Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

Following the success of his debut album Brown Sugar (1995), D'Angelo went into a four-and-a-half-year absence from the music scene and releasing solo work. His debut album presented a musical fusion of traditional soul and R&B influences with hip hop vocal and production elements, serving as fundamental elements for the neo soul sound. With its single-oriented success, Brown Sugar earned considerable sales success and defied the contemporary, producer-driven sound of the time, while earning popularity among mature R&B audiences and the growing hip hop generation. The album also earned D'Angelo recognition for producing a commercial breakthrough for the genre and giving notice to other neo soul artists, including Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell. After spending two years on tour promoting Brown Sugar, D'Angelo found himself stuck with writer's block. Inspiration In 1998, he was inspired to write music again after the birth of his first child, Michael, with fellow R&B singer and then-girlfriend Angie Stone. He also traveled back to the South, spending time in South Carolina and in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia, while reconnecting himself with the African-American musical history that had originally inspired him. Shortly after his son's birth and the release of his first live album Live at the Jazz Cafe (1998) through EMI Records, he began preparation for the recording of songs for Voodoo. A dedication to his son Michael and daughter Imani was included in the album's liner notes, which were co-written by D'Angelo and writer/musician Saul Williams. In a press video accompanying the release of Voodoo, D'Angelo suggested that he was attempting to create a new sound for him that was in transition: "My inspiration was just to go farther. To get to that next level. To push it even further. To work against the floss and the grain and to get even deeper into the sound that I'm hearing ... and the thing is, I'm just looking at Voodoo as just the beginning. I'm still developing and growing and still listening to that sound I hear inside my head ... So this is the first step". He also found contemporary R&B to be "a joke", adding that "the funny thing about it is that the people making this shit are dead serious about the stuff they're making. It's sad—they've turned black music into a club thing." In an interview for Ebony, D'Angelo said of his role and influences for Voodoo: == Recording and production ==

(entrance pictured), where the album was recorded Beginning in 1996, Voodoo evolved from nearly four years of sessions and featured an extensive roster of R&B, hip hop, and jazz musicians and recording technicians. at Electric Lady Studios, the Manhattan-based recording studio built by Jimi Hendrix. The crew recorded numerous hours of unreleased, original material, as well as covers of their influencers' material. Soulquarians and guests Production for the album was conducted in a generally informal manner and took place at Electric Lady Studios simultaneously with recording for Erykah Badu's ''Mama's Gun'' (2000) and Common's Like Water for Chocolate (2000). Voodoos sessions also had visitors not associated with the project, including record producer Rick Rubin, comedian Chris Rock, and rock musician Eric Clapton. Q-Tip was originally intended to contribute a verse to the song "Left & Right", but was replaced by rappers Method Man & Redman during recording due to creative differences. Questlove was the "musical powerhouse" behind several of the Soulquarians' projects during the late 1990s and early 2000s, including Voodoo and Things Fall Apart. In a 2002 interview, he told critic Jim DeRogatis about his role in recording Voodoo and being a part of the Soulquarians, stating "I tried to do all in my power that I could to bring people together – to bring Common to Electric Lady, have him record here whenever so that he could record with some of these other artists. You'd just come into [the studio's] A Room, you don't even know who has a session, but you call me: 'Who's down there?' 'Common's in there today'. So you come down, you order some food, sit down and bulls—, watch a movie, and then it's, 'Let's play something'. And I say, 'Who wants this [track]?' And it would be, 'I want it!' 'No, I want it!'". Notable from the production was that most of it, with the exception of "Untitled (How Does It Feel)", and a recording board originally used by Jimi Hendrix. On Voodoos recording atmosphere, D'Angelo stated "I believe Jimi was there. Jimi, Marvin Gaye, all the folks we were gravitating to. I believe they blessed the project". Questlove helped design the sparse funk, soul and hip hop beats on the generally groove-based record. Although album tracks such as "Left & Right" and "Devil's Pie" help to bring this claim to light, J Dilla himself was not officially credited for production. However, he contributed significantly to Voodoos overall sound, specifically the rhythm and percussion. In a later interview, Questlove discussed the intention and purpose of including imperfection in the album's sound, stating "we wanted to play as perfectly as we could, but then deliberately insert the little glitch that makes it sound messed up. The idea was to sound disciplined, but with a total human feel." == Music ==

In the album's EPK, D'Angelo said that Voodoo is "like a funk album", regarding the genre to be "the natural progression of soul". while Questlove describes it as "vicarious fantasy", a "new direction of soul for 2000", and "the litmus test that will reveal the most for your personality", inspired by "a love for the dead state of black music, a love to show our idols how much they taught us". Of the album's title and meaning, D'Angelo told USA Today: "[T]he myriad influences found on it can be traced through the blues and back deeper in history through songs sung–in religious [voodoo] ceremonies." This theme is illustrated in Voodoos liner photography by Thierry LesGoudes, which depicts D'Angelo participating in a voodoo ceremony. On its eclectic and conceptual style, Rhea commented "[D'Angelo] seems to have channeled the brilliance of his musical forefathers, living and dead, during the crafting of this album. It is a complex, intricate collection of songs that, like voodoo, is simultaneously secular and spiritual, sensual and sacred, earthbound and ethereal". On its jazz influence, D'Angelo stated "because a lot of the album was cut live and has free playing on it, it was hard not to go in a jazz direction". According to music critic Steve McPherson, the concept results in "no linear way to measure how far off things slide before they pull themselves back ... can't be measured in beats or fractions of beats in a meaningful way. For lack of a less clichéd word, it's entirely 'feel'". Music writers have also noted the production style and sound of Voodoo as reminiscent of the sound of the P-Funk opus Mothership Connection (1975), Gaye's downtempo disco-soul record I Want You (1976), and Miles Davis's jazz fusion works In a Silent Way (1969) and Bitches Brew (1970). D'Angelo and his crew also utilized a hip hop production style, which often subordinates song structure to a stable foundation for a rapper's delivery and flow. This was familiar to D'Angelo, as his first original recordings were rap demos. Most of its production was influenced by hip hop producer J Dilla's input. On his bass playing in the song, Pino Palladino recalled "I was thinking about Stevie Wonder in the choruses and P-Funk in the verses". Rob Evanoff of All About Jazz called the song "an uplifting soul ride", and stated that it evokes an image of "a musical train seen far off in the distance, slowly getting bigger as it gets closer". Evanoff also compared the track's style to the jam-sound of Pink Floyd, and wrote "it surrounds you with a deep thick infectious groove that, at first, shadows and then envelopes your senses in such a way that is equal bits liberating, intoxicating and hypnotic…you close your eyes and are transported into another dimension". "Devil's Pie" is a funk and hip hop diatribe with a lyrical theme concerning hip hop excess, and it is accompanied by P-Funk style harmonies and low-key singing by D'Angelo. The song's theme also incorporates religious imagery into its message of social strife. Entertainment Weeklys Matt Diehl calls Method Man's and Redman's lyrics "misogynistic", adding that it upsets Voodoos "organically sensual vibe". According to one critic, it "could be about his MIA status ('Will I hang or get left hangin?/Will I fall off or is it bangin?/I say it's up to God'), or about anyone facing doubters with a revolver loaded with talent and self-confidence ('I'm gonna put my finger on the trigger/I'm gonna pull it, and then we gon' see/What the deal/I'm for real')". According to Questlove, "The Root", "Spanish Joint", and "Greatdayndamornin' / Booty'" serve as the "virtuoso part of the record", featuring intricate technical arrangements "Greatdayndamornin' / Booty'" features double rimshots placed behind the beat by Questlove. Co-written by Raphael Saadiq, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" is a tribute to one of D'Angelo's primary influences, Prince, and evokes his early Controversy period. The song contains a drum pattern with a uniform dynamic. "Africa" was originally written in honor of D'Angelo's son, Michael Archer Jr., Opening with a shimmery rustle of chimes, the song contains a drum interpretation of Prince's "I Wonder U" from his Parade (1986), which was also utilized for the Ursula Rucker and the Roots track "The Return to Innocence Lost" from Things Fall Apart. Questlove discussed producing the opening chime sounds for "Africa", stating "we took the cover off the rhodes and mic'd 'em". One critic described C. Edward Alford's guitar work for "Africa" as "backward guitar solos (at least they sound backward)". Another critic described the song as a "lullaby" and "a gorgeous, opalescent closer ... a prayer of sorts". Voodoos coda, which consists of chopped-up track snippets run backwards, plays at the song's conclusion. == Marketing ==

The album's release was preceded by several delays, which were primarily caused by the folding of D'Angelo's former label EMI Records and legal troubles with his management. When Voodoo was originally presented to Virgin Records executives, mixed opinions formed on whether or not it would succeed commercially, as the project had been heavily financed by the label. In return for the production budget, Virgin executives expected a record with potential for radio-oriented success. with the latter having been aimed at R&B and hip hop-oriented radio stations due to the prominence of rappers Redman and Method Man on the track. A music video for "Left & Right", created by director Malik Hassan Sayeed and producer Rich Ford Jr., was anticipated by fans and MTV network executives that had planned special promotions and a world premiere for the clip. However, Sayeed's concept of a concert video that paid tribute to funk shows of the past expended Virgin's budget and resulted in a missed deadline for the MTV premiere. Following commitments made by the label for the album's distribution in the UK, continental Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, D'Angelo appeared at London's Music of Black Origin Awards on October 6. which attracted a considerable number of D'Angelo's female fans. A remix album, Voodoo DJ Soul Essentials (2000), was also issued by Virgin. The release of the controversial music video for "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" prior to the album's release has been cited as having the greatest promotional impact, Billboard had written of the video, "it's pure sexuality. D'Angelo, muscularly cut and glistening, is shot from the hips up, naked, with just enough shown to prompt a slow burning desire in most any woman who sees it. The video alone could make the song one of the biggest of the coming year". Gaining significant amount of airplay on the BET and MTV networks, the video reintroduced D'Angelo as a sex icon to a newer generation of fans. It was also viewed at a promotional party thrown in celebration of the album's release, which took place in January 2000 at the Centro-Fly nightclub in Chelsea, Manhattan. Douglas Century of The New York Times wrote of the club's appearance as "packed and sweaty, with decor and soul music out of a 1970's time warp: multiple video screens playing images of Curtis Mayfield and vintage Soul Train episodes, replete with dancers in Day-Glo bell-bottoms". January 18 in Canada and February 14 in the United Kingdom on EMI, awaiting eager anticipation from fans and critics. and also as a "clean" edited version with an alternate cover. A double LP release was made available in the UK through EMI. Sales In its first week, Voodoo debuted at number 1 on the US Billboard 200, selling 320,000 copies. Its debut replaced Carlos Santana's Supernatural (1999) at the top of the chart. It had sold over 500,000 copies within its first two months of release. The album charted for thirty-three weeks on the Billboard 200. Voodoo charted on several international album charts, including the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and New Zealand. On February 24, 2000, it was certified gold in sales by the Canadian Recording Industry Association, following sales in excess of 50,000 copies in Canada. Two months after its US release, Voodoo was certified platinum on March 1, 2000, by the Recording Industry Association of America. Despite its success, Voodoo did not achieve his debut album's sales performance nor generate the single-oriented success D'Angelo's label had envisioned. == Critical reception ==

Voodoo was met with rave reviews In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau called it a "deeply brave and pretentious record ... signifies like a cross between lesser Tricky and Sly's ''Riot Goin' On''", and wrote of D'Angelo, "he leads from strength" rather than "tune-and-hook", "a feel for bass more disquieting than bootalicious." Despite perceiving a "heavy-handed emphasis on groove over melody" and "self-indulgent" song durations, Miles Marshall Lewis of The Village Voice viewed the album as a progression for D'Angelo and compared it to Prince's acclaimed ''Sign o' the Times (1987), noting that the latter album was initially perceived by most critics as "uneven". Greg Tate of Vibe dubbed it "the most daring song-oriented album by a mainstream R&B artist of his generation." Steve Jones of USA Today'' wrote that "no other R&B artist today seems to have as acute an understanding of where he comes from as D'Angelo, and none seems as willing to take risks in exploring where he should be heading". Music journalist Peter Shapiro criticized its "loose playing and bohemian self-indulgence", stating "Voodoo drifted all over the map in a blunted haze". Rolling Stones James Hunter disapproved of the experimental and loose-sounding structure, and viewed that it does not attain its potential, stating "long stretches of it are unfocused and unabsorbing [...] Voodoo flatters the real at the expense of the thing. The result is superb smoke, but smoke nonetheless". Accolades In 2001, Voodoo won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 43rd Grammy Awards, The song "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" won for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and was also nominated for Best R&B Song. The song was also ranked number 12 on The Village Voices Pazz & Jop critics' poll of 2000, as well as number 4 on Rolling Stone magazine's "End of Year Critics & Readers Poll" of the top singles of the year. Voodoo proved to be one of the most critically praised and awarded albums of the year, topping several critics' and publications' "end of year" lists; Bloomsbury Academic's 33⅓ series states that the album "emerged as the year's critical darling". The album earned the number 6 spot on The Village Voices 2000 Pazz & Jop critics' poll. Voodoo was named one of the ten best albums of 2000 by several New York Times staff writers, including Ben Ratliff (number 2), Neil Strauss (number 3), Ann Powers (number 2), and Jon Pareles (number 1). In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked the album number 488 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and at number 481 in a revised list in 2012. In the 2020, the album was re-ranked at 28, calling it "an album heavy on bass and drenched in a post-coital haze". In 2009, Pitchfork ranked Voodoo number 44 on its list of the Top 200 Albums of the 2000s decade, calling it "a triumph of hands-on, real-time, old-school soul minimalism" and citing D'Angelo's vocals as "maybe the most erotically tactile singing put to disc this decade". Rolling Stone placed the album at number 23 on its list of the 100 Best Albums of the Decade, stating "The decade's most magnificent R&B record was also its most inventive — so far ahead of its time that it still sounds radical". AllMusic editor Andy Kellman has cited Brown Sugar and Voodoo as "two of the most excellent and singular R&B albums of the past 15 years". == Tour and aftermath ==

Following Voodoos release, D'Angelo embarked on his second international tour in support of the album, The Voodoo World Tour. The tour was sponsored by the clothing company Levi Strauss & Co., and it featured D'Angelo promoting an end to gun violence. After signing an initiative on June 7, 2000, at Hamilton High School in West Los Angeles to collect a million signatures by November 7 in support of "common-sense solutions" to end gun violence, the anti-gun violence organization PAX agreed to sponsor the tour. J Dilla's group Slum Village opened on several dates, while R&B singer Anthony Hamilton sang backup within the Soultronics on occasion. D'Angelo's wardrobe during the tour included tank tops, black leather pants, and boots. With ticket prices ranging from $49 to $79, the tour became one of the most attended shows of 2000. The tour began on March 1, 2000, at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. The Voodoo Tour was taken internationally to venues including Paris Olympia, Trump Taj Mahal, Brixton Academy, the Montreux Jazz Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival and the Free Jazz Festival in Brazil. The music video for "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" portrayed D'Angelo as a sex symbol to mainstream music audiences, which had repercussions on The Voodoo Tour's second half. many shows were cancelled due to his personal and emotional problems. D'Angelo chose on several occasions to not perform on scheduled dates, and delayed others to do physical workouts like stomach crunches. He elaborated on the experience in a 2003 interview for The Believer, saying that: In the same interview, Questlove also said that he had not been fully compensated for his work on Voodoo, stating "I didn't get the rest of my check." == Track listing ==

All tracks produced by D'Angelo, except where noted. == Personnel ==

Credits adapted from album booklet liner notes. == Charts ==

Weekly charts Year-end charts == Certifications ==