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An instant classic from the moment it was first released – and still pretty darn pleasing these days! D'Angelo's first album, and a sweetly crafted batch of songs that have a strong "return to the classic sound" vibe to them. Cuts include "Smooth", "Me & Those Dreamin Eyes Of Mine", "Brown Sugar", "Alright", and "Jonz In My Bonz".

Pure niceness on this first single from the Voodoo LP, produced by Premier.

Pure niceness on this first single from the Voodoo LP, produced by Premier.

Sweet and gritty soul from D'Angelo – who takes a huge step into deeper territory on Voodoo – and it's one of the most monumental records of its time! On one level, Voodoo works as a nicely stripped-down session with a very classic soul feel. Gone are the overzealous flourishes that sometimes overwhelmed his earlier songs, and in their place are some sweetly crafted vocal parts with a classic Marvin Gaye/Al Green feel. That warmth is probably what made Voodoo a massive popular success – but what makes it such a creative triumph are the darker undercurrents – which hint at a troubled soul struggling for spiritual truth. One of the rare cases in popular music when great art became music for the masses! Titles include "Left & Right (feat Method Man & Redman)", "The Line", "Spanish Joint", "Africa", "Feel Like Makin Love", "The Root", "Playa Playa", "Devil's Pie", and "Greatdayndamornin/Booty".

An infectious batch of soul tunes from Raheem DeVaughn – his long overdue debut for Jive Records! Raheem stands apart from many in the mainstream soul and neo soul, not because he wears his influences so proudly on his sleeve, but in the way he wears them. Raheem's soul style is born of love for singers from Marvin Gaye, to Prince, to D'Angelo, to the Isleys and beyond – but his approach to songcraft and recording is born of hip hop and mixtapes – in which he can appropriate a given groove into his own tunes. The album's full of peaks and valleys, and the peaks are worth the the climb! Tracks include "The Love Experience", the Kenny Dope-produced "Guess Who Loves You More", "Who", "Where I Stand", "Breathe", "You", "Sweet Tooth", "Ask Yourself", "Believe", "Is It Possible", "Catch 22", "You", "Cadillac", "Green Leaves" and more!

A much-needed look at one of our favorite instruments ever – the irreplaceable Fender Rhodes keyboard! The Rhodes has a sound that's unlike anything else – and has become a favorite of musicians over decades of use – as you'll hear in the film's interviews with Deodato, George Duke, Stanley Clarke, Patrice Rushen, Ramsey Lewis, Dave Grusin, Rodney Franklin, Joe Sample, Jerry Peters, Les McCann, Maurice White, Ronnie Foster, D'Angelo, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and other jazz and soul legends – an incredibly large roster for a project like this! The film was partially put together by Gerald McCauley – a keyboardist himself – and it shows a love and respect of the Rhodes that really comes through. Almost 2 hours long, in color, with a special "Rhodes Scholars" feature.

A glorious send off from J Dilla – with some of the most soulful productions Dilla's ever laid down – and appearances by Common, D'Angelo, Pharoahe Monch, Madlib, MED, Black Thought and others! It's impossible to listen to The Shining without considering the sad circumstances surrounding its release, and all too easy to over praise, but this record is filled timelessly inventive production – and passionate rhymes from the honored guests. A lot of the more leftfield, abstract touches that create most of the character on the Donuts LP are really on the outskirts of the sound here – a much richer, deeper, funky drum influenced batch of sounds. We're speechless. There's one more official posthumous LP in the can, and thank goodness for that. Tracks include in-your-f**kin' face intro "Geek Down" with Busta Rhymes, "E=MC2" feat Common, "Love Jones", "Love" feat Pharoahe Monch, "Baby" feat Madlib & Guilty Simpson, "So Far To Go" feat Common & D'Angelo (come back D', the world needs you), "Jungle Love" feat MED & Guilty Simpson, "Dime Piece (Remix)" feat Dwele, "Love Movin'" feat Black Thought and "Won't Do".

A glorious send off from J Dilla – with some of the most soulful productions Dilla's ever laid down – and appearances by Common, D'Angelo, Pharoahe Monch, Madlib, MED, Black Thought and others! It's impossible to listen to The Shining without considering the sad circumstances surrounding its release, and all too easy to over praise, but this record is filled timelessly inventive production – and passionate rhymes from the honored guests. A lot of the more leftfield, abstract touches that create most of the character on the Donuts LP are really on the outskirts of the sound here – a much richer, deeper, funky drum influenced batch of sounds. We're speechless. There's one more official posthumous LP in the can, and thank goodness for that. Tracks include in-your-f**kin' face intro "Geek Down" with Busta Rhymes, "E=MC2" feat Common, "Love Jones", "Love" feat Pharoahe Monch, "Baby" feat Madlib & Guilty Simpson, "So Far To Go" feat Common & D'Angelo (come back D', the world needs you), "Jungle Love" feat MED & Guilty Simpson, "Dime Piece (Remix)" feat Dwele, "Love Movin'" feat Black Thought and "Won't Do".

Killer work from Ledisi – one of the best underground soul singers alive! This album has Ledisi opening up her bag a lot from her Soulsinger debut – moving into some more jazz-based material, sung with a sweet mellow vibe that still retains all the soulfulness of earlier work, yet which also has her using some more complicated phrasing, more sophisticated modes, and great backings that really help the set groove! As with Soulsinger, this one's got some great electric piano at the core of most of the cuts – and the tracks are a mix of originals by Ledisi, plus some surprisingly great versions of jazz standards, done in a way that's very different than any other vocal interpretations of them we've ever heard. Originals include "Meeting Marcus On A Thursday", "I've Got It", "So Right", "Land Of The Free", "Feeling Orange But Sometimes Blue", and "If You Go" – plus great covers of "Autumn Leaves", "Straight No Chaser", "Round Midnight", and "Sugar", done in a medley with D'Angelo's "Brown Sugar"!

Classic-styled soul from Musiq Soulchild – his debut set for Def Soul, and the start of a great run of mellow grooves! As you might guess from the compressed wording of the title, the tunes here have a great set of flow – a laidback, kicked-back sort of sound that's not nearly as full-on or swaggering as other male soul of the time. Musiq's even more relaxed than D'Angelo here – and the tunes are awash in warm keyboard lines and mellow bubbling beats – all with plenty of room for Musiq to stretch out in some sweeeeeet vocal lines. Titles include "Speechless", "You & Me", "Just Friends (Sunny)", "Girl Next Door", "Mary Go Round", "Love", "Poparatzi", and "You Be Alright".

Smooth soul from Asaph – the self-proclaimed "son of soul", and a strong talent bubbling underground! Asaph first made his appearance in the R&B world as the lead singer of the early 90s group True Image – but since that time, he's really developed richly as an artist, writing and playing his own work, and singing in a mature style that's got lots of warm classic touches. There's certainly a strong influence here from gospel, but Asaph also works the groove in a style that's sexily secular – sliding around in warm and slinky grooves, moving in a range that's somewhere between Marvin Gaye and D'Angelo. Titles include "Sunshine", "Tell Me Girl", "I Apologize", "Heaven", "Key To My Heart", and "Come Back To Me" and now contains two extra tracks – "It's You" and "Feelin You".

A tough title to live up to – but Raphael makes it happen! The album's as wonderful as you might think – all the deeply soulful styles Saadiq worked out with Tony Toni Tone, taken back through a historical range of soul music – firmly planted in a legacy that begins with Stevie Wonder, runs through Maxwell and D'Angelo, and which points the way towards the future of urban soul. Backings are very much in the beats-n-keyboards mode, but Raphael works out such a wide range of moods and modes that the album avoids any of the shortcomings of other albums in such a style. Includes guest performances by Angie Stone, Leslie Wilson, T-Boz, Calvin Richardson, and D'Angelo – and titles that include "Doing What I Can", "Be Here", "Still Pay", "You're The One That I Like", "Excuse Me", "Tick Tock", "People", "Faithful", "Make My Day", "Blind Man", "Different Times", "What's Life Like", and "Skyy, Can You Feel Me".

Get ready to discover a fantastic new soul music talent! Jill Scott's the best thing we've heard in years – and she's a perfect example of the killer NuSoul trends that have been forged in the past few years by artists like D'Angelo, Mshell N'degocello, or N'Dambe (but Jill doesn't have an apostrophe mark in her name!) The record's a totally seductive blend of warm instrumentation, subdued funky beats, and immensely captivating soul vocals. The whole thing's awash in Fender Rhodes, giving it a spacey soul sound that will make the record a classic for years to come! Titles include "The Way", "Do You Remember", "Long Rain", "Love Rain", "Honey Molasses", "Slowly Surely", "Watching Me", and "He Loves Me" – but it's allllll good! The LP includes a remix of "Love Rain" featuring Mos Def!

The excellent R&B issue of Wax Poetics – with split covers featuring generation defining artists – with Barry White or Gil-Scott Heron on the front and D'Angelo or Erykah Badu on the back! Inside #42 are great features on all of the above, plus pieces on a far reaching roster of R&B, soul, funk & hip hop indebted artists from around the world – Bilal, The Bamboos, Kings Go Forth, Melvin Bliss, Spree Williams and others. The essential Record Rundown section digs deep as always, and this issue also has the Studio Rundown, An Oral History Of The Wah Wah Pedal and much more!