We Need More Artists Like D’Angelo

When we got the news, we hoped it wasn’t true. Neo-Soul pioneer D’Angelo died recently from pancreatic cancer at just 51 years old. Considering how many great artists are releasing albums in middle and old age, there’s no doubt that some fantastic music died with him. But D’Angelo’s departure isn’t just the loss of a great singer; it’s the loss of a vision of what music stars could be if the industry had different priorities.

The Averted Sophomore Slump

The Sophomore Slump is a classic phenomenon in bands. Many artists come out of the gate with a brilliant first project, only for their momentum to be killed by a follow-up that doesn’t live up to the hype. This isn’t some mystical formula; it makes practical sense.

The batch of songs on the first album is often written out of genuine struggle, workshopped for years in bigger and bigger venues.  By the time they get to the record, they’re road-hardened and sure to be great. Record companies, wanting to capitalize on success, incentivize a quick turnaround on a follow-up, and rushing the songs out, the artist often isn’t able to live up to the hype.

But when D’Angelo suffered writer’s block following the release of his great debut Brown Sugar, he didn’t push his way through it. He sat back and bided his time, letting five years go by before he dropped his follow-up.

And when he did drop Voodoo, it quickly became a classic and is now considered one of the greatest neo-soul albums of all time.

D’Angelo Didn’t Like His Image

However, all wasn’t great for D’Angelo. Though he got the artistic control he wanted, the record label still wanted to assert a level of control. Against his wishes, a picture of him shirtless appeared on the cover of Voodoo. D’Angelo, an attractive young man, was certainly helped in sales by this move, but the exploitation hurt. Upon seeing the cover, it no doubt made some listeners write off the album as frivolous bedroom jams, when really it’s one of the most intense works of soul music of its era.

D’Angelo Only Said Something When He Needed To

Caught between a rock and a hard place, D’Angelo disappeared for fourteen years before releasing his follow-up album Black Messiah, which won him the Grammy for “Best R&B” album. In the age of Robert Glasper, Hiatus Koyote, and the Neosoul revival, D’Angelo fit right in, showing that he was just as much of a pioneer as ever.

He toured and even recorded vocals for a song on the hugely popular Red Dead Redemption 2, a video game that he loved. But as always, he wasn’t in a rush to put out an album, making Black Messiah the final album he ever released. That was over 10 years before his still-too-young death.

D’Angelo Lives Beyond the Grave

But D’Angelo’s legacy doesn’t stop there. When you release three perfect albums as your entire discography, you become something special. It’s incredibly easy for new listeners to get into you, as they don’t have to ask their friends which records are the best; they can simply listen to the few hours of perfection you put out.

And he didn’t stop making music either. D’Angelo collaborated with Raphael Saadiq right up until his death, coming close to finishing an entire album. The Roots’ Questlove has taken up the project, and D’Angelo’s final album will be released in the near future.

In a world driven more by clicks than sales, that prioritizes quantity over quality, it’s good to remember that true artists are still among us, who put their heart and soul into every work.

-Christian Flynn

Photo: D’Angelo, 2012 (Roquai via Wikimedia Commons)