D'Angelo

Voodoo, D'Angelo's much-anticipated 2000 release, set the standard for the musical cycle ordained as "neo-soul," a label the singer and songwriter would reject more than a decade later.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙗𝙪𝙢 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨; 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙜𝙖𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡, 𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙠, 𝙟𝙖𝙯𝙯, 𝙜𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡, 𝙝𝙞𝙥-𝙝𝙤𝙥, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘼𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙨. 𝘿'𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙤 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙣-𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙. 𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙚𝙨: 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙎𝙡𝙮 𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙣 𝙂𝙖𝙮𝙚, 𝙅 𝘿𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙖...𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙝𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛.

Despite nearly universal acclaim, the sonic expansiveness of Voodoo proved too nebulous for airplay on many radio stations, seeping outside the accepted lines of commercial R&B music. Voodoo was Black, it was definitely magic.