dangelo

Freedom Song: A Conversation About the State of Black Liberation Music

Jason Parham · 03/25/15 01:45PM

In the lyric pamphlet to Black Messiah, D'Angelo's third album after 14 years away from the spotlight, the soul-savant explains his reasoning behind its title and sudden release: "Some will jump to the conclusion that I am calling myself a Black Messiah," he begins. "For me the title is about all of us...It's about people rising up in Ferguson and in Egypt and in Occupy Wall Street and in every place where a community has had enough and decides to make change happen. It's not about celebrating one charismatic leader but celebrating thousands of them."

Here's D'Angelo's First Televised Performance in Twelve Years

Rich Juzwiak · 07/01/12 09:25PM

The famously reclusive D'Angelo graced the stage of tonight's BET Awards. It was the first time he had been on TV in a dozen years. After doing a bit of his signature, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)," he ripped into a groove called "Sugar Daddy" and let it ride for a while. It's a fantastic performance in its own right, and it's really a good thing for pop culture to have funk of so dank a grade be the most talked about piece of music for a second. D'Angelo is back to solve all of our problems, all hail.