Voodoo (album)

Voodoo is a nu soul album by D'Angelo, released on January 11, 2000 (see 2000 in music). The follow-up to Brown Sugar, Voodoo failed to live up to the hype created by the critical success of its predecessor, Brown Sugar, which launched the hip hop-influenced nu soul trend of the late 1990s. After many delays caused by D'Angelo's record label folding and legal trouble with his management, Voodoo was finally released in 2000 and received mixed reviews, but sold better than its Brown Sugar, and included the song "Untitled (How Does It Feel)", which became a hit video on MTV; the video consisting entirely of a naked D'Angelo singing.

Nu soul is a reaction against slick pop-oriented soul from the late 1980s and early 1990s, and is most strongly influenced by 1970s and 80s legends like Marvin Gaye and Prince. On Voodoo, the song "Untitled (How Does It Feel)", written with Rafael Saadiq, is intended as a tribute to Prince, and evokes that artist's earlier work. "One Mo' 'Gin"'s intro shows similarities to Marvin Gaye's paranoid reflection on a homicidide "Shit, Damn, Motherfucker"; D'Angelo sings to a former lover instead, using the titular southern colloquialism (a conflation of one more time and again) to ask for another chance.

The DJ Premierproduced "Devil's Pie", a funk and hip hop diatribe on money worship ; it memorably appeared on the soundtrack to the film Belly, which starred several rappers.

?estlove, a drummer, was the album's "co-pilot" according to D'Angelo, and helped designed the sparse funky soul and hip hop beats on Voodoo.

Track listing

1. "Playa Playa" (D'Angelo/Questlove/Stone) - 7:06
2. "Devil's Pie" (with Raekwon, INI and Fat Joe, produced by DJ Premier) - 5:21
3. "Left & Right" (with Redman and Method Man) - 4:46
4. "The Line" (D'Angelo) - 5:16
5. "Send It On" (Archer/Bell/Brown/D'Angelo/Mickens/Redd/Smith/Sparrow/Stone/Thomas/Westfield) - 5:56
6. "Chicken Grease" (D'Angelo/Poyser) - 4:38
7. "One Mo' 'Gin" (D'Angelo) - 6:13
8. "The Root" (Archer/D'Angelo/Hunter) - 6:33
9. "Spanish Joint" (D'Angelo/Hargrove) - 5:44
10. "Feel Like Makin' Love" (cover of Roberta Flack) - 6:22
11. "Greatdayndamornin'/Booty" (D'Angelo/Hunter/Stone/Thompson) - 7:35
12. "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" (D'Angelo/Saadiq) - 7:10
13. "Africa" (Archer/D'Angelo/Questlove/Stone) - 6:13

Personnel

• Roy Hargrove - Trumpet, Flugelhorn ("Send It On"), Horn
• Mike Campbell - Guitar (Baritone)
• Eddie Alford - Guitar (Baritone)
• D'Angelo - Arranger, Vocals, Producer, Executive Producer, Mixing
• DJ Premier - Programming, Producer
• Russell Elevado - Engineer, Mixing
• Charlie Hunter - Guitar (Bass) ("The Root"), Guitar (Baritone)
• Pino Palladino - Bass
• James Poyser - Keyboards
• Q-Tip - Percussion, Vocals
• Method Man - Performer
• Raphael Saadiq - Arranger, Producer, Guitar (Baritone)
• Fat Joe - Performer
• Tom Coyne - Mastering
• Ahmir Khalib Thompson - Drums (Snare)
• Dominique Trenier - Executive Producer
• Steve Mandel - Assistant Engineer