proven wrong. We're used to artists being on our timeline. I wish Prince would've taken a good 5 to 10 break from releasing any music. He might have given us another "Sign Of The Tmes" by now. I expect notning less than a masterpiece from D'angelo.

No one wants 2 see this type of talent fail. They want them 2 RELEASE some product in a timely fashion.

sunlite said:

Well thankfully he was smart enough to get away from the spotlight until he was ready to get back into it. Some people feel pressured to stay out there spiral deeper and burn out. It's interesting the that so many seem like they wanna see the brother fail. I think he is very focused and will come out a better musician than he was before. Anybody says that he spent the last 11 years wasting away, you will be proven wrong. We're used to artists being on our timeline. I wish Prince would've taken a good 5 to 10 break from releasing any music. He might have given us another "Sign Of The Tmes" by now. I expect notning less than a masterpiece from D'angelo.

Prince has always been in deep connection with his spirit & has finally found peace in the JW's. Plus he has taken a break from releasing albums. D'angelo couldn't handle fame.But I never stop supporting him & never will. I have faith he has come back at the right moment. He is needed in this horrid RNB music scene. That scenes music is so plastic now. We need real music by real musicians again..

[img:$uid]http://pic80.picturetrail.com:80/VOL2084/9118410/23710928/398052418.jpg[/img:$uid]

Ifsixwuz9 said:

Not to mention testing the sex symbol market of getting buck naked in a video while he was clearly uncomfortable with the attention after said video made him more popular for his nakedness than the actual music he was doing.

You have a point... he tried to tap into the sex symbol market and this can be seen as selling out.

However, I would not call it that way for two reasons. First, to me selling out is being dishonest with your art by pandering to the lowest common denominator. And D'angelo did not do that. His music was different and provocative... In a word, he remained true.

This is why I don't give a damn if he was filmed naked, dancing with a feather in his ass or parading in a SM leather suit. Come on, this is prince.org, and Prince did it all and much more way before: Did he sold out with Dirty Mind because he posed in stockings? Did he sold out by making a cheesy movie called Purple Rain? I don't think so... as long as the music rocks, it's fine with me! I would even say that using stunts to contaminate mainstream crap with real untamed music is actually subversive.

My second point is that the Untitled video was an artistic statement. Far from the cheap, borderline pornographic stuff that we are fed by MTV; it's esthetic, sensual... raw. And I believe that's precisely why it backfired: It made people uncomfortable, took them out of their comfort zone, especially guys who felt threatened by the homoerotic energy of the vid. Again, the analogy with Prince is obvious: The cover of Lovesexy was great glam art, but many people could not get pass the nudity. In both case, images were powerful illustrations of the feelings conveyed by the music.

OK, I stop rambling. I guess what I'm tried to say is that D'angelo made a commercial move but did not sell out. But I see why one may disagree and call it otherwise

Well said burkina. That's why they call it SHOW business.

D probably saw the sex symbol thing work for him and decided to milk it. All of the sudden I see him in magazine interviews wearing black bikini breifs. I even saw one pic where he imitated the inside bed shot of "1999".

Then he's upset because women are yelling "TAKE IT OFF" at his shows before he sings one note?

I don't think he sold out. It could have been a decision made by him and his management to get to that point. That video made him a household name for a while. Women loved it and men were

(fill in the blank) by it.

SPYZFAN1 said:

Well said burkina. That's why they call it SHOW business.

D probably saw the sex symbol thing work for him and decided to milk it. All of the sudden I see him in magazine interviews wearing black bikini breifs. I even saw one pic where he imitated the inside bed shot of "1999".

Then he's upset because women are yelling "TAKE IT OFF" at his shows before he sings one note?

I don't think he sold out. It could have been a decision made by him and his management to get to that point. That video made him a household name for a while. Women loved it and men were

(fill in the blank) by it.

What about Maxwell though? There are women who love and scream for Maxwell to and people still love him for his artistic music... Granted his never been butt naked in a video but he has always been hailed as a sex symbol....

We Got RECENT Pics Of Former SOUL SUPERSTAR D'ANGELO . . . He Looks WAAY Better Than When We LAST Saw Him!! (No More CRACK)

January 27, 2012:.. .

He's back!!!!

[Edited 1/27/12 10:26am]

burkina makes very good points, and i'm as frustrated as any other music fan with the 12-year delay. 12 years ago, no one woul;d have believed a black president would be elected before D dropped a 3d album.

but it is the way it was supposed to be. apparently we weren't meant to have new D'Angelo music. nor were we entitled to it even though we have a right to want it. that goes for Maxwell and Bilal too.

namepeace said:

burkina makes very good points, and i'm as frustrated as any other music fan with the 12-year delay. 12 years ago, no one woul;d have believed a black president would be elected before D dropped a 3d album.

but it is the way it was supposed to be. apparently we weren't meant to have new D'Angelo music. nor were we entitled to it even though we have a right to want it. that goes for Maxwell and Bilal too.