{"id":54355,"date":"2025-12-22T23:05:45","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T23:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/never-before-heard-interviews-with-the-late-legend\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T23:05:45","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T23:05:45","slug":"never-before-heard-interviews-with-the-late-legend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/never-before-heard-interviews-with-the-late-legend\/","title":{"rendered":"Never-Before-Heard Interviews with the Late Legend"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tA few months after the December 2014 release of D\u2019Angelo\u2019s third album, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/black-messiah\/\" id=\"auto-tag_black-messiah\" data-tag=\"black-messiah\">Black Messiah<\/a><\/em>, the artist sat down with <em>Rolling Stone<\/em> over two late nights for deep-dive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/second-coming-of-dangelo-49555\/\">interviews <\/a>that touched on his whole career. In the wake of the legendary musician\u2019s tragic <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/dangelo-dead-obit-obituary-1235446878\/\">death <\/a>in October at age 51, we\u2019re presenting audio from those conversations for the first time in the new episode of our <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/rolling-stone-music-now\/\" id=\"auto-tag_rolling-stone-music-now\" data-tag=\"rolling-stone-music-now\">Rolling Stone Music Now<\/a> <\/em>podcast<em>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.megaphone.fm\/IMP8794043118\" frameborder=\"no\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIn the episode, you\u2019ll hear D\u2019Angelo 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/rolling-stone-music-now\/id1078431985\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Apple Podcasts<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0jCfnXfdYhwIM2I4x7SxZx\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Spotify<\/a>, or just press play above. (Also, be sure to check Keith Murphy\u2019s recent cover\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vibe.com\/features\/digital-covers\/dangelo-last-soul-man-cover-story-1235137643\/\">story<\/a>\u00a0on D\u2019Angelo\u2019s life and music for our sister publication <em>Vibe<\/em>.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tHere are some highlights from the discussion:<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>D\u2019Angelo was a \u201clittle prodigy,\u201d playing piano for his church at age five \u2014 and his aunt\u2019s choir rehearsals developed his ear at a remarkably young age.<\/strong> <br \/>\u201cEvery Saturday she would bring a cassette tape of the new songs we were gonna sing the following day,\u201d D\u2019Angelo said. \u201cAnd so I had to learn them Saturday night to play them Sunday morning. Doing that constantly, my ear got really developed pretty quickly\u2026 She\u2019s asking me, \u2018What\u2019s the note for the tenors? What\u2019s the note for the sopranos?\u2019 Very young, very early, my understanding of chords and melody and harmony was developed very, very strong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>D\u2019Angelo was an undefeated battle MC before he became a singer.<\/strong><br \/>\u201cAt school,\u00a0I was a battle MC,\u201d he said. \u201cI 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.\u201d Could he have had a career as a rapper? \u201cAbsolutely. If that\u2019s what I wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ editors-pick-module lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>D\u2019Angelo rejected the idea that his \u201cUntitled\u201d video overshadowed the music.<\/strong><br \/>\u201cI think 20 to 25 percent of it was about the fact that I was appearing nude,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that the rest of it was really about the song. I don\u2019t think it would\u2019ve raised eyebrows if the song wasn\u2019t good. The issues that I may have had was thinking that maybe it wasn\u2019t about the song, that it was all about me appearing in the nude. But once I was able to come to terms with that \u2014 it wasn\u2019t about that. I think people really gravitated to how sexy and how beautiful the song was. The video was just great window dressing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>The long gap between 2000\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/voodoo\/\" id=\"auto-tag_voodoo\" data-tag=\"voodoo\">Voodoo<\/a><\/em> and 2014\u2019s <em>Black Messiah<\/em> wasn\u2019t just about his personal struggles \u2014 the record industry\u2019s early-\u201900s woes played a huge role.<\/strong><br \/>\u201cSo much of the weight and the time that elapsed had nothing to do with me musically,\u201d D\u2019Angelo said. \u201cAt 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 <em>Voodoo<\/em> out. If it was solely just about the music, it would\u2019ve been out a lot sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>D\u2019Angelo was wary of  preaching with the political songs on <em>Black Messiah<\/em>.<\/strong><br \/>\u201cI\u2019m not trying to make myself to be like Bob Marley or nothing like that,\u201d he said. \u201cMe and my band say this a lot: We say \u2018save the world,\u2019 but we\u2019re 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>When D\u2019Angelo got to jam with Prince at the long-defunct New York club Tramps, it meant everything to him \u2014\u00a0but he refused Prince\u2019s offer of his signature guitar. <\/strong><br \/>\u201cI lived my whole life for that moment,\u201d D\u2019Angelo said. \u201cI 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\u2019m like, \u2018Hell fucking no! I\u2019m not touching that thing!\u2026 That motherfucker, man. He continues to be just the star to shoot for, creatively. I can\u2019t think of no one else who\u2019s had a bigger influence on me artistically.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>One of his fondest memories of arriving in New York was meeting Ol\u2019 Dirty Bastard during the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/brown-sugar\/\" id=\"auto-tag_brown-sugar\" data-tag=\"brown-sugar\">Brown Sugar<\/a><\/em> sessions.<\/strong><br \/>\u201cThe instrumental to \u2018Brown Sugar\u2019 was playing over the loudspeakers in the hallway,\u201d D\u2019Angelo remembered. \u201cHe 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\u2019s like, \u2018Yo, we are the baddest motherfuckers in the universe!\u2019 He just kept saying it. I\u2019m like 19, 20, and I\u2019m up here with the Beatles of hip-hop, seeing this shit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>D\u2019Angelo never felt pressure to surpass <em>Voodoo<\/em>.<br \/><\/strong>\u201cI never looked at it like I\u2019m going to outdo <em>Voodoo<\/em>,\u201d he said. \u201cOr even tried to, or that I had to. <em>Voodoo<\/em> was and is what it was. It\u2019s dishonest for me and unfair to me to think I\u2019m gonna outdo that, so I won\u2019t 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 \u2014 that too can be evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>D\u2019Angelo\u2019s dissatisfaction with <em>Brown Sugar<\/em> helped shape Voodoo.<\/strong><br \/>\u201c<em>Brown Sugar<\/em>, in retrospect, it\u2019s a great album, but I wasn\u2019t that happy with it,\u201d he said. \u201cI 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 <em>Voodoo<\/em> was for it not to feel like that, for it to feel more like my demos had felt.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules trending-in-article lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>The last 48 hours before turning in <em>Black Messiah<\/em> involved a lot of anxiety<\/strong> \u2014<strong> and some songs\u2019  mixes were never quite finished.<\/strong><br \/>\u201cIt was a lot of soul-searching,\u201d D\u2019Angelo said. \u201cI was a bit nervous, but at the same time I knew that this was Yahweh\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>D\u2019Angelo hoped to release a quick follow-up to Black Messiah, and was determined to push his craft forward.<\/strong><br \/>\u201cI \u200areally just want to get to the next phase of the evolution,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m gonna get to the next evolution. I\u2019m determined to just get there. I\u2019m not at all content with where everything is presently. I\u2019m happy, I\u2019m grateful, but ready to take it to the next step.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tDownload and subscribe to\u00a0<em>Rolling Stone<\/em>\u2018s weekly podcast, <em>Rolling Stone Music Now<\/em>, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/rolling-stone-music-now\/id1855128495\"> Apple Podcasts<\/a> or<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/5T4fqngDvNsDM7y46W1S4l?si=dbd274a790804ec2\"> Spotify<\/a>. Check out nine years\u2019 worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth interviews with artists including Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen, Questlove, Halsey, Missy Elliott, Dua Lipa, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, the National, Brian May, Roger Taylor, Ice Cube, Taylor Hawkins, Willow, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Charlie Puth, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, and Gary Clark Jr. And look for dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with <em>Rolling Stone<\/em>\u2018s critics and reporters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/dangelo-tapes-interview-voodoo-black-messiah-podcast-1235489256\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few months after the December 2014 release of D\u2019Angelo\u2019s third album, Black Messiah, the artist sat down with Rolling Stone over two late&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":54356,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop","article","has-excerpt","has-avatar","has-author","has-date","has-comment-count","has-category-meta","has-read-more","thumbnail-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}