D’Angelo- Voodoo

The author, in his work, must be like God in the Universe, present everywhere and visible nowhere.

-Gustave Flaubert

I don’t know what D’Angelo’s voice sounds like. He utilizes his voice like an instrument: layering it and clipping it as if it were a sample. The layering is key. When I first listened to this album I thought it was a group of back up singers, but really it was D’Angelo making it sound like there were several singers in the booth with him. The result is sometimes like Boyz II Men, but darker in subject matter and tone, sometimes like Al Green but maybe a little less stripped down.  

I should probably address the elephant in the room: D’Angelo is a very good looking man. The video for “Untitled/ How Does it Feel?” is just him naked for eight minutes, and that’s not a bad thing. But you’d be wrong to judge a book by it’s cover and say this is just a collection of sexy songs by another pretty boy. There’s real skill here, and if not a statement, then at least a singular voice.

Part of that comes from an odd aspect of this album that is, that it contradicts itself. A hip hop beat will be used on a more R&B sounding track for example. When D’Angelo raps it sounds more like he’s singing. Even the beat Method Man and Redman rap over sounds less hip hop and more classic funk. All this comes together to give a sound that is familiar but on closer inspection unique.

We have to talk about the pace of this album. It is slow. But it isn’t boring. Rather, there is a groove to each song that you just have to get into, so there’s a little bit of work required on your part. You have to relax, nod along and let the music take you where it wants to.

4.5/5 This almost gets a five out of five, but I can see people being incapable of getting into the groove this album lays down. But I recommend you at least try. In terms of individual tracks there are two that come to mind that I hope you’ll check out:

·      “Send it On”- In my notes I have “Will turn Mother Teresa into Mary Magdalene.” Seriously this is D’Angelo at his most sexy but as has been pointed out, the song undermines that expectation. A lot of R&B can be pretty explicit, but this is clean and tender. Which only adds to the seductive quality. Like I say, it’d make Ghandi reconsider his vow of chastity.

·      “Feel Like Makin’ Love”- My favorite song on the album by far. I keep comparing it to “Let’s Get it On” by Marvin Gaye (perhaps the sexiest song of all time) because just like that song, it’s less sexy and more loving, which makes it even more sexy. This isn’t sex, this is making love, which elevates it far above the trash it could have been. But it’s not even what it could have been that makes it great, it’s what it is: a well crafted piece of art.