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11th July 2020

D’Angelo’s “Voodoo” was released on 25th Jan 2000 in response to his growing dissatisfaction with mainstream R&B and Soul music at the time. “Voodoo” evolved from a nearly 4-year process of legendary recording sessions in Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios that featured extensive collaborations with outstanding R&B, hip hop, jazz musicians and technicians (Questlove, Roy Hargrove, Pino Palladino and Russell Elevado just to name a few). The album was fundamentally crafted out of hundreds of hours’ worth of playful jam sessions, where D’Angelo and his crew would study, cover and freely improvise over classics by Soul, Funk and R&B artists such as Marvin Gaye, Fela Kuti, Prince and Curtis Mayfield (listen to some of the jam session here). This created the perfect environment for D’Angelo to development the elusive sound that he so clearly envisioned. These creative recording sessions would naturally flow into a new groove, a new rhythm and a new musical landmark. The result was a heartfelt tribute to his predecessors but also a dynamic shift in the musical landscape of contemporary R&B into what we now call “Neo-Soul” (a term, I feel, that is widely misused today).

When I first heard “Voodoo”, I didn’t like it because I wasn’t familiar with its sound. D’Angelo’s vocals initially felt raw and unfinished, most of the songs were clearly from live jam sessions and the songs often averaged 6 minutes (which felt unnecessarily long at the time). However, I found myself entranced by the funky cover of Roberta Flack’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love”, I never thought I’d like a cover of this song more than the original. Pino’s groovy bassline and Questlove’s syncopated drum patterns hypnotises you, whilst D’Angelo smooth vocals create a raw texture that expresses the amorous emotions arising in sweet romance and Roy Hargrove’s jazzy horns keeps the theme of courtship playful. Needless to say, I found myself very quickly addicted to the rest of the album.

There is no denying the extraordinary power of D’Angelo’s voice. The record makes use of his vocal versatility: from delicate croons, whispers and rhythmic deliveries to funky improvisations and seductive melodies to intense roars of passion and explosive climaxes, it’s all here in full display. His voice clearly embodies the spirit of soul in its purest form, channelling the energy of Prince, Marvin Gaye, James Brown and other greats. This is most evident in the album’s monumental single: “Untitled (How Does it Feel?)”, a song reminiscent of Prince’s “Do Me Baby”, which slowly layers his voluptuous vocals on top of each other in a choir-like fashion, building the atmosphere towards a gorgeous climax. The whole song is a masterful performance of soulful artistry.

It is important to point out the exceptional instrumentation, production and mixing of this record. One of the key characteristics of the album is it’s drumming style, D’Angelo’s vision for the album required Questlove to intentionally drum on and off sequence in order to create an organic human feel to the Dilla-esque drum patterns. The slick bass lines were written by D’Angelo, wherein Pino Palladino would improvise them into the funky grooves for the album. As for the recording and mixing, Russell Elevado’s analog mixing and production techniques would provide the album’s overall raw jazzy atmosphere. This is just to name a few of the key players, but overall, it was simply a group of talented musicians having a lot of fun with their creative freedom.

I found it difficult to write about “Voodoo”, mainly because I can spend ages talking about it (I haven’t even mentioned the other 11 tracks here, let alone D’Angelo as an artist or his other albums “Brown Sugar” and “Black Messiah”). There was a point where I had to listen to at least one song from the album, once a day. D’Angelo led me to Prince, Funkadelic, Sly & The Family Stone, Fela Kuti, and more, causing a domino effect that would take me through countless musical journeys. My musical horizons were expanded by following the roots of “Voodoo”, this, I will forever be grateful for. To me, every moment stands out in this unquestionable classic containing some of the best musicianship, song-writing and musical arrangements ever to be recorded. It’s a carefully crafted 4-year project, dedicated to the musical giants that came before them but also a ground-breaking, genre defining work.

Listening to this album can be difficult and demanding but rich and rewarding to those who give it attention. Strangely enough, despite the album deserving careful attention, it also serves equally well as a soulful ambient music played in the background whilst working or entertaining guests – overall, it’s an album for many occasions. If you haven’t heard this album yet, I recommend you find a warm summer evening, a pair of really good headphones, and a place to sit down comfortably without distraction – and just enjoy!

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