The 500 - #481- D'Angelo - "Voodoo"

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

My plan (amended). 

• 2 1 records per week & at least 2 complete listens.
• A quick blog post for each, highlighting the important details and a quick background story.
• No rating scale - just an effort to expand my appreciation.

Album # 481

Album Title: Voodoo
Artist: D'Angelo
Released: January, 2000
My age at release: 34
How familiar am I with it: Not at all
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix:  The Root 

This is the first record on the list that I know absolutely nothing about. I vaguely remember that D'Angelo was a musician and I think I lumped him into the category of "R&B/Hip Hop for the ladies category" - with Nelly, Usher, Maxwell & R. Kelly. 

When I was teaching in the early aughts, I think he was one of the artists that the girls in my class liked. I remember a girl named Hailey who was really into this genre and singularly obsessed with Nelly. Whenever student voice was encouraged - she would always choose to do her work with an Nelly connection. That year, I read Nelly essays & Nelly poetry. I saw Nelly inspired artwork and listened to speeches about Nelly. I wish it had been D'Angelo she was obsessed with - then I would have more to share today.

This record is enjoyable. I'm not a fan of it all and I don't suspect it will get many more spins but, there are some great tracks on it. The track The Root has a Prince vibe to it.

Things I learned...

• He covers a Eugene McDaniels song Feel Like Making Love which is a weird coincidence because I just heard about McDaniels this week on Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast.
• Questlove of The Roots plays drums on the album and co-wrote four of the songs.
• This album literally won all the awards in 2000 - I am so surprised I didn't hear about it before now.
• This style of music is called NeoSoul