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D'Angelo | Voodoo

CD,

Tekst: Ariën Rasmijn

Publicatiedatum: 14 februari 2000

He litterally came out of nowhere and astounded everyone with his debut 'Brown Sugar', a revolutionary that came in like a boost of fresh air in the extremely stifled black music scene of the mid-nineties, right after the demise of the gangsta-era. Intelligently combining sounds from both church and street and drawing strength from the past (Marvin Gaye, Ohio Players, Curtis Mayfield) without resorting to ordinary theft, this kid from Virginia, together with contemporaries like Erykah Badu and later on Maxwell and Lauryn Hill brought back the soul that somehow got lost through the slippery fingers of producers like Babyface and singers like Toni Braxton and Mariah. Well, if he got you impressed when 'Brown Sugar' came out, wait ‘till you hear this record. 3 years in the making and very much worth the wait. And worth the effort too. D'Angelo's sophomore effort is not a snapshot of a certain point in time in his career. This is a rich, spicy stew that took a long time to simmer over low heat on top of the stove. This time he went even further back into the past and drew inspiration from Negro spirituals and his Creole roots . (the understated, repetitive form of many choruses on the album are a testament to the latter). He then took what he got and turned it into a enthralling ride from the swamp to the ghetto, through the bedroom and back.
The songs are deep, dark, primal, raw-sounding (beautiful copper brass!!!) yet very sofisticated in composition (check out opener 'Playa Playa', as well as 'The Line', 'Chicken Grease' and 'One Mo’gin' and you’ll see what I mean). And they’re damn sexy too. You won’t even have to read the lyrics to get the point. 'Voodoo' is instant mood on a disc. Baby-making music. Know what you’ll probably be getting into if you put it on and you’re not alone. D’Angelo actually manages to make Barry White sound….well, white! This album is so rich it actually takes a couple of spins to get all of it in your system. But once it gets there, beware. This record didn’t get that title for no particular reason. Just try and get that vibe out of your head once it gets you. I’ve tried some heavy duty punkrock de-programming, even licking outlets and car batteries for shock-treatment. But I just can’t seem to keep my head from bobbing... There are of course some slight flaws to be found. 'Spanish Joint' sounds at certain points like cheapo Latin Jazz and 'Africa', though beautifully understated, is just not good enough to finish the album with. But the hiphop-collaborations (usually a bit disappointing on R&B-records and remixes) come off well and make sense in D'Angelo’s hands. He salvages 'Devil’s Pie' from becoming just another routine job for DJ Premier and Method Man and Redman keep it fun and snappy on 'From The Left To the Right'. Dark, rich. Totally erotic and engaging. If you have yet to buy an R&B-record, make shure it’s this one and before you know it you'll be surprised to be finding yourself running around the recordstore in search of Curtis, Marvin & Prince. That 'Voodoo'-record’s just filled to the brim with black magic.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/d-angelo/voodoo/805/
Meer D'Angelo op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/d-angelo