So I was flipping through my iPod this morning when the song “She’s Always In My Hair” came on. But what’s important about this version is that it’s D’Angelo‘s rendition of the song and not the Prince original. Now anybody who knows me knows that I’m an unabashed Prince stan, so I don’t take to cover songs well. With that being said, I honestly believe D’Angelo is the only earthling to do a Prince song justice. That’s right Alicia Keys fans, I’d much rather listen to Prince’s original version of “How Come You Don’t Call Me,” but I digress. After listening to all 6 guitar-fueled minutes of D’Angelo’s cover, I couldn’t help but ask myself: where the fuck is that dude?
While 90% of D’Angelo’s so-called “fans” only remember his “Untitled” video, I was the dude jamming along to the “Brown Sugar” video with Raphael Saadiq on bass and Ali Shaheed Muhammad on drums. I was the dude trying to figure out what keyboard he was playing on “Me & Those Dreamin’ Eyes Of Mine” and I was the dude who listened to Don-E‘s “So Cold” because he played Rhodes piano on it. I had to listen to any and everything D’Angelo related, and it got to the point that my stanhood for his music started to rival my stanhood for Prince’s catalog. Yes, you read that right.
Needless to say, when the song “1000 Deaths” leaked last year, I completely lost my mind. I’d been waiting 10 years for new music and his Voodoo album was skipping on my iPod due to playing it so much on CD. Sidebar, anybody who doesn’t like Voodoo or thinks Brown Sugar is the better album will be instantly de-friended. I’m serious. Dead serious. In any case, I thought D’Angelo was finally coming out of whatever alcohol-induced stupor he put himself in. I mean hell, Maxwell dropped a new album after 8 years and even Lauryn Hill‘s crazy ass started doing shows again. Well, before she got pregnant with someone’s baby. In my eyes, it was only a matter of time before D’Angelo got his shit together. However, we’re halfway through 2011 and still nothing.
D’Angelo, please do us a favor and PUT OUT SOME DAMN MUSIC!!! I mean c’mon son, I was in high school when your last album dropped. Now I’m 4 years removed from college with a 10-month-old son. Do you see the problem with that? Stop with the bullshit.
Signing off, an overzealously overzealous fan.
LOVE THIS!! I feel the exact same way, as a matter of fact when i first heard Brown Sugar I thought it was Prince! You are right he is the only singer that comes close to the Purple One and he does a damn good job. I wore that Untitled album and track out (back then i had a CD Walkman! just dated myself!) And im missing him too and sort of mad that he left us to suffer through the mess that R&B has become. Why do the most talented artist drop out of site? I hear that he is supposed to release some of the James River tracks soon..but they have been saying that for months. This may or may not be him @RealDangelo. Some of the tweets look authentic, but with todays technology who knows..
D’Angelo’s engineer, Russell Elevado, keeps saying he’s in the studio working with him right now. I hope that’s true because 11 years is just too long to go without an album. Somebody with his talent shouldn’t be gone this long. You feel my pain lol…
[...] is alive and coming out with a new album. Needless to say, if you know anything about me, or have read this site before, you already know I’m FUCKING [...]
[...] I know I’ve written a lot of articles about D’Angelo. No seriously, I’ve written a lot of articles about this dude. Besides Prince, Michael Archer is my favorite artist ever. Ever! [...]