Brown Sugar
Year: 1995
Format: Digital
Grade: A-
Michael "D'Angelo" Archer made one of the definite albums of the last 20 years with 2000's Voodoo. The personal drama that followed — arrests, addiction and the spotlight's blinding focus — kept the 38-year-old singer off of stages for more than a decade, with Voodoo's long-awaited follow up rumored to be due later this year.
Before Voodoo and D'Angelo's naked-from-the-waist-up video for "Untitled (How Does it Feel?)," there was Brown Sugar, the neo-soul set that that reclaimed the genre and ushered in a '90s crowd of R&B singers with a '70s sensibility.
D'Angelo was distinct among them because of his ability to find the fusion between Stevie Wonder, Prince and a hip hop sensibility. His falsetto croon makes honey drizzled soul burners such as the title track or "Smooth" into smoky, late-night club seductions.
For as exceptional as Brown Sugar is, it's really just a warm up for Voodoo, on which D'Angelo only deepened the themes and attitudes present on Sugar. His musical sounds timeless, a quality which may help him if he sticks to this formula for that long-awaited third album.
Tomorrow's entry: Bonnie "Prince" Billy, I See a Darkness
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