I’ve now watched Questlove’s Sly Stone documentary twice and both times I have been impressed by the interview clips with D’Angelo. I have ignored the music of D’Angelo for 30 years but that was a mistake. I’ve been listening to all of his recordings over the last few days (which is easy since he only has 3 studio albums) and they get better with every listen. D’Angelo’s story is hauntingly similar to that of Sly Stone. He achieved massive success early on, was heralded as the future of black music, struggled under the pressure of stardom, and finally succumbed to his inner demons and addiction. This led to the long gaps between his releases, with his 3 albums recorded over a period of 20 years. Amazingly, every release has been critically acclaimed, and his last album, Black Messiah, is often called a masterpiece and is considered the pinnacle of neo-soul (a style he helped define along with artists such as Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill). It appears that he is doing well now, so perhaps there is a fourth album coming out someday.

• Song of the Day (2025)