The year is 2000. The singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist D’Angelo has just released his sophomore album, Voodoo. The album not only changed the trajectory of R&B music, but it almost destroyed his life.

I was introduced to D’Angelo and his music because of Raveena. She is a musician, and she mentioned that Sade and D’Angelo were some of her biggest musical influences. Sade’s melodies in Kiss of Life and Cherish the Day already had a place in my heart. However, D’Angelo’s in Me, Those Dreamin Eyes of Mine, and Brown Sugar were yet to find that place. In 2019, they did. The following year, I listened to his discography and albums in chronological order. I loved Brown Sugar. It is short, sweet, and very 90s R&B with a beautiful blend of neo-soul. Even though I do not think D’Angelo himself would like my diction, how can a soul be new? The word soul implies a sense of timelessness; therefore, soul can neither be old nor new; it just is.

Without going off on a tangent regarding the meaning of the word soul, let us get back to Voodoo. When my encounter with Brown Sugar ended, I explored Voodoo. Voodoo is a beautiful blend of various genres, including funk, soul, quiet storm, fusion, jazz fusion, neo soul, psychedelic soul, and alternative hip hop. The album changed how musicians all over the world view the art of creating a body of work and what the wonders of collaborating with other musicians can do for them.

This is because, before the album came into fruition, DAngelo, along with Questlove, Common, Q-Tip, Mos Def, Roy Hargrove, J Dilla, Pino Palladino, and James Poyser, worked at Electric Lady Studios to create different albums all at the same time. They called themselves ‘The Soulaquarians’ because both D’Angelo and Questlove are Aquarius suns who make soulful music. Things Fall Apart by The Roots, Like Water for Chocolate by Common, and Mama’s Gun by Erykah Badu were all produced there simultaneously with Voodoo by these gifted musicians.

What makes Voodoo special is that throughout the album, D’Angelo thought about the complexity of both his romantic and sexual relationships. He displayed these thoughts on songs like The Root, where he discusses heartbreak and how it deeply affected him as an individual. The song Africa celebrates his son and the relationship they would build together. In addition to this, through the song Africa, Dangelo narrates about his ancestry, his relationship with Christ, and feeling isolated in America, a land he feels is not truly home. He also chose to tap into his spirituality on songs like Devil’s Pie, where he discusses his struggle with sin, materialism, and how people compromise their souls for vanity, as all things that are material are fleeting. In this song, one could argue that he implies the things of this world are vanity upon vanity, and therefore losing one’s soul for the things of this world makes no sense.

 Moreover, in contrast to Brown Sugar, the songs on Voodoo came out of the long jam sessions at Electric Lady Studios. The songs are not too structured or formulaic. If anything, the entire record sounds like a long jam session. Furthermore, the use of real instruments and real voices adds to the overall organic feel of the record. With Voodoo, D’Angelo did not want his sophomore album to sound like a regurgitation of Brown Sugar, so the use of this method with regards to creating the music was quite helpful. Especially in the isolated environment of Electric Lady Studios. Furthermore, D’Angelo and Questlove found themselves listening to a lot of the timeless records from the past to find clues on what an eternal record, is. They looked to Al Green, Stevie Wonder, and many other artists of the 1960s and 1970s to find their clues. And considering the space they found themselves in, Electric Lady Studios was built by Jimi Hendrix, one of the greatest guitarists of all time. The entire journey leading up to the making of Voodoo felt spiritual because of how D’Angelo found his inspiration, where he found his inspiration, and why. Why the album needed to be created. 

When creating the album, D’Angelo drew a lot of inspiration from the church, Voodoo, African traditional practises, and the music of the 1960s and 1970s. He wanted to create an album that was the opposite of the music that was popular at the time.

Compared to a lot of music that is made for sales, Voodoo is an album that is built to last and is from the heart. The record is a tribute to musicians from the past like Prince, Al Green, Joni Mitchell, and Marvin Gaye while still being authentic and innovative in its own way. Voodoo does not sound like any other record ever made. There is an intersection of the old and the new, the future and the past. D’Angelo used these albums to remind himself of what he believed music was about. Heart and Soul.

D’Angelo titled the album Voodoo because of his belief that music is powerful. Music has the ability to transform lives and offer fresh perspectives on the world around you. The same goes for Voodoo, a religion practised by the Aja and Ewe people of Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, and Benin. Voodoo is also practised by people in the African diaspora in the U.S. and all over the Caribbean. Voodoo, just like music, is powerful.

The most beautiful thing for me is how D’Angelo managed to use himself as a vessel to bridge the gap between listeners and how they experienced love and spirituality in music. He understands the role of a musician as a vessel for others by sharing stories and sounds that move them.

D’Angelo grew up in the church and played music there. If you know anything about church, you know that people in church take worship seriously. They see worship as one of the easiest ways to connect to God, so it is vital that the music be timeless, uplifting, and vulnerable all at the same time. D’Angelo adopts this theology in all his music. His music aims to connect with individuals on a personal level in the hopes of moving them.

Prior to Voodoo being released, black male musicians were not overtly sexual in their music, music videos, or generally in the public eye. It was mostly deemed a woman’s job to appeal to the male gaze while still making great music for the general public. D’Angelo, on the other hand, decided to be sexual in his music. I would argue that D’Angelo made this decision because it would align with the stories he tells in music. In songs like ‘Untitled: How Does It Feel,’ D’Angelo centres female pleasure because he asks his partner in the song what she desires and if it is okay for him to touch her in certain areas. The music video for ‘Untitled’ is described by Elijah C. Watson as "a subversive display of black masculinity that’s affectionate and confident and delicate but strong."

D’Angelo’s expression of black masculinity, sexuality, and vulnerability in his music led to an oversexualization of not only his music but himself. Writer Faith A. Pennick said that D’Angelo gave Black women especially something to look at, and they latched onto it. Consequently, the album he worked on for 5 years was not fully appreciated by audiences because people were hearing the music but not really listening. Fortunately, it was not all of us.

Voodoo is Dangelo’s magnum opus simply because D’Angelo took the risk of being authentic to himself and the music, which he creates in a world that has taken the art of music and commodified it. Which in turn has led to many musicians creating records for radio and sales and not for people. With reference to artists like Joni Mitchell and Marvin Gaye, who made songs about the social injustices we face in society. Alongside musicians like Stevie Wonder and Al Green, who made songs about true love and heartbreak, Voodoo, like the music of Al Green or Joni Mitchell, touches on topics and struggles we still deal with today. Further enhancing its timelessness. Longstreth expressed that "Voodoo is the church we all come to worship the religion of soul music." I would add that Voodoo is a call. A call for people across all areas of life to return to music by the people, for the people, and about the people—music that is universal and music that collapses time.