Lady – D’Angelo

In today’s age, there are a lot of artists, but not a lot of vocalists. My friend made this comment to me at work today, and while there are plenty of new and amazing vocalists out there, in terms of the charts today, I think that is a great hot take. Even the most hardcore Swifties, I think, would admit that Taylor Swift is popular more because of her songwriting and production rather than her vocal ability. The same goes for artists like Shaboozey, who has had the number one song on the charts for 18 weeks in a row now. It’s not a bad song; it’s catchy, it’s fun, but no one is raving about the vocals. On the flip side of that, you do have people like Ariana Grande, who is one of the most powerful vocalists alive today, and she is one of the most popular performers in the world. I included a link to a really great tribute she did with The Roots to Aretha Franklin, singing Natural Woman. She also was to perform the song at Aretha’s funeral, and that should tell you all you need to know. It seems like, to me at least, that in the early 2000s and the 90s, while not every hit had crazy vocals, there were more people in the charts that I would consider real vocalists rather than just a “pop artist.” D’Angelo is a great example of what I would call a true vocalist, as the performances he gives are fully centered around his voice rather than dancers, sets, or pyrotechnics, for example.

Written and produced by D’Angelo himself and Raphael Saadiq of Tony! Toni! Toné!, “Lady” is a hell of a slow jam. Sultry and soulful, what more could you want? This is a certified neo-soul classic. I love the harmonies in this song. D’Angelo does all the vocals, and it’s pretty incredible how it sounds like three totally different people in the studio singing. Saadiq lays down a really smooth bass line and a really cool funk-inspired riff on guitar; this is one of those songs that is impossible not to groove along with. There is also some nice piano in the back that is played by Saadiq’s fellow Tony! Toni! Toné! member, Tim Christian Riley.

I have found a lot of similarities between Prince, D’Angelo, and Frank Ocean in terms of style, inspiration, and especially attention to detail and production. I would love to explore this much more in a future post.

The live version I linked is absolutely killer, featuring Questlove of The Roots on drums and Spanky Alford on guitar, who plays some really nice licks throughout, especially during the intro in which the supergroup pays homage to Sam Cooke. He’s also got Raphael Saadiq on guitar (again) and backup vocals (Anthony Hamilton also used to sing backup for D’Angelo) and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest) on bass. Talk about a performance.

Like to song – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7GOim1QbXA

Link to amazing live version (Sam Cooke intro) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s11XaUKsMU8

Link to Ariana and the Roots – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN6C_WuEbGI