Brown Sugar

soul ascending music

First off, RIP. The world lost an all-time great too early when he passed away. He created and perfected (on Voodoo) neosoul. The title track immediately becomes a prime contender for best first track from a debut album. This is the original neosoul album...and I loved it from the very start. Both neosoul and this album. He likes to compare things to food. Shit, Damn, Motherfucker is the album's wabi sabi moment and not just because of the (kind of) Oxford comma. Cruisin' is one of the better Smokey Robinson songs, who, admittedly, I do not love, and D'Angelo blows it out of the water. He could have done an album of covers and I would have loved it. His cover of Feel Like Makin' Love on Voodoo kills it too and I love Roberta Flack. When We Get By is right there with Lady and Brown Sugar as my favorite songs off the album. Lady is definitely the best one though. I love this song. Higher is a great closing song. Whoever he wrote the songs on this album about, despite their issues (Shit, Damn, Motherfucker) must have been an amazing woman. Not as good as Voodoo, but a great album and definitely a contender for the greatest debut album of all time.

A masterclass in Neo Soul - smooth like melted chocolate. Some of my favourite D'Angelo tracks on this album

Sublime. Rip.. Gone too soon.

We've entered the era where we get to say phrases like "classic Neo-Soul" about records coming out in the mid-90s and early-00s. Twenty or thirty years will do that to a D'Angelo as much as it will a Sleater-Kinney. And to think this smooth love, groove love was weaving old threads with new to bring us Brown Sugar around the same time as the Riot Grrrl scene was transitioning out of its peak and extending into other pockets of indie-dom. Different worlds, different takes on sexual politics — and maybe now your question has been answered as to why I'd bring such different artists together. Sleater-Kinney's first album Sleater-Kinney was released just one month ahead of D'Angelo's debut Brown Sugar. They're such different sounds. Brown Sugar is smooth and harmonic. It's got undeniable grooves as it operates through song craft designed to move the body (and some might say to move bodies more closely together). Lyrically it's focused on Black intimacy and romance — there's an undeniable personification of desire but that desire remains tethered to a more conventional (albeit progressively expressed in its trad context) gender binary. D'Angelo celebrates Black masculinity unafraid to love women openly, and in the context of 90s hip-hop's dominance over Black popular culture, that's its own kind of radical. But the record doesn't imagine or articulate any romantic bond outside the heteronormative — it's not his project, and I don't fault him for it. Liberation moves through intimacy and groove. Instead, what I think about is how such different forms of radical love exist in the American musical landscape at the same moment in time. While I do not want this entry to fall prey to making an album review of D'Angelo's Brown Sugar into a meditation on the activities of white women by giving their record even more air time, I do want to take a minute to contrast his record with that of Sleater-Kinney's debut because I think it reveals more about Brown Sugar in doing so (and it's a lens I can offer since I can't speak quite as decisively about the R&B/Soul tradition from which it emerges and what was in the air in that scene at the time). You could say Sleater-Kinney utilized raw, feminist punk to deconstruct gender roles and address the complexities of female identity and unconventional love through a radical, political framework. You'd be right to say that Sleater-Kinney seeks a radical rupture (lyrically, sonically) to dismantle those very binaries and reject the politeness of traditional desire. They pursue their liberation through vocal confrontation. Damn the patriarchy! The music of their debut is so very different than Brown Sugar. Both records have identity at their core. They utilize an exploration and critique of identity (race, gender) that celebrates some aspects of it. And yet one could be called more conventional and conservative in the roles it assigns, even while foregrounding bodily pleasure and the liberation of desire (even if it is not entirely unbound). Whereas, the love that exists within the other (S-K's) needs to be considered as a more radical break. From what well do you draw your pleasure? And in what way do you celebrate? What is the graph of a world that released such different musics so closely in time? Sonic texture as the X and political strategy as the Y? Perhaps. On this imaginary map, D'Angelo occupies familiar territory — his soul vision of Black intimacy — while Sleater-Kinney is somewhere off the edge, abraded, where borders get redrawn. All I can say at the end is that while I might appear to be distant from both artists demographically speaking, I need both albums in my life and I think you do, too. Brown Sugar is undeniable in its grooves, it's an organic expression of desire that celebrates its subjects. It makes you want to move and move together. It draws on a rich tradition and makes that explicit through the inclusion of Cruisin. It is the sound of pleasure. And yet, the sound of the album is also fresh. You might say it was already "classic Neo-Soul" when it came out over thirty years ago.

Perfect

A perfect soul album. A great funk album. Smooth, sexy, soulful, funky. So great.

Apparently not a hit with the prudes on this website but a hit for me. R.I.P D

Very sensual, sexy album we got going on here. My standouts gotta be Smooth, cause that tracks SMOOTH, whole albums damn smooth too. Rip my guy.

Rip to one of the goats. I am kinda new to D’Angelo but his music is so good and this album is no exception. Smooth, groovy, and a lot of fun. Also hella sexy

Okej jag är temporärt tillbaka från min recensionsbojkott av den här jävla WHITE SUPREMACY-listan!!!!! (Kul att läsa alla andras recensioner thooo <3) Att Voodoo inte ens är med på listan???? Herregud. Fucking CHVRCHES har lika många album på listan som D'Angelo... Men jaaaa ge mig SJU album med Nick Cave!!!

Äntligen! En av mina största husgudar och Prince värdiga efterträdare. Man hör hur överjävligt det kommer bli när han träffar questlove sen. Finns många favoriter på den här skivan, inte minst hans version av ”cruisin”, som är bland det läckraste han gjort. ”Shit, damn, motherfucker” också en riktig rökare. I andra lyssningen seglar ”Higher” upp som kanske skivans starkaste spår. Gospel-gåshud och det där jävla HÄNGET som är hans signum. Det sämsta med den här listan är att det här är den enda D’angeloskivan man får. Skandal, eftersom ”voodoo” egentligen är skivan man verkligen måste ha hört innan man dör. Super furry animals får alltså 3, D’angelo 1. Smaka på den omdömeslösheten. Det här albumet är en ytterst stark 4a, som avrundas uppåt för att kompensera att det här är det enda vi får.

Godlike R&B record. D'Angelo was a legend. RIP.

5 sterne

Really wonderful evening with the girls, love this album rest in peace D'Angelo. Surprised how emotional this made me

Better than Coldplay

Very smooth listening

"Brown Sugar" is the debut studio album by American musician D'Angelo. Neo soul, R&B and funk are the Wiki-listed genres. D'Angelo primarily handled the production, instrumentation, arrangements and songwriting. He employed both vintage recording equipment and modern electronic devices in songs about love and romance. The album had wide-spread critical acclaim with critics citing it as a pivotal release in neo soul. Commercially, it reached #22 on the US Billboard 200 and #57 in the UK. The self-titled "Brown Sugar" begins with jazzy piano strikes and a funky drum beat. D'Angelo vocals are a high-pitched tenor, crooning and even a falsetto along with female backing vocals. A weird echoing organ. It's both chill and soulful. Is D'Angelo singing about his love for a lady, weed or both? Layered harmony vocals highlight "Me and These Dreamin' Eyes of Mine." A slower beat and a jazzy down-tuned guitar in a soulful/R&B love song. D'Angelo vocals are softer expressing disappointment as he finds his wife and best friend cheating in "Shit, Damn, Motherfucker." A single drumbeat with a background guitar and organ gives this a down and dirty groovy vibe. This song would not be out of place on Isaac Hayes' "Hot Buttered Soul." D'Angelo slows Smokey Robinson's "Cruisin" down and adds strings. Jazzy and soulful with the guitar and organ. His falsetto is primarily featured. Handclap beats begin the hit single "Lady." A funky guitar, layered vocals and a slow-burn groove. A song that recalls 1970's R&B. The music and vocals build in a song celebrating the devotion of a lady partner. Soulful, chill, jazzy and atmospheric. The drums are funky and a lot times in the forefront. The piano/organ help carry the groove. The guitars are down-tuned and wah-wah at times. D'Angelo vocals can be high-pitched, crooning or a falsetto. He also layers these vocals in as background or the chorus along with female vocals at times. All these elements are combined to create soulful, funky, R&B and sometimes jazzy music recalling 1970's R&B and soul, Marvin Gaye and Isaac Hayes but still very much original and his own. This is an outstanding album and his future albums only get better. A very high recommendation.

About as impressive a one-man show as you can find, RIP D'Angelo

Gros r&b sexy, un pionnier de ce son neosoul des années 90! Je ne connaissais pas avant cet album mais je vous conseille d’aller faire un tour vers Black Messiah!

Peak peak peak peak peak

100/10. RIP D’Angelo. So smooth, so cool. He was on my list of artists I have wanted to see for a long time and never made it happen😢

Wow what a warm and satisfying album. The grooves were immaculate

Perfect--no notes.

Class. Funky, soulful, and seminal.

Ugh, what an absolutely incredible album sang by an incredibly powerful, important, significant LEGEND!! Brown sugar will forever be one of the most important albums in all of history. Rest in peace D'Angelo & Angie Stone 🥺💔 My first 5* album on this list, every song is great & a no skip in my opinion!! Favorite songs - Brown sugar Alright Shit, damn, motherfucker Smooth When we get by Lady Higher (So, damn near every song😅) Rating 1-5 ~ *****5*****

rest in peace. im sure his other two albums are on here but im glad i got this one specifically today...where voodoo gets more languid and decompressed, and black messiah is doing a left-field theres a riot going on thing, brown sugar is comparatively just so Direct and song oriented in a way that sounds good Literally Anytime Anywhere. d'angelo has many strengths but if any strength unites all his records its that almost no other artists so fully and consistently capture the feeling that every single Individual Sound has been made with maximum love and attention...and while the following records are even greater Studio Marvels, the homemade warmth of this record remains a unique appeal and a great lens thru which to channel that love and attention. rly feels weird to no longer co-exist w/ this guy.

I'm afraid this may be the only chance we'll have to talk about D'Angelo. It's hard not to feel disappointed about that, especially after his recent death, but there's always joy in thinking about why you find joy in one of your favorite artists. To explain that, I'm going to do something I almost never do here, which is cite outside sources. First: in a recent review of Dijon's 2025 album Baby (a very good album in my opinion), the critic Ivy Nelson said "R&B is so often a genre of precision, at times increasingly so as it’s become less played and more programmed over decades of development. Where can an artist go now but deeper into the error?" A thought like that only makes sense now because so many R&B artists throughout time have not-so-secretly made some of the most precise music imaginable sound loose, sexy, and fun; to wit, I always think of a video of Thundercat discussing his favorite bassline, describing how Brown Sugar bassist Raphael Saadiq schooled him during a rehearsal: the bassline on "Lady" has only three notes. Unfortunately, D'Angelo only got to release three albums in this life; fortunately, all three highlight his virtuosity so much we can nitpick at differences. Brown Sugar is 90s neo-soul at its least produced, stretched to an icicle of melodic so precision so tight any rumbling would cause the whole structure to collapse. We thank you and we love you forever, Michael Eugene Archer.

wish I heard this sooner, was very groovy, amazing voice and was just nice to listen to, rest in peace legend

Pure vibes. This was an outstanding listen!

This and Maxwell's Urban Hang suite are fantastic neo-soul albums. I am not always in the right frame of mind for this album, but damn, it is good.

Peak

a classic neo soul album. Great song writing and performance

The best. Both Artist and album.

Palabras mayores, cualquier disco de D´Angelo puede, debe estar en esta lista. Un disco que es lo que siempre soñó el gran TTD en poder hacer. Al nivel de Prince? Al Green? Sí. Las influencias de estos, como las más obvias de Native Tongues o Eric B & Rakim. 10/10

So fire, shit damn mf!

🩷🩷🩷🩷

**In-Depth Review: *Brown Sugar* by D’Angelo (1995)** *Released: July 1995 | Label: EMI | Producer(s): D’Angelo, Bob Power, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Raphael Saadiq* --- ### 🎤 **Overview** D’Angelo’s debut album *Brown Sugar* is widely regarded as the **blueprint for neo-soul**, a genre that fused classic soul, jazz, funk, and hip-hop into a modern, organic sound. Released in 1995, it arrived at a time when R&B was dominated by New Jack Swing and glossy production. *Brown Sugar* rejected that formula in favor of **lo-fi warmth, live instrumentation, and sensual minimalism**, helping to usher in a new era of black music rooted in authenticity and musicality. --- ### 🎧 **Music & Production** - **Sound & Texture**: The album is **lush, humid, and analog**. D’Angelo built tracks by laying down drum loops first—often sampled or programmed—and then layering keyboards, bass, and guitar on top, **reversing the traditional soul workflow** . - **Influences**: You can hear **Stevie Wonder’s harmonic richness**, **Prince’s falsetto sensuality**, and **Marvin Gaye’s emotional vulnerability**, all filtered through a **hip-hop lens** inspired by producers like J Dilla and Ali Shaheed Muhammad . - **Engineering**: Bob Power’s analog engineering gave the album **tape warmth**, soft transients, and a **midrange-heavy glow**, making it feel **intimate and lived-in** . --- ### 🖋️ **Lyrics & Themes** - **Love & Sensuality**: Most tracks are **love songs**, but they’re **grounded in realism**, not fantasy. Songs like “Alright” and “Lady” are **tender and reassuring**, while “Me and Those Dreamin’ Eyes of Mine” explores **longing and emotional vulnerability** . - **Subversion & Duality**: - The **title track** is a **double entendre**—a love song to marijuana disguised as a romantic ballad . - “**Shit, Damn, Motherf**er**” is a **shocking outlier**—a raw, cinematic tale of **infidelity and violence**, told with minimalist funk and a chilling vocal delivery . - **Spirituality**: “Higher” closes the album like a **gospel hymn**, with layered vocals and church-like piano, pointing toward **transcendence and redemption** . --- ### 🌱 **Influence & Legacy** - **Neo-Soul Genesis**: *Brown Sugar* is **ground zero for neo-soul**. The term itself was **coined by D’Angelo’s manager**, Kedar Massenburg, to market the album’s **retro-futuristic sound** . - **Cultural Shift**: The album **reintroduced live instrumentation** and **analog warmth** to R&B**, influencing a generation of artists including **Erykah Badu, Maxwell, Lauryn Hill, Jill Scott, and Musiq Soulchild** . - **Longevity**: Over time, *Brown Sugar* became a **cultural touchstone**, still soundtracking **date nights, dinner parties, and late-night playlists**. Its **sensual minimalism** and **emotional honesty** continue to inspire contemporary artists like **Jordan Rakei, Daniel Caesar, and H.E.R.** . --- ### ✅ **Pros** - **Timeless Sound**: The **analog production** and **live instrumentation** make it feel **as fresh today** as it did in 1995. - **Vocal Mastery**: D’Angelo’s **multi-tracked harmonies**, **falsetto**, and **vocal layering** are **ethereal and soulful**, often compared to **Stevie Wonder and Prince** . - **Genre-Defining**: It **launched a movement**, influencing **two decades of soul and R&B** and redefining what **black music** could sound like in a post-hip-hop world . - **Emotional Range**: From **seduction** to **betrayal**, **spiritual longing** to **playful euphemism**, the album covers **a wide emotional spectrum** without feeling disjointed . --- ### ❌ **Cons** - **Repetitive Tempo & Structure**: The **slow-burn pace** and **similar song structures** can feel **monotonous** to listeners seeking more **dynamic variety** . - **Lyrically One-Note**: While emotionally grounded, the **focus on romantic love and sensuality** may feel **limited in scope** compared to later D’Angelo work like *Voodoo* or *Black Messiah* . - **Not for Everyone**: Some listeners find the **falsetto-heavy delivery** and **minimalist arrangements** **boring or overly mellow**, especially if they prefer **more percussive or pop-oriented R&B** . --- ### 🏁 **Final Verdict** *Brown Sugar* is **a landmark album** not just for D’Angelo, but for **modern black music**. It **redefined R&B** by **looking backward to move forward**, blending **vintage soul** with **hip-hop swagger** and **jazz sophistication**. While it may lack the **political urgency** or **sonic experimentation** of his later work, it remains **a masterclass in restraint, sensuality, and soul**. **Rating: 9/10** **Best Tracks**: *Brown Sugar*, *Lady*, *Alright*, *Me and Those Dreamin’ Eyes of Mine*, *Shit, Damn, Motherf***er*, *Higher*

Дуже гарний альбом. 101 база рнб жанру, зрозуміло чому така впливова платівка. Top tier RNB.

I mean the swag and dripp of it is undeniable , felt like a soft rap, really really liked it, I will totally listen to the songs in my life

Muito bom!

A beautiful journey through Neo Soul! Phenomenal music!

i'm biased but this is me and my baby's album so deal with it

incredible work of art. that's a lover. that's r&b.

Single handedly fighting back against the drop in Western birth rates

i like the vibe

Seminal work; all timer. Standout: title track

what kind of music does this site like if THIS is a 2.9????? somehow also his worst album

9/10 Favorites: Brown Sugar Jonz In My Bonz

Hell yeah! Incredible album

A perfect debut, funky and melodic production, and soothing vocals. 9/10

Excellent.

As the name implies.

Es un álbum que te puede mejor el rato,la escucha o hasta el día entero con una atmósfera que genera una paz y unas fuertes ganas de bailar

If Lady was the only song on here it would still be a perfect score. Thankfully the album is full of R&B gold, D'Angelo is so talented and the whole listening experience is just top notch.

Do you think D’Angelo would have sex with a mid 30s hetero white guy? Asking for a friend

One of the best neo-soul albums ever, a beautiful and consistent vibe throughout.

Really excellent. Like Prince’s mellow but sexy side.

I’m not an impartial judge of this album. But that’s kinda the point. I love this album, I love D’Angelo, and I love neosoul. This album has an improvisational life to it while still feeling incredibly tight. This synthesizes so many of my favorite aspects of Prince, Herbie Hancock, and Wes Montgomery. It’s so good.

9/10 loved the production here, and he has a wonderful voice

D'angelo's debut album is not as good as his other 2 albums. Which isn't saying musch considering how close "Brown Sugar" is to being perfect. The melodies and singing and production on this album hit so much. Pretty Much a perfect album 9/10 Favourite: Lady Least Favourite Jonz in My Bonz

Smooth as butter on a hot piece of toast!

Brown sugar and soul. This album is perfect.

I think it’s been a long time coming for me to become a D’Angelo fan but particularly recently he has kept popping up, like even at the Jordan Rakei concert last week Jordan talked about how much D’Angelo has shaped his music and I was like ‘I really have to get on that’ and then today it was delivered right into my hands and yep, I’m in love! So smooth, soulful, sweet, sexy. Like drifting through a sunset sky on a really nicely scented cloud. Favourite tracks were Alright, Me and Those Dreamin Eyes, and When We Get By, but I think that would change each listen.

Big 5 stars for me. One of my all time favorites, and his follow up album “Voodoo” is even better. Glad this one made it on the list.

Absolutely phenomenal voice and amazing jazz/rnb music to complement the vocals. This is like 90s Daniel Caesar

warm and inviting r&b. need to dive into dangelo’s catalog more

If we’re constructing a Mt. Rushmore of R&B vocalists of the last 50 years, D’Angelo has to be in the discussion. Brown Sugar is one of the great albums of the 1990s. If you want to read my full article, copy/paste this: https://tinyurl.com/dvj5h7kr

Very nice

I must admit to buying this album on release and have probably listened to it upwards of 100 times. I absolutely love it. When it came out there were a lot of R&B artists that, although not exactly copy\paste of each other, had a lot of very strong similarities in their sound (and I think a lot of that was die to the same small pool of producers etc). D'Angelo's album was so far removed from those sounds that it stood out like a beacon. I could easily put this album on loop and not get bored for hours, or even days.

I love d’angelo and this album is so good- hard to believe that it came out in 95. He’s almost a style all of his own- and amalgam of so many that came before him but still very much his own

5/5. This feels like a monumental album that stands the test of time. It's jazz but the vocal layering is the best you'll find in any black gospel church. The jams and extended choruses are smooth and hypnotizing, just impressed with every part of the song. You can feel the influences yet they are mixed so well, it feels so original. Excited to throw this on repeat, no notes. Best Song: Brown Sugar, Me And Those Dreamin' Eyes Of Mine, Lady

ngl, really good. dunno about the history stuff but this feels like the progenitor of black music's shift from being primarily blues to soul. you can feel the blend as the album progresses. 9/10

Wow I usually don't care for R&B from this era but liked this one a lot, especially compared to Maxwells album but it’s been a couple years since hearing that one. Definitely gonna have to listen to more of his stuff. It’s not excessively long like other R&B either. Rating: 4.8

This is top-tier panty-dropper R&B/Soul. The vocals are amazing, the grooves are filthy and the bass playing elicited a number of stank-face reactions throughout the album. 5 stars.

the heavy jazz influences from the chords to the melodies are in perfect harmony with the drums (both live and sampled) and the R&B crooning that just is so tasteful and glorious. Incredible album.

Brown Sugar is D'Angelo's debut album, and may be the album that started the neo-soul wave of the late 90's and the aughts. D'Angelo makes soulful R&B, that has incorporated the timing of hip-hop of the 90s. The songs are centered around D'Angelo's incredible voice, at time utilizing falsetto in his expressive vocals. The bass-heavy orchestrations sound like traditional R&B; D'Angelo adds break-beats and the lyrical timing of hip-hop in his rendition of R&B.

Every D'Angelo album should be on here. Superb 5/5

I bought this album way back when it first came out. It's one of the best R&B albums of the 90s. I highly recommend anyone who loves R&B or is curious about the genre to listen to this album.

One of my favorite albums of the mid to late 90's

I've heard of D'Angelo as a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who helped pioneer the subgenre of neo-soul. This album as his debut will be my first listen to his work. What I will say is that most of this album is filled to the brim with smooth-sounding sex jams and ballads, with a dash of religious imagery from his Pentecostal background. The one exception is the opening title track which is a pretty clever metaphor for smoking marijuana. All these songs are well-delivered from D'Angelo's buttery vocals and paired with his excellent production chops alongside a few co-producers. He can sell the vibes akin to Prince and Smokey Robinson, even going as far as bending the latter's song "Cruisin'" in his favor. While there isn't a bad song on here, Brown Sugar can get a bit repetitive with its themes, lyrical content, and slow-tempo song structures, save for again the opening title track. Though I'm sure this album will grow on me in due time, as it's genuinely impressive for a then young and hungry D'Angelo. Give it a taste. Update 2/10/2025: I came back to Brown Sugar after listening to over 200 albums on this journey, and can confirm this debut grew on me. Even if a lot of these are love songs, I've noticed more variance in the angles of a relationship that D'Angelo approaches. At the very least, I'm surprised I didn't originally mention "Shit, Damn, Motherfucker", which is a tale of finding his girl in bed with another guy, and straight-up murdering the two. That one's become a favorite of mine. Also, even if there's a generally slower pace with the notion of these being "slow-jams", I'm finding more details in the instrumentation that I hadn't noticed before such as the drum loop of "Smooth" or the horn motif on "When We Get By". After hearing both Sign O' the Times and 1999 in Prince, I've come to appreciate the sound and production quality D'Angelo cultivated from what was popular with 90s hip-hop at the time and bringing those vibes into soul music, thus the birth of neo-soul here alongside other emerging acts like Erykah Badu. It was a smart move on his part to bring in personnel from A Tribe Called Quest on this album. D'Angelo proved to be a player from day one here, and yeah I'm glad to have dipped into that Brown Sugar again.

Fuck yeah

Going into this album, I thought I was stepping into a hip-hop album, but instead I got something way cooler and more chill. This is really enjoyable—Neo Soul, I guess they call it. It brings back memories of the late ’90s, listening to underground DJ mixes, especially those chill acid jazz mixes. It’s something you’d expect to hear on Mark Farina’s Mushroom Jazz series. This is definitely an album I’ll save to my list of future listens.

The sound of being slowly caressed under silk bedsheets; crafted with the intricacy of a Swiss watch, where you find a new detail every time you look at it; and a voice that could impregnate me, despite the fact that I don’t have a uterus. This is one of my favorite albums of all time. I love Neo-soul in general, but D’Angelo is on a whole other level. And even though I subjectively love this record, objectively speaking, Brown Sugar is probably the least essential album in his discography. All three of his albums should be on this list, and that is not up for debate.

‘Brown Sugar’ is not even my favourite D’Angelo album (that would be ‘Voodoo’), but this one is still fire. It’s low key and languid, jazzy, and funky, and D’Angelo’s vocals are just pure honey. The O.G neo-soul album and still an excellent listen. No doubt the soundtrack to many a successful baby-making session.

D'Angelo is really beyond compare when it comes to interesting and catchy R&B. His more recent album Black Messiah won me over and is an easy 5/5 for me. Brown Sugar may be a bit more traditional, but the songs are catchy, and break the mold of what you'd typically think is an R&B song. I have few complaints about this album, other than it wasn't as experimental as Black Messiah (but BM came out almost 20 years later!) 4.5/5 -> 5/5.

Yummy album

nice

Something special was brewing within the soul music genre in the mid 1990s. After a couple of years seeking to look forwards, the only way it could continue to do so is if it would start to look backwards. That's when the admittedly dreadfully named neo-soul genre started to emerge, with D'Angelo's Brown Sugar sowing the seeds. With its warm, inviting yet slightly enigmatic aura, Brown Sugar not only sweetens the pot but also keeps it spicy when applicable (but never overtly). D'Angelo perfectly got, with his first record, the essence of what soul music was about and it would be that perfection that he would obtain once more before losing his way and coming back again. But this was a hell of a first shot and it's a good thing that we kept coming for more.

One of those rare trifectas of amazing vocals, savant musicians hip, and generally being cool as hell

Typing this review a few days after the death of D'Angelo, I must admit before listening this album in May 2024, I almost forgot about the artist. This list was a great reminder of the excellence of the RnB he produced on Brown Sugar. Great sexual, sweaty soul with a heart.

Absolutely amazing.

This is the peak. Mastery of form. It doesn’t get much better than this. One of my favorites that I’ve listened to at least 100 times. So good.

I love D'angelo, his music draws form so many places but is uniquely his. Though Voodoo will always be better for me this album is still pretty fantastic. And for a debut album it's even more impressive. The songs sound both classic and modern and the fact that he wrote and plays most of the instruments on here is wild too (although shout out to Will Lee who plays bass on the final track). The whole album oozes soul and he really is a master of the genre, My favorites are "Brown Sugar", "Shit, Damn, Motherfucker" and his cover of "Cruisin"

A Neo-Soul landmark, it retains a consistent chill vibe with funky beats, jazzy grooves, and pop hooks. His vocals at time reminds me of Sly and at times Al Green. It's what neo-soul is all about. Taking what the likes of Al Green and Stevie Wonder started in the 70s, and showing what could be done in a modern context, with 90s pop and hip hop production. I think he's the only neo-soul artist who doesn't rap either? (At least in the Soulquarians movement.) Nearly every song is a hit imo. The two weaknesses: it's too long at 53 minutes, and it starts off slow. "Brown Sugar" is a strong start, but I thought "Alright" and "Jonz in My Bonz" were the weakest despite the incredible production work. It picks up with the funk and energy from there. I also wasn't too big of a fan of "Higher" after so many tracks I loved, but I admire the gospel vocals. Maybe if it were shorter and ended on a more satisfying touch. With so many deep cuts I love beyond the hits, it's a record I will frequently return to. I could definitely see this album be a bit stronger, but most of it is gold, and there isn't any other album that better represents neo-soul in its purest form.

I fucking love D’Angelo.

this is such a pleasant listening experience take a shot every time this guy says a shade of brown. like it’s very probable this is something that’s just going over my head but what is chocolate lemonade?

Find die Musig eifach extrem cool. Vocals mega cool, band au mega cool. Sicher au under de liebevoll hornigste musig vo sinere ziit (nöd nur ide lyrics). Ich los vo ihm eigentlich nur immer s ganze Album und je noch Mood fühl ichs mengmol nöd so oder aber ich wird Background Sänger und es absorbiert mich voll für e stund.

So damn good. S-t Damn Motherf-ker and Higher are the highlights. But several more great ones. The bass sound on Lady is dreamy. I dismissed this guy as some basic R&B crooner in the 90s. First, the music is better. Second, he wrote it. Third, he plays not just sings. I'm sorry D'Angelo, I did not give you a chance until now.

An all time classic

I want some of your brown boogers (doodoodoo) Another 5.

I’m too shy to listen to this!

All the feels

Culture woven through and through. This is like a nice night out mixed with beautiful slow Jams. Higher will be on my playlist for ages. I needed some RNB in my life. This is love in music form. Black excellence mixed with Neo-soul. You hear the jazz influences in so many of the tracks. I love this so much and I will be exploring D'Angelo's catalog for a while! 4.5/5

Bas mi je dobar! Bio je ful lijep dan jucer, kuhala sam rucak i slusala ovo i bas je super sjelo!! Favorit je shit, damn, motherfucker ofc

fave track: lady final thoughts: d'angelo i <3 u

i love love LOVE this album omg. i wasn't too sure on d'angelo as i wasn't the biggest fan of voodoo. but mannnn i enjoyed every song on here! the funk aspect, the soul elements, the jazz inspiration. guys it all comes together to create a beautiful, sensual, HORNY album (heavy on the horny, goddamn). i feel like this is my sign to revisit voodoo tbh because i feel like i misjudged this man, he's a talent no doubt about it

It’s perfect

I love it.

timeless. Impossible not to start dancing.

Wow. Another one I’ve never given a second thought to. This really surprised me. Not something I’d have enjoyed as a youth, but damn this is flowy. It’s so jammable. This didn't feel difficult at all.

classic

Obviously amazing

Amazing.

Wow, i knew it would be good, but i didnt expect it to be THIS good! The star of the show here are the basslines, but everything about this record is awesome.

Smooth grooves. Digging it.

Fenomenal. Soul é muito foda!!

Love this album

Rating: 10/10

Great album all the way through

he actually cannot make bad music

Hard to be left unsatisfied after hearing this album. It's just exquisite. It SOUNDS like D'Angelo at his most unconscious, his most musically free and unwrought. Just effortlessly making incredible music. But... apparently he spent ages, recording all of the instruments himself?? At 21?? Unreal. I couldn't believe that because it sounds so effortless. It just sounds like, an early incarnation of D'Angelo, with an incredible backing band. Well, it turns out that that's D'Angelo as the backing band. Wow. Still a classic, still an incredibly fun time. 5/5

chill as hell :)

sexiest album ever made

Genre defining

Brilliant album, start to finish.

Smooth

Exelente, sensual, neo-soul

Undeniable the greatness of this album. Made us all listen to music differently again. Could be released today and win awards.

Not always a huge fan of R&B, but damn, this man has soul. Love the album.

Muy bueno, chill, para trabajar o ir de viaje. Hasta para una cena en el lounge.

Superb. 90s R&B at its finest. Every track is gorgeous, and I love his rendition of Smokie Robinson's Cruisin. A new favorite.

D’Angelo one of the best to ever do it

Come ON! Try to top it, what is sexier than this?

Great debut album - pretty perfect. I say 9/10 but only because the follow-up, Voodoo (assume it is the list too) is even better (10/10).

Shout out to all the grown-ass adults who were conceived to this album back in the 90s. This is smooth and seductive! I love the sense that the lyrics are utterly at the service of the music and D'Angelo's vocals, more about evoking a mood. It's a dream.

Love the album

This album is so silky smooth, from start to finish. I love every single song, there's not one on here that I don't love. I think I've fallen in love with this album. 5/5 stars.

You gotta love soul/jazz and prince for that one. And I def. do

Very soulful!!

Sexy time!

It's a silky album, like something you would hear in a smoky restaurant with dark, ornate wood paneling. I appreciate how laid-back the sound is. Favorite track: "Smooth"

What a voice, so smooth

Love d’Angelo

This thing is so damn smooth. D'Angelo's vocals are fantastic, instrumentals are great, just wish there was a bit more variation. 8/10

How does one make an album that invokes a feeling throughout the entirety? 4.5/5

drunk as hell and romantically entangled you know this record is hitting!!! worst d'angelo record by several miles but still deep, wide, beautiful

This album is smooth as butter, delicately and deliciously fashioned, from the vocals to the lyrics to the production, all of which are noteworthy. One to keep on board for the right mood. Outside my typical genre sphere, but with that chill vibe and creativity that characterizes my favorite music.

There’s not really a song on here that I would put on, but the album in it’s whole had a very chill vibe. 7/10

So smooth, make 100 babies

Yet another extremely horny album, there have been a bunch lately. This is some smooth, silky R & B and the Prince vibes are very strong. It's especially impressive that he played all of the instruments on most if it and produced it himself. Songs that stood out were "Brown Sugar" and "Lady" with its great bass. A lot of sameness on it but what a talent and a great loss that he died so young.

D'Angelo played the majority of keyboard, guitar, bass, drums, and saxophone on this, handled most of production, and released this at 21. Thats some virtuosic shit. Goes way heavier on vibes than on caring about hooks or traditional song structure, but that's alright - the vibes are immaculate

90s soul. R&B. Plays everything himself. Lovely and smooth.

Only as funky as your last cut.

Some bangers on here. Almost like going to church.

This was a very enjoyable album - jazzy, souful, and with a chilled downtempo feel. D'Angelo's vocals are great of course, but credit should also go the instrumentation and production. Favourites were 'Brown Sugar', 'Smooth' and 'Lady'.

I need to have my music fan card revoked. I never listened to D’angelo’s music before his passing. Having this generated was a good opportunity to run back through all three of his records and they are all excellent. This is probably the weakest of them, but it speaks to his consistency that this is somehow the worst. Jazzy soulful instrumentals with incredible vocal performances. Music made of silk. Favorites were Brown Sugar, Me And Those Dreamin’ Eyes Of Mine, Shit, Damn, Motherfucker, and When We Get By.

This is a delightful mood

Muy agradable, muy suave, muy bien

Very smooth R&B that slowly drips out sensual lyrics and vibes. The amount of work and skill needed for one person to put into making this would be staggering and is impressive. The funky grooves mixed with variety of instruments including some organ keeps the songs enjoyable to go through even without large style or tempo changes. Was particular to Brown Sugar, Cruisin, When We Get By, Lady and Higher.

Nice voice, smooth r&b album. Not outstanding, but I didn't hate it.

This is good 90s r&b, in the true sense of the genres.

Really 3.something I think, it's perfectly pleasant but not really my thing

I have ambivalent feelings about this one. On one hand, I cannot distinguish any song from the others. On the other hand, the sensual vibes are exquisite.

gooood

I think this was a solid recommendation. Smooth. Good beats. Nothing terribly offensive. I'd listen to it again!

Thoroughly enjoyed this, a good example of its genre

One of those albums that, first time I heard it, challenged my preconceptions of the types of music I like.

già sentito ma pronta a riascoltarlo. adoro la sua voce

really fun and chill for my sunday

Enjoyable

Groovin'

- I agree with another reviewer who said, "This album fucks." - Undeniable cornerstone of R&B and I love this buttery smooth instrumentation. And MAN can this guy sing.

Just what I needed. I've been in a 90's R&B mood lately and D'Angelo will more than help cure that itch. Haven't heard the entire album before today either. This is another "one man band" kind of record, as in addition to his vocal prowess, D'Angelo also performs most of the instrumentation you hear throughout the record. Combining that with the efforts of Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Raphael Saadiq, and Bob Power (known for his work with A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and later Erykah Badu) we've got a nice and smooth production that combines R&B with soul and a dollop of hip-hop. What should we call this creation? Neo soul maybe? Alright, I'll stop being coy. It seems that most cite this record as popularizing neo soul, so I can certainly see how this release was pivotal in the whole genre movement that followed to close out the decade. I wasn't overly bothered by the sensual themes. D'Angelo was as good of a crooner as they come, I thought he brought a lot of soul to the table here. Some tracks linger a bit, and this probably sounds pretty standard if you were to compare to the next album of his (Voodoo) but not too many other nits to pick here.

D'Angelo could sing the front page of the Wall Street Journal to a nursing home and still cause another baby boom.

Good solid funk

-really good bass, really nice to listen to -wasnt familiar with this album or artist beforehand but I really enjoyed this listen Fav: Me and Those Dreamin’ Eyes of Mine

Floored by how low the score for this is on this platform I can’t lie…

Smooth

Yep. I like

First: RIP D'Angelo Second: I don't understand the hate this album is getting. I have heard many people singing D'Angelo's praises but had been putting off listening to him because I knew he had an album in this collection and I am glad I finally got it. I know this isn't *the* D'Angelo album, as that is Voodoo which I will get around to listening to, but this album isn't bad by any metric. A chill and groovy slap of 90s R&B, soul, and a bit of jazz (see When We Get By). I get that it can be a bit one note at times, but when that one note is being sung by a voice as good as D'Angelo's I have little to complain about. 4/5 Side note: 3rd 4/5 this week! Hopefully this streak continues.

Very nice.

D’Angelo er smød som en rødspætte. Ali Shaheed Muhammad er den rigtige mvp her, de beats får det hele til at lyde meget mere dyrt end andet 90’er rnb

Easy smooth listen. Very peaceful album. 7.1/10

🎧D’Angelo rules. RIP D’Angelo. Favorite track: Lady

more R&B tracks today! i swear i'm such an oldhead, these tracks and beatflips from decades ago are so much better than modern sounds. is it true that limitation breeds creativity? d'angelo's debut is romantic and smooth, perfect for slow dancing with your partner. these songs are big and meaty, especially with the beats and bass. i want to get one of those cars with horribly crusty speakers and blast this music as i cruise around the local walmart parking lot. i guess the only thing keeping from rating it higher is the large... almost improv-like way of singing, it's nice but it's very loose, it's like 30 seconds of an idea, then you hear him harmonize and riff on the idea for the next 4 minutes.

Oh it's cheesy as hell. It's also really well made and soulful and cool. Great instrumentation and layered vocals. Solid production. Not a bad song on it even if a few of the lyrics make me cringe a touch.

Favorite Song: Lady

A glorious renewal of the 70s slow funk sensual soul tradition, returning to warm organic instruments and a mellow laid back approach that sets the stage for some virtuoso singing-ceooning-moaning. The aural equivalent of silk sheets.

Quite enjoyed this even if it's not really a genre to which I gravitate. Lyrically not really deep or meaningful, but musically I can get the groove. I can understand why this album has its fans. 4 appreciative stars.

what a vibe

R&B classics.

Vibessss

Sexy music!

Neo-soul är som balsam för dessa väderbitna öron, i synnerhet D'angelo. Skulle en rånmördare väcka mig mitt i natten och säga att jag har tre sekunder på mig att säga vilket världens bästa album är, ja då skulle valet många gånger bli D'Angelo. Men inte denna platta. Några småtråkiga låtar där i början, som Jonz In My Bonz (namnet till trots). Men vilket härlgit sound, och vilken härlig skiva!

Holy Fucking Shit this album is criminally underrated. Once again, one of those artists that takes everything I love about music and puts it all together. R&B with the Jazz dial turned up to 11. Sly, sexy, musical perfection. RIP D'Angelo. Edit: Alright so maybe this album is pretty damn repetitive and kind of just one note. Still a strong 4 stars. Oh well.

Excited for the opportunity to dive into this. An artist I’ve always respected more than I’ve been intimately familiar with the records. Love it! The grooves are subtle but infectious!

Can't help thinking about the number of people conceived to this album.

this is sexy AF. I like Voodoo more though

This album got me pregnant.

Smooth and satisfying songs with enough variation to provide a nice assortment of tracks that are still individually worth listening

rip 😭😭

Hot take: D’Angelo releases Brown Sugar and not only are the ears of his idol Prince listening, but the smooth soul groves of this debut album have a genuine influence on Emancipation, Prince’s next album. It might not be a Prince classic, but arguably more than any other Prince album it is driven mostly by smooth soul jams. I have a (possibly undeserved) soft spot for Emancipation, but that album pales in comparison to this tour de force. Everything about Brown Sugar seems effortless and magnificent. Outside of Prince, the most obvious influence here is Marvin Gaye. I’m inadvertently implying D’Angelo was simply following in footsteps, but that is misleading. He made an unapologetically soulful record that became the leading inspiration to a new movement of neo-soul. He also had much more to give…but that’s a later part of his story.

Good R&B.

4/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/dangelo/brown-sugar/ Never got into D’Angelo much, but not sure why. Banger album.

J'ai trouvé ça pas mal suave.

Not really my jam but I can respect it. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

Classic but not my vibe

Surprisingly liked this one. Easy to listen to and solid flow

bem bom hein? nao entendia a comoção pela morte deste mano mas acho que agora entendo um pouco

Such a good album. I'm a huge fan of Prince and this has such a Prince vibe to it. Listened to it on a rainy and chilly Sunday morning and it was perfect.

breathy, groovy, intimate, swinging

Nije ovo voodoo ali je i dalje sjajno

Fun album, basically a whole album dedicated to baby maker songs?

album za seks isk, samo je smooth i intiman, soul r&b fazon, dobar vajb

Classic

Cool 90s rnb

Not a bad way to cap off 2025, considering we lost D’Angelo this year. Few albums are more chill, calming, and take me right back to that good 90’s vibe. I wish more music was like this, but even if it was, it wouldn’t be D’Angelo.

It's so buttery smooth. It's great R&B, it's relaxing, but you could move to it. It's got musical depth spiced in. Just great.

Another guy making love to me. Enjoyable record.

Awesome R&B

rip kútur. Þetta var ljúf plata og góðir hljómar. Helvíti fær söngvari.

Brown Sugar // Jonz In My Bonz // Cruisin’ //

I'm tempted to give this a 5 because it was such a vibe but I think I need more listens before I form that opinion.

Tää oli yllättävän hyvä siihen nähden että en pitänyt siitä toisesta D’Angelon levystä yhtään. Olenkohan minä kehittynyt levyjen välissä? 4/5

I think this album was solid. Great instrumentals and he has a beautiful singing voice. He kept the same energy throughout, which kind of left me wanting something more from him.

D'Angelo passed away recently so I am surprised that we did not get this album then. Better than I was expecting, low 4.

Good the whole way through. No complaints

Can there be too many vocal lines?

This is a great album. I never realized how much D'Angelo sounded like a certain era Prince.

A classic

Classic

8/10… neo soul / r&b / *1995

Smooth and sophisticated. Rest in peace D'Angelo

Excellent album, had a lot of fun listening to this.

I liked a few songs but can only take his sexy r&b thing in bits and pieces not all at once

This was a good vibe. Nice to gym to. Simpsons: No

I kinda liked it, sure

Makes me wanna peel off my low rise jeans, butterfly top and baker boy hat to get freaky in the back of my boyfriend’s car, circa 1996.

RIP. Lady is an all timer of a song. The vocals throughout are great and a bit understated. I also am a big fan of the piano riding underneath everything. Crusin' is also great tune

I love turn of the millenium neo-soul and this is ground zero right here. Although it doesn't quite reach the heights of Voodoo, this is such an impressive debut. One of the great pure singers of all time for me, especially his falsetto, and there's so much gospel-influenced multi-tracking of harmonies that I love, particularly on Me and Those Dreamin Eyes, and Higher is gospel to its core. Title track is a perfect fusion of Native Tongues boom-bap with R&B that was so outside the norm of what R&B was in 1995. Lady speaks for itself, what an impeccable song. Only one really weak track for me which is When We Get By. Great stuff overall.

Best to ever do it. RIP.

Classical and neat hip hop

RIP

Personal favorite of mine. Love the laid back, neo-soul, 90s RnB sound - a lot of gospel, blues, jazz and hiphop mixed together. There’s not a bad song on here. Very warm, relaxing, groovy and has a lot of depth compared to some other RnB.

Fucking amazing from start to finish, have never listened to a full D'Angelo album before but legitimately loved this. High 4 low 5 for me, could see me bumping this up with time! Fav song: Me and Those Dreamin Eyes of Mine

I appreciate sex jams, but they’re not exactly my first listening choice. I still remember that Maxwell album that was one of my lowest rated on this site. D’Angelo on this album is doing almost the same thing, right? Sexy sounding songs about sexual desire. But wow he really elevates the material with these luscious instrumentals, which sometimes sprawl out for a little while and feature some great, subtle soloing. And his vocals and melodies are a little more slinky, and less…I dunno, horny? It’s hard to say why but it’s just a little less over the top and obvious than the Maxwell record or other similar albums. It’s got a touch of shy mystery to it. I love that. Anyway, RIP D’Angelo. I’m glad I’m starting with the first album. This is must-listen #239.

I enjoyed this. D'Angelo was in the news recently because he died. I wonder if this is intentional, the same happened when Ozzie died.

Smoooooth

A classic. Smooth and cool.

7.1

This isn't my style, but I am really enjoying the melodies. Apparently D'Angelo died 7 days ago (10/14/2025)?!? Fuck Cancer! Me and Those Dreamin' Eyes of Mine was excellent.

The album title honestly says it all. Just a smooth, gorgeous album.

So good. R.I.P.

This rips. I thought it sounded ahead of it's time, and turns out the producer is Ali Shaheed Muhammed from A Tribe Called Quest. It dropped at a time where more soul was digital, but this was produced with real analog instruments. 8/10

I am not much of an R & B guy, but this is good. Reminds me a lot of Prince, but just more mellow and not as fun. A lot of the songs seem to go on just a tad too long, but overall a fine album. This feels like a 40 minute album stretched out to 55 minutes Low 4.

Based off the ratings, seems like most of the people on this site don't fuck. 4/5

𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘚𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘳 is a smooth, soulful debut that shows off D’Angelo’s remarkable voice and effortless sense of groove. Blending classic R&B with a fresh neo-soul vibe, it feels both timeless and forward-looking. A confident start from an artist who would go on to push the genre even further.

Sexy/10

D’Angelo has the voice of an angel… A very sexy and sexual angel but still. And this angel has only granted us 3 albums over 30 years and each one is a gem. I’m not as familiar with his debut as the other two but this one didn’t disappoint. The jazz instrumentation isa gorgeous accompaniment to D’Angelos passionate and soulful vocals. The production is a little dated for the early 90’s R&B which is the only knock I’ve got land that’s just compared to the timeless production on his other albums, so a pretty high bar. Best tracks- “ Brown Sugar” “Shit, Damn, Motherfucker” 8/10

I cooked bacon and eggs on a Sunday to this. Album was smooth as a motherfucker.

This was smooth

2chill

Smooth and funky a sense of what comes later. Beautiful but also a bit restrained.

Smooth as fuck, but definitely one of those albums you gotta have sex to before properly rating it. This is soooo close to a 5 but too many songs just fall to the background, presumably so you can continue porking some chick. But damn when this album hits it really hits and holds my attention

groovy and fun the whole way through. maybe a little cheesy at times but that's OK

9/10 hot

It's this album! I always remembered seeing this album in the best buy and Target sales papers that we'd received in the mailbox. I knew he was soul r&b but at the time this was not my style of music to listen to. I highly respect this style of music now and will happily check this out. Yeah, this is good.

smooth vibes great play. throw this on when cruising around w a lady

D'Angelo is indisputably very talented and this is basically objectively amazing, and his music has many of the pieces of something that should appeal to me, so every time i give him a shot i feel like i should like him more than i do musically there is of course a lot to like, but the whole thing is just too consistently down tempo for my tastes, and this R&B vocal style has never been to my tastes in the slightest. and of course you get the strong feeling that the keyword he always has in mind is "sexy" which is simply not something i look for in music. a great album that i gotta give it up for, but not for me

My brain is butter now.

Serious bops, all over the place

Cool vibe, soul

Wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. Great consistency of mood and feel throughout.

I've listened to his album Voodoo before based on a recommendation from a podcast, so I was aware of D' Angelo, but he's not someone that is in my daily, or even monthly, line up. After listening to Brown Sugar, that might have to change. That was seeexxxxxyyyyy. Hmm...

Damn that boy smooth

Alright. This one is Smooth. It had me Cruisin’

Have heard of D'Angelo but this was our first proper listen

Brown Sugar D’Angelo I remember listening to one song off this album when I was little. It might have been the title track. I think he was partly responsible for the neo-soul movement with guys like Raphael Saadiq and 112. I’m looking forward to getting familiar with this. Brown Sugar- of course he found a girl in Philly Alright- great groove- can barely understand the lyrics, but he’s gonna make love to someone tonight Jonz in My Bonz Me and Those Dreamin’ Eyes of Shit, Damn, Motherfucker Smooth Cruisin’ - excellent cover of a classic love song When We Get By- old school bluesy, jazz feel- would be just as home on a public radio station as Urban/R&B Lady Higher I will definitely return to this album at some point. I wish I'd been listening to it more when I was younger.

it took until Cruisin for me to really get it fully, but it is so pretty. love his voice.

One of the tags for this album is just "sex" lmao So D'Angelo is probably the greatest Neo-Soul artist of all time. Neo-soul as a genre is my quintessential "rnb." It was what I grew up think was rnb and while Rnb is a much broader and honestly kinda pointless grouping of genres, Neo-soul has always been THE rnb genre in my eyes. So when I say D'Angelo is the king of Neo-soul, that is a MAJOR compliment. Is it the masterpiece that is voodoo? No, but it is a fantastic album and an insane debut. I feel like I could do literally anything and this in the background would make it better. Great album 9/10

Outstanding. Began amazingly ahead of his peers.

This album was cool. Really cool. Will be going back for another listen.

D'Angelo's veritable voice varies velvetly within smooth R&B trappings and sensual jazz grooves.

So, so, so very good! ME AND THOSE DREAMIN' EYES OF MINE, subtle and beautiful. CRUISIN,' LADY, and HIGHER, close out a great album. When describing what Rhythm and Blues should be, this is it. Too young to appreciate this when it was released.

Un álbum muy agradable a la escucha. Me gustó la sonoridad que buscó D'Angelo. Es un álbum que combina perfectamente un estilo R&B pero conceptualizado desde la música electrónica. Beats y loops tratados digitalmente, pero desde instrumentación analógica. Excelente combinación de elementos. Los temas me resultan un poco largos, pero creo que también se trata de relajarse y entregarse a la escucha.

you know the albums gonna be good when the people on this site hate it

I vaguely remember this album coming out among a slew other R&B albums in the 90s, but it didn't really register at the time. I'm glad it made this list because, in retrospect, it's much more impressive than a lot of its peers. His cover of Cruisin' is beautiful. I vibed to the whole thing.

The production on this is a clear 5 - damn cool! He has an insane voice and flow as well, but I’m a bit alergic to this level of pretty-boy ness.

i am a punk and heavy metal guy at heart, and apparently also a d'angelo guy cuz this shit slaps lol. nice surprise

He has a really good voice

rip to dangelo man

It's a great album that did so much for RnB and neo soul. D'Angelo is a true musician when you look at how involved he was. That's something a Kanye West never achieved since he was always aided by tons of folks around him, more creative than him. So D'Angelo deserves the 'genius' label. I won't rate it 5 stars since here and there you'd would want so more variety.

This was a pleasant surprise, such a sexy album. Didn't listen to much neo-soul before, I do enjoy soul and the related genres, so this was a nice continuation of that. This guy feels like the logical and spiritual successor of Stevie Wonder. Is he that good, no, is he good is general, heck yes. Regardless of what the listeners think, art has to evolve, it's been like that since the beginning of time. New and progressive styles have to emerge from, and as an answer to, the existing ones. This is one such example, just about every aspect of soul is evolved. The music is more minimal and incorporates electronic instruments, but still has that distinct cool soul vibe, with nice rhythms, bass fills and melodies. The lyrics are more direct instead of subtle, even though this was true for some of the older albums as well. Everything just sounds so smooth, polished and slick. The vocals are a highlight for sure, with nice color, range and feel. Great album, I'm converging more and more towards funk and soul as the list goes on.

This was the start of neo-soul. impressive how many instruments D'Angelo played himself on here. i love the production. Its basic and repetitive but in a good way when setting a scene...

I have heard this album before so this isn’t my first time listening, but I got to say this time around was a lot better for me. The first time I thought it was boring which it seems like a lot of people here agree with, but after this time with the slowness of the tracks in mind I enjoyed it a lot more. The album is very consistent in sound, which gives it a nice and coherent tone throughout which of course makes it feel like an album. I still have a few parts I overall think are a little too much of a slog to listen to but I like this way more than I used to. Favorite Tracks: Shit, Damn, Motherfucker, Me and Those Dreamin’ Eyes Of Mine, and Smooth Adding this later, R.I.P. D’Anglo

I can tell why it’s considered a classic by many.

Groovy and peaceful, with rich instrumentation and a relaxed vibe. Some songs feel extended longer than necessary, but the musicianship and atmosphere earn it high marks, even from someone not typically into 90s R&B.

Sexxyyyyy Fave song: Me and Those Dreamin' Eyes of Mine

c: cruisin’