DAngelo Biography and Information

DAngelo

Michael D'Angelo Archer was born on the 11th of February 1974, in Richmond VA. He was the son of a Pentecostal minister which is an usual background for a great singer to come from (sarcasm). His first real contact with music came when he began to play the piano as a youngster, no lessons here, the young D''Angelo was said to have taught himself how to play.
At the age of 18 D'Angelo entered a talent competition at the Harlem Apollo Theater. His talent shone through and D'Angelo won the event three weeks in a row. Following this there was a brief stint with a Hip Hop group and at this time he signed a publishing deal with EMI.
His first taste of real success came when he produced and wrote the single "U Will Know", which featured on the 'Jason's Lyric' soundtrack. Next on the list was his own album, titled "Brown Sugar". This was an unquestionable hit, featuring some classic tracks and put D'Angelo firmly on the map. The title track, "Brown Sugar" was an absolute smash and crossed over into the hip hop community, partly thanks to the inclusion of "Red Man" on the remix, partly because it was just such a hot tune. Remix's aside though, this was a beautiful track (one of my personal favourites).
Following this great album it seemed to go very quiet for a long time, too long in most music fans opinion. There is a constant stream of rubbish from the generic pop tarts of this world but when a decent artist comes along it often seems as though you are starved of their product, it would seem good music is not created overnight. D'Angelo had wetted our appetites but then neglected to give us the main course and the discerning listeners were very hungry. It transpires there was more to this delay than simply the creative process however. Apparently there were all kinds of internal problems within D'angelo's camp. His label went under and he also eventually split with his management. There were a few collaborations while all this was going on, the most notable was perhaps with Lauryn hill (though there were several others) but the masses were still waiting for D to drop something new on his own.
Finally it happened, in 2000 D'Angelo released a new album titled, "Voodoo". The album debuted at number one, such was the following and respect D''Angelo had retained even after all this time. It seems people do not forget quality.
The lead single "Untitled (How Does It Feel)," was an massive smash and brought D'Angelo his first Grammy (Best Male R&B Vocal) the same can be said of the album, for which he also got a Grammy (Best R&B Album). While it was definitely a successful record, a lot of fans felt that something was missing and preferred the work he did on the first Album, though lets be honest, there are not many artists that can match their first album, which they have had all of their life to build. It also takes some time to get used to something new, and while many may have been underwhelmed by the Album originally it could be argued that many of the tracks grew on you every time you listened. In the balance it was a good, solid album and stood head and shoulders above most of the aural pollution we are assulated with day to day, we await the next installment.....