Earlier this week, the music world lost a giant. D’Angelo, a trail-blazing artist from Richmond, Virginia, who shaped and expanded the sound of modern R&B and soul music, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 51 following a private battle with cancer.
A defining figure in the “neo-soul” movement, D’Angelo released three revolutionary, era-defining albums over the course of his career: 1995’s Brown Sugar, 2000’s Voodoo and 2014’s Black Messiah. These works cemented his legacy as a rare musical genius in the lineage of Marvin Gaye, Prince and Sly Stone.
To celebrate and pay tribute to D’Angelo, The Grind asked eight Canadian artists to reflect on how the late maestro influenced their music.
Witch Prophet
Toronto-based neo-soul artist
D’Angelo’s passing hit me hard. His music has been a guiding force in my life — spiritually, creatively and emotionally — since I first heard Brown Sugar in 1995 when I was just 14. What always moved me most about him was his connection to Spirit/God. You can feel it in every song, the way he channeled something higher and divine through the smallest turn of phrase or the quietest groove. His harmonies and vocal arrangements were a whole language of their own. The way he layered his voice created this warm, almost hypnotic depth that pulled you in. It felt like he was having a conversation with himself, building a choir out of one spirit.
As an alternative and neo-soul artist, I learned a lot listening to him and the rest of the Soulquarians collective, and was deeply influenced by how he carried himself. He never rushed or caved to the industry’s pressure to constantly produce. Those long gaps between albums weren’t silence, they were sacred pauses to heal and re-group. He showed me that taking time is part of art (and life). In a world obsessed with speed and surface-level content, D’Angelo taught me that what really matters is the truth in the music. It’s not about what an executive or agent thinks, it’s about how the music makes you feel. Does it move you? Does it speak to what’s happening around you? Will it still mean something years from now?
Essential tracks: “Africa,” “Send It On,” “Brown Sugar”
It’s hard to choose just one song, but “Africa” and “Send It On” from Voodoo always move me. They carry a warmth and intimacy that feel like home, a reminder of love, heritage, and faith.
And of course, “Brown Sugar.” I grew up thinking it was a love song to Black women, only later realizing it was also an ode to weed. That double meaning blew my mind. He carried deep pride in making Black music that honored the lineage it came from while pushing it forward. That’s D’Angelo. Layered, brilliant, timeless.
Witch Prophet is currently working on her fourth studio album, titled “Words Are Spells, Thoughts Are Magic.” In true D’Angelo fashion, “it’ll come out when it’s ready.”
Vivek Shraya
Toronto-based musician, filmmaker and writer
As a ‘90s kid, I generally preferred listening to female vocalists like Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Madonna over the grunge-heavy male vocalist style of that time. But when Brown Sugar came out, I was immediately drawn to D’Angelo’s quietly confident vocals and masculinity. He offered an alternative pathway for me to express myself.
Essential track: “Cruisin’”
I had killed my falsetto during puberty because I had learned boys shouldn’t sing “that way,” but his heavenly cover of Smokey Robinson’s “Cruisin” on that album in particular became a motivation for me to resuscitate my falsetto.
Vivek Shraya’s latest studio album, New Models, dropped in October.
Begonia
Winnipeg-based singer-songwriter
I was 18 and in my first bar band when a mentor of mine burnt two CDs for me. He basically told me that if I wanted to play music I needed to know these albums. They were Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun and D’Angelo’s Voodoo. I would drive to and from late night rehearsals in my parents’ Corolla with Voodoo blasting through the speakers and my brain and jaw completely on the floor. I have no formal training in music, but listening and becoming fully encompassed in Voodoo during that time period made me feel like I was a student in some life changing course. Shout out to Paul Yee (Winnipeg virtuoso) for burning me that CD 20 years ago. You changed my lil’ brain!
Essential track: “Send It On”
I remember the first time I heard “Send It On.” I had never heard vocal lines executed quite like that or horn lines as melodic and free. Not to mention the bass line… and the drums! It felt at once so polished yet so raw. Full of feel that just moved me in ways I hadn’t felt before.
Begonia’s third studio album, Fantasy Life, drops Oct. 24.
pHoenix Pagliacci
Toronto-based R&B and hip hop artist
The first song I ever heard from D’Angelo was “Lady.” I immediately fell in love with the sonics of the first eight seconds. (There is a mystery sound at the three-second mark that to this day I cannot identify.) But when I hear it, it immediately takes me back to the floor of my sister’s room where I sat, ripping the song off of the radio onto a blank cassette.
The iconic bassline riff cemented the bass guitar as my favourite instrument and paid homage to the history of iconic bass lines that live in the soul music hall of fame (see Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish,” Patrice Rushen’s “Forget Me Nots,” or “Brick House” by Commodores). D’Angelo’s debut united so many elements of artistry and musicianship for me and my peers.
I’m grateful to have experienced his music in real time. I am so happy for the new fans he will gain and the old stories we will share over and over again. I am heartbroken that many of our legends seldom live to see their flowers, nor their senior years. My heart is heavy with both grief and gratitude. But I’m so very inspired by the legacy that D’Angelo has left in his short time here on earth and I am lowkey jealous of the dope ass jam sessions I know are happening up in heaven right now.
Essential track: “Shit, Damn, Motherfucker”
I grew up on soul songs where women were begging for their man to stop cheating, pleading with the other woman to not take their man (enter “Jolene” by Dolly Parton, “Best Friend” by Kelly Price, “Woman to Woman” by Shirley Brown). So to hear a man’s take on this conundrum, outside of simply begging to stay or choosing to go, was unique for its time. I love the drama, the simple refrain and the calm jazz contrast of the music compared to the lyrical journey. It’s audible cinema.
pHoenix Pagliacci’s most recent EP, R&B Diaries, dropped in September.
Ruby Singh
Vancouver-based experimental composer and producer
Who didn’t try and sing in a falsetto when they heard Brown Sugar in the ’90s? D’Angelo brought the funk, the soul, the gospel and raw sexiness into one sound that felt like church and sin at the same time. If you want to understand what kind of musical genius he was, just look at his chord charts — the man laid it down and took us on harmonic journeys we couldn’t even understand at the time. He carried the gospel gold of Al Green, the purple flame of Prince, and the mad genius of Stevie Wonder, yet remained entirely in his own timeless alchemy that has and will go on to inspire countless for generations to come. His falsetto didn’t just soar, it sanctified, inviting us into the soft, sacred corners of masculinity. In a world built on hardness, he opened us to the vulnerable layers of our spirit and made tenderness infectious. D’Angelo showed that art born from devotion outlives what’s merely marketable, that craft itself can be consecration.
Saul Williams recently said in an online eulogy to his friend, “He often felt visited by the spirits of musicians that had long left this plane but could be conjured through sonic invocation. They would speak to him and he’d share some of those conversations with us.” Well, may those of us who play in realms of music be so lucky to be visited and have our hearts haunted by this generational talent.
Essential track: “Crusin’” (embedded above as Vivek Shraya’s pick)
“Cruisin” has that laid back feel that makes “everything’s right” in the universe. The harmonies, the groove and, sweet lord, his voice! “Let the music take your mind.”
Ruby Singh & The Future Ancestors are set to release Celestial Libations, a collaboration with Memphis-born griot and Hoodoo practitioner Arthur Flowers, on Nov. 21.
Tanika Charles
Toronto-based soul and R&B singer
When D’Angelo arrived, he had this sultry voice and a sound that was so thick with harmonies, and rich in texture that it sounded entirely different from the music I was listening to at the time, which was New Jack Swing. He ushered me into neo-soul, a genre that has held me hostage ever since. It doesn’t feel possible for an artist to have such a timeless body of work but whose actual time with us ended up being so limited. I would’ve gladly waited another 10 to 15 years for a D’Angelo album because I know it would’ve been right on time.
Essential track: “The Root”
The fact that this song is about a vengeful, jilted ex-lover, and a song that ties in with the actual title of the album (Voodoo) is beautiful in itself. The chorus alone brings a visual to my mind and I can feel what he’s going through. Lyrics aside, the composition, stacked harmonies, the laziness of the drums and the fluidity of the guitar. Stank face to this day.
Tanika Charles’ latest album, Reasons To Stay, dropped in May.
Katie Tupper
Saskatoon-based neo-soul singer-songwriter
I was in my last year of high school when a friend showed me Voodoo. It was like I was hearing music for the first time. That album was the kickoff for my obsession with everything Soulquarians and neo-soul. When I started making my own music out of college I knew I wanted it to be infused with neo-soul in some capacity. The tonal choices, rawness, vocal layering across his albums are a guiding light during my music making process.
Essential track: “Ain’t That Easy”
All the vocal layering and counter-melodies on “Ain’t That Easy” and “Brown Sugar” changed how I looked at writing choruses. And I love the snare sound on “Ain’t That Easy.” I think it’s perfect.
Katie Tupper’s latest single, “Tennessee Heat,” arrived in September.
SHEBAD
Guelph-based indie soul band
D’Angelo’s music is what happens when a bright spirit shines bright enough to draw the perfect musicians in to play and unify. Erykah Badu, Roy Hargrove, Questlove, Raphael Saadiq, and Pino Palladino, just to name a few. His music is an ode!
It takes a special soul to change the world, and even more so to do it in three albums. Our music would not be the same without him. It’s shaped our sound in vocal harmony, production, mixing, groove and melody. It’s changed us and pushed the limit of what our music can be. D’Angelo changed the world. His music is a gift that will live with musicians forever.
Essential track: “Spanish Joint”
Each of the songs on Voodoo reveal something unique about D’Angelo’s creativity, funk and love. It’s the rare pairing of his delicate falsetto with truly innovative grooves. But “Spanish Joint” is a heat rock; a perfect song. The bass line going into the horns, D’Angelo’s vocal restraint and arrangement: it’s what it was meant to be.
SHEBAD released their debut album, Music is the Answer in 2024. The band will release an acoustic version of the album on Nov. 1.