Brown Sugar (album)
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| Brown Sugar | |||||
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| Studio album by D'Angelo | |||||
| Released | July 3, 1995 | ||||
| Recorded | 1994 - 1995 | ||||
| Genre | Nu soul | ||||
| Length | 53:21 | ||||
| Label | EMI | ||||
| Producer | D'Angelo Ali Shaheed Muhammad Raphael Saadiq |
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| Professional reviews | |||||
| D'Angelo chronology | |||||
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Brown Sugar is the debut solo studio album by American neo soul artist D'Angelo. It was released July 3, 1995 on EMI Records. This album (along with Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite) helped kick-start the musical movement widely known as neo-soul. The hit singles "Brown Sugar" and "Lady" helped the album to sell well (double platinum) and widespread critical acclaim made D'Angelo one of the 90's brightest new soul musicians. This album is also widely considered as one of the best R&B/Soul albums of the last 15 years.
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[edit] Overview
Prior to its release, the neo soul movement was yet to be defined as such and was largely handled by British artist Omar and a few others. With his Hip hop background and Marvin Gaye, Sly Stone, and Prince influences, D'Angelo ushered in the new sound, setting up a definitive blueprint for the subgenre.
Although songs such as "Cruisin'" and "When We Get By" (the former a Smokey Robinson cover) were conventional in the classic sense, risque subject matter like those found on "Sh*t, Damn, Motherf*cker" and the moody, bass driven "Jonz in My Bonz" gave the album an edge thought to be lacking in mainstream R&B at the time. The title song, "Brown Sugar", is a thinly-veiled ode to marijuana, which also works as an analogy for a woman. As D'Angelo sings, "We be making love constantly / That's why my eyes are a shade blood burgundy".
On "Sh*t, Damn, Motherf*cker", D'Angelo depicts a scenario where he has caught his best friend having an affair with his wife. He sings "Why the both of you buck-balled naked? / I tell ya what's on my mind / I'm bout to go get my nine and kill both of y'alls behind". "Lady" is a guitar-driven affirmation of D'Angelo's commitment to his partner. The album closes with the gospel-inspired "Higher".
[edit] Critical Reaction
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The album's appeal was widespread among critics. The following are excerpts from editorial reviews and details of the album's ranking in top album lists[1]:
Rating: A
"Love--both sugary sweet and delightfully nasty--is what D'Angelo's debut serves up....Husky bedroom oohs and ahhs segue effortlessly into airy, retro-styled ballads, suggesting late nights and dimmed lights." - Entertainment Weekly (6/30-7/7/95, p.100)
Rating: 
"...D'Angelo's downbeat world blurs the borders..., kicking over the traces of the genre game and shrugging, demanding that you...just absorb the sultry atmosphere he sets up with his little-more-than-nothing beats and Russian doll vocals....a major, major record..." - NME (7/22/95, p.50)
Rating: 
"...he applies the lesson of sampling --savoring essence while still messing with meaning--in the service of soul's integrationist spirit....the true inheritor of...'70s soul men...for a...substantial reason: he's proven himself...adept in the mysteries of the groove." - Spin (10/95, p.116)
Rating: 
"...makes the nasty rhythms bubbling underneath his multilayered love songs seem old and new at the same time....a reminder of where R&B has been and, if the genre is to resurrect its creative relevance like a phoenix rising from the ashes, where it needs to go..." - Rolling Stone (9/7/95, pp.71-72)
"Brown Sugar is a deep, dope-fuelled meditation on love, sex and betrayal..." Mojo (5/06, p.54)
"...determined to give pre-hip hop forms like blues, soul, gospel, and jazz a mid-'90s vibe....inhabits his songs from odd angles, without non-stop Vandross-style aural showmanship....Most of this important debut is a joy to listen to..." - Vibe (8/95, p.125)
- Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's." (Rolling Stone, 5/13/99, p.74)
- Ranked #21 in Village Voice's 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll (Village Voice, 2/20/96)
- Ranked #97 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics"
"Brown Sugar" was nominated for the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song. The album was also nominated for Best R&B Album. "Lady" was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.
The album was followed by remixes of the singles "Me and Those Dreamin' Eyes of Mine" (one produced by Erick Sermon and featuring Redman, another produced by A Tribe Called Quest/Pharcyde associate and future D'Angelo collaborator Jay Dee), and "Lady" (produced by DJ Premier and featuring AZ). In September 1995, D'Angelo performed a well-received live session at The Jazz Cafe in London, including songs from this debut album. Recordings from the event were subsequently made available on his release, Live at the Jazz Cafe (1998).
[edit] Track listing
- "Brown Sugar" (D'Angelo, Ali Shaheed Muhammad) – 4:23
- "Alright" (D'Angelo) – 5:13
- "Jonz in My Bonz" (D'Angelo, A Stone) – 5:56
- "Me and Those Dreamin' Eyes of Mine" (D'Angelo) – 4:46
- "Sh*t, Damn, Motherf*cker" (D'Angelo) – 5:14
- "Smooth" (D'Angelo, L Archer) – 4:19
- "Cruisin'" (W Robinson, M Taplin) – 6:24
- "When We Get By" (D'Angelo) – 5:44
- "Lady" (D'Angelo, R Saadiq) – 5:46
- "Higher" (D'Angelo, L Archer, R Archer) – 5:27
The Japanese release of this album included three bonus tracks:
- "Brown Sugar" (Radio Version) (D'Angelo, Ali Shaheed Muhammad) – 4:03
- "Brown Sugar" (TV Track) (D'Angelo, Ali Shaheed Muhammad) – 4:26
- "Brown Sugar" (Instrumental) (D'Angelo, Ali Shaheed Muhammad) – 4:25
[edit] Singles
| Single cover | Single information |
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| "Brown Sugar" | |
"Cruisin'"
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"Lady"
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"Me and Those Dreamin' Eyes of Mine"
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[edit] Personnel
- D'Angelo - vocals and various instruments
- Bob Power, Raphael Saadiq, Mark Whitfield - guitar
- Larry Grenadier, Will Lee, Raphael Saadiq - bass
- Tim Christian - piano
- Gene Lake, Ralph Rolle - drums
- Ali Shaheed Muhammad - drum programming
- Laura Vivino - flute and picolo
- Gerald Tarack, Marilyn Wright, Regis Iandorio, Matthew Raimondi, Masako Yanagila, Natalie Kriegler, Alexander Simionescu, Winterton Garvey - violins
- Julien Barber, Olivia Koppell, Sue Pray, Eufrosina Railenu - violas
- Jesse Levy, Seymour Barab - cellos
[edit] Production and other recording credits
- D'Angelo - production, vocal and musical arrangements
- Dunn Pierson - orchestra conductor and arranger
- Eugene Bianco - orchestra contractor and copyist
- Ali Shaheed Muhammad - production
- Bob Power, Russell Elevado, G Spot, Darrin Harris - engineer and mixing
- Rob Farrell, Chaz Harper, G Spot, Suz Dweyer, Julio Peralta, Martin Czember - assistant and additional engineering
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