A few months after the December 2014 release of D’Angelo’s third album, Black Messiah, the artist sat down with Rolling Stone over two late nights for deep-dive interviews that touched on his whole career. In the wake of the legendary musician’s tragic death in October at age 51, we’re presenting audio from those conversations for the first time in the new episode of our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast.
In the episode, you’ll hear D’Angelo discuss his earliest musical loves, how he developed his signature sound, what drove him during the long gap between albums, and much more. To hear the whole discussion, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or just press play above. (Also, be sure to check Keith Murphy’s recent cover story on D’Angelo’s life and music for our sister publication Vibe.)
Here are some highlights from the discussion:
D’Angelo was a “little prodigy,” playing piano for his church at age five — and his aunt’s choir rehearsals developed his ear at a remarkably young age.
“Every Saturday she would bring a cassette tape of the new songs we were gonna sing the following day,” D’Angelo said. “And so I had to learn them Saturday night to play them Sunday morning. Doing that constantly, my ear got really developed pretty quickly… She’s asking me, ‘What’s the note for the tenors? What’s the note for the sopranos?’ Very young, very early, my understanding of chords and melody and harmony was developed very, very strong.”
D’Angelo was an undefeated battle MC before he became a singer.
“At school, I was a battle MC,” he said. “I would battle at school in the cafeteria, in the hallway, in the bathroom. I was undefeated. I was feared and there was a reputation as being the best in the school. A lot of MCs would come to the school, new kids, they would always seek me out.” Could he have had a career as a rapper? “Absolutely. If that’s what I wanted to do.”
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D’Angelo rejected the idea that his “Untitled” video overshadowed the music.
“I think 20 to 25 percent of it was about the fact that I was appearing nude,” he said. “I think that the rest of it was really about the song. I don’t think it would’ve raised eyebrows if the song wasn’t good. The issues that I may have had was thinking that maybe it wasn’t about the song, that it was all about me appearing in the nude. But once I was able to come to terms with that — it wasn’t about that. I think people really gravitated to how sexy and how beautiful the song was. The video was just great window dressing.”
The long gap between 2000’s Voodoo and 2014’s Black Messiah wasn’t just about his personal struggles — the record industry’s early-’00s woes played a huge role.
“So much of the weight and the time that elapsed had nothing to do with me musically,” D’Angelo said. “At first it had a lot to do with me personally. And then once that got straightened out, this business just really went through a complete metamorphosis and it took me time to readjust. It was just a totally different game than it was when I put Voodoo out. If it was solely just about the music, it would’ve been out a lot sooner.”
D’Angelo was wary of preaching with the political songs on Black Messiah.
“I’m not trying to make myself to be like Bob Marley or nothing like that,” he said. “Me and my band say this a lot: We say ‘save the world,’ but we’re gonna save the world just for fun. The main mantra for hip-hop was what? Peace, unity, love, and having fun. We spread awareness and consciousness through the music, through the message, but still have fun doing it.”
When D’Angelo got to jam with Prince at the long-defunct New York club Tramps, it meant everything to him — but he refused Prince’s offer of his signature guitar.
“I lived my whole life for that moment,” D’Angelo said. “I was sitting at the Rhodes, looking at him on the stage. Right in front of his keyboard rig was the big [Prince] symbol guitar. He looks at me, he points at it. I’m like, ‘Hell fucking no! I’m not touching that thing!… That motherfucker, man. He continues to be just the star to shoot for, creatively. I can’t think of no one else who’s had a bigger influence on me artistically.”
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One of his fondest memories of arriving in New York was meeting Ol’ Dirty Bastard during the Brown Sugar sessions.
“The instrumental to ‘Brown Sugar’ was playing over the loudspeakers in the hallway,” D’Angelo remembered. “He came in there, he had a 40, he was freestyling in the hallway to the track. He comes in the room, his energy was just fucking off the charts. He’s like, ‘Yo, we are the baddest motherfuckers in the universe!’ He just kept saying it. I’m like 19, 20, and I’m up here with the Beatles of hip-hop, seeing this shit.”
D’Angelo never felt pressure to surpass Voodoo.
“I never looked at it like I’m going to outdo Voodoo,” he said. “Or even tried to, or that I had to. Voodoo was and is what it was. It’s dishonest for me and unfair to me to think I’m gonna outdo that, so I won’t even attempt. I just wanted to make sure it was the next step in my progression. To break something down to its more essential core — that too can be evolution.”
D’Angelo’s dissatisfaction with Brown Sugar helped shape Voodoo.
“Brown Sugar, in retrospect, it’s a great album, but I wasn’t that happy with it,” he said. “I thought that a lot of the demos felt and sounded better to me that I had done in the crib on a four-track. We had to reproduce that in the studio. I felt like it was overproduced. So my main motivation with Voodoo was for it not to feel like that, for it to feel more like my demos had felt.”
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The last 48 hours before turning in Black Messiah involved a lot of anxiety — and some songs’ mixes were never quite finished.
“It was a lot of soul-searching,” D’Angelo said. “I was a bit nervous, but at the same time I knew that this was Yahweh’s doing and that I needed to get out of its way. The songs that were done or close to being done were compiled, and that was it. Some were rough mixed.”
D’Angelo hoped to release a quick follow-up to Black Messiah, and was determined to push his craft forward.
“I really just want to get to the next phase of the evolution,” he said. “I’m gonna get to the next evolution. I’m determined to just get there. I’m not at all content with where everything is presently. I’m happy, I’m grateful, but ready to take it to the next step.”
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