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D’Angelo: Sample Retrospective Top 5

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BlackMessiah_400
14 years have passed since D’Angelo dropped his sophomore masterpiece ‘Voodoo’, the critically acclaimed follow up to 1996’s ‘Brown Sugar’. With the exception of occasional features (see collaborations with Dilla & Common, Q-Tip, Snoop & Dre) in the late 2000s, it’s been a near decade and a half since there was any glimmer of a full length offering. And then overnight the world has been blessed with ‘Black Messiah’, and on first listen there’s little to suggest it wasn’t every bit worth the wait. In celebration, we revisit 5 of our favourite D’Angelo appearances and their sample sources:

r4519_2010112_4327411574Method Man feat D’Angelo’s ‘Make Ups to Break Ups’ interpolation of ‘Marvin Gaye’s ‘Soon I’ll Be Loving You Again’

Not the only time D’Angelo and Meth have collaborated (Method Man appeared on ‘Left and Right‘ taken from the Voodoo LP two years later), D’Angelo delivers a catchy hook on this accessible hip hop / RnB joint interpolating Marvin Gaye‘s ‘Soon I’ll Be Loving You Again’.

r551_2009318_191556916128J Dilla feat Common & D’Angelo ‘So Far To Go’ sample of Isley Brothers ‘Don’t Say Goodnight’

This posthumous release from the late great J Dilla (taken from his 2006 BBE LP ‘The Shining’) combines a deft flip of the Isley Brothers mellow classic ‘Don’t Say Goodnight’ with guest vocals from Common and atmospheric hooks drowned in reverse reverb from D’Angelo, in places interpolating Junie Morrison’s ‘Tight Rope’.

r924_2009418_423242342D’Angelo’s ‘Cruisin’ cover of Smokey Robinson’s ‘Cruisin’

Taken from 1995’s ‘Brown Sugar’ LP, D’Angelo makes Robinson‘s 1979 Tamla soul cut his own. Retaining both the tempo, and general feel of the original down to the tambs in the drum track, D’Angelo’s delivery of the vocal is transformative.

r59035_2012921_132613977228D’Angelo ‘Me and Those Dreamin’ Eyes Of Mine (Jaydee Remix) sample of Dave Grusin ‘The Colorado Trail’

The second Dilla appearance in our Top 5, this unreleased remix from D’Angelo’s debut LP perfectly encapsulates the Soulquarians sound with a simple but effective Rhodes flip courtesy of Dave Grusin and crisp, snappy snares that characterized Dilla’s productions from the era.

r2929_2010510_122220839926D’Angelo’s ‘Devil’s Pie’ sample of Teddy Pendergrass ‘And If I Had’

Appearing on 2000’s Voodoo, this track first appeared on the 1998 soundtrack to the movie ‘Belly’. A rare R&B production from DJ Premier at a time when his attentions were more focused on Gang Starr material, the track bears all the hall marks of a classic Premo production – bumping drums, cut chorus and a deft chop (in this case of Teddy Pendergrass’s broody Philly Soul cut ‘And If I Had’). Atmospherics grabbed from Michel Colombier and Pierre Henry’s ‘Jericho Jerk’ are the icing on the cake.

Words: Chris Read



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