Its success, and especially that of ‘Untitled (How Does It Feel),’ forced D’Angelo into taking another hiatus. It was hailed as a masterpiece and landed up taking home two Grammys. ‘Voodoo’ would remain on the charts for a total of 33 weeks.
The album debuted at #1 on the charts, knocking off Santana’s ‘Supernatural.’ By the its first two months, it had sold more than half a million copies. D’Angelo’s vocals, and specially his falsetto, reminded me a lot of Prince. Redman and Method Man),’ ‘The Line’ and the breakthrough single, ‘Untitled (How Does It Feel).’ So many of the songs exude Prince, in attitude and sound. Highlights on the record for me include ‘Devil’s Pie,’ ‘Left and Right (feat. He returned to his hometown of Richmond, Virginia, where he wrote ‘Voodoo.’ He cited Gospel, Blues, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Sly and the Family Stone as reference points for the music. He found inspiration to write again when his son with Angie Stone, Michael was born. Following ‘Brown Sugar,’ D’Angelo would suffer a major bout or writer’s block. Questlove would say at the time “It's not a middle-ground record-you're either going to love it or hate it.” The record explores themes of spirituality, love, sexuality, maturation, and fatherhood. It’s more loose than its predecessor, funkier with more groove, care of the one and only Questlove. Along with that record, it’s a landmark album in Neo-Soul. Recorded at Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios in New York, this album previously came up when I reviewed Erykah Badu’s ‘Mama’s Gun’ (#158), as the two were recorded almost back-to-back sharing a lot of the same musicians, a collective known as the Soulquarians.
D’Angelo’s sophomore album came 5 years after ‘Brown Sugar’ (#183).
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