Brown Sugar

2.5. Not really my genre but fine I guess.

Nice album

It's alright, I guess. Smooth R'n'B isn't really my jam, much prefer the sweatier soul of the '70s.

Didn't find this one terribly exciting, but it had a nice vibe to it that I enjoyed. Definitely wasn't expecting a song called "Shit, Damn, Motherfucker" to come on, and for it to be that laid back with a title like that but I wasn't exactly complaining. All in all, didn't wow me, but I would put it on again if I had to choose between it and silence so I'll give it 3 stars.

grooviger r‘n‘b - manchmal fast zu sanft!

R&B ist nicht so meins

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

Not really my jam, but this was fine for what it is. Definitely dragged by the end as it felt like an hour of the same song, but incredibly smooth throughout. A song titled "Shit, Damn, Motherfucker" needs to be much angrier, though. The lyrics have plenty of anger, but the delivery is just as chill and smooth as everything else on the album. Like "I'm going to kill you for banging my wife...but I'm going to provide you with a chill, sensual soundtrack to finish up first. Perhaps you'd like a nice brandy or a 25 year-old scotch?" 2.8

ehh, pretty standard for the genre

A mystical man that was taken too soon that only put out instant classic albums

The birth of neo soul

Pretty good stuff…

soul ascending music

Little to no variation within each song.

Thoroughly enjoyed this, a good example of its genre

Better than I expected. Really good R&B, soul

I don't hate it, but I don't love it. I'm a simpleton, so this sounds like I'm listening to the soundtrack of "Save the Last Dance" starring Julia Stiles.

I have negative connotations with 1990s R&B that gained popularity with people my age who discovered it was cool to listen to black music, but needed something more accessible than gangster rap. Nevertheless, the beats have some interesting parts. It's definitely soulful. The singing just doesn't work for me, it's a lot of high-pitched vocals and it's all a bit soft. When he drops the choral backing on Jonz In My Bonz, we get a weird kind of muffled sounding duet instead. The strangely titled "Shit, Damn, Motherfucker" isn't doing anything to endear me further to this. Smooth is probably the highlight, a nice drum break and jazzy piano riff, and the vocals aren't too annoying. The music has potential - in a way - but the finished product is a huge miss for me. Feels much longer than its 53 minutes.

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

Cool as a background vibe.

Not my favorite genre but he does a pretty good job with it

really fun and chill for my sunday

Enjoyable

Groovin'

(3/7) not really my vibe. Many of the songs feel like they loop over and over and over again

= the Beatles

- 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.

Сахарок копченый оказался

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

Făinuri mi-o plăcut

This was super chill. Not my usual pick, but cool.

Neo-soul that nods back to soul of the 60s and 70s while retaining a fresh, hip-hop feel. The record had a deep groove - the bass is heavy and up front, locking in an unavoidable pocket with the drums. D’Angelo is clearly a talented writer, singer, and performer. The first half was stronger to me - it sounded newer and more innovative, while the back half was a bit more traditional and didn’t grab me in the same way.

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.

Only the Smokey Robinson covers saved this from being a 1 for me. Jonz In My Bonz and Shit, Damn, Motherfucker? Ugh trash IMO

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

Sublime. Rip.. Gone too soon.

This is just going to be another one that I don’t understand. I like some types of soul like The Spinners, Quincy Jones and Isaac Hayes but I don’t see the appeal here. My biggest problem is that there’s no melody, listen to Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On and compare. The notes seemed to be going mostly in a straight line never bothering to go up or down . I did however enjoy the beats and production. Just need to kick it up a notch.

Not a good listen, the overwhelming bass hid any traces of decent vocal arrangement and the droning rhythm didn't help

Never saved a song before listening to it before I got to 'Shit, Damn, Motherfucker'. I don't even know if I liked it, but I do respect a song title that funny. Other than catchy refrains this didn't do it for me as much as I hoped.

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

-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

Soul and r'n'b are not my favourite styles so it's hard to evaluate for me, but his voice is truly buttery smooth!

Brown Sugar is one of those albums where I can clearly hear the lineage and the influence even if I don’t fully feel the magic myself. The Marvin Gaye and Teddy Pendergrass DNA is right there in the warmth of the grooves and the analog haze, but D’Angelo leans on his falsetto more than I prefer, floating above the music instead of digging into it. The record’s softness is its strength, but it also makes the sudden pivot into “Shit, Damn, Motherfucker” feel like someone spliced a street‑level murder ballad into a candlelit soul session. I get the betrayal and sorrow he’s aiming for, but the coarseness and tonal whiplash undercut the romance the rest of the album is working so hard to build. Still, I can hear exactly how this opened the door for neo‑soul and reshaped R&B’s trajectory. +1 for influence, even if the album itself doesn’t quite land in my personal rotation. My Rating: 3/5

This was pretty fun, this kind of music has been kind of lost and so many of the greats have been fully exposed as terrible people. Ultimately not really to my taste but I can't really complain.

With a limited history and vocabulary and only mild curiosity in terms of the genre, I listened. Sadly, unremarkable for me. Even in terms of R&B, I found it unmemorable.

Quite some chill songs

Smooth and sexy and a solid album front to back.

This was pretty boring, I think I would have enjoyed more if it was trimmed by about a third. Thanks to the wiki, I now know that this is “regarded by music journalists as a pivotal release in neo soul”… oh wait that means nothing to my enjoyment, 2.25/5

A bad and stressful day today for the family prevented my full attention to this album. But so far managed not to miss one single day of this process so determined to keep that going. Unless it’s 60’s classic soul this genre of music will never get my attention. I found this album instantly dislikeable and tedious. Awful. 1/5 19/3/26

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

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

Smooth

kinda nervous to dive into this, but here we go... his voice is really nice. "Alright" is a total vibe! Overall, this album is fine, I totally understand why people like it and it's inclusion on this list. It's just really not my thing tho

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

7/10

This is as good as Soul got in the mid-'90s, but Voodoo (and later Black Messiah) bested it in every way, to the point that I rarely make it through the first couple tracks on Brown Sugar before just putting Voodoo on for the 1000th time. Hey, guess what D'Angelo album isn't on this list? Infuriating. A hypothetical five stars for Voodoo, the sexiest album ever recorded.

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 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.

Very nice.

Creo que me gustara el género me parecería un gran disco. Pero no es el caso.

3.5/10

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

Smoooooth

Pretty smooth R'n'B. Was nice in the beginning, but I mainly enjoyed the first half. 2+

A really solid debut. A great voice and production. Thematically and musically consistent. I appreciate that D'Angelo wrote and/or produced every song. The one cover he did include fit seamlessly.

God this is just so vacuous. 'Music to have sex to' shite

Easy smooth listen. Very peaceful album. 7.1/10

only really like the singles

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

D’Angel-no

Next.

A lot going on with this one but just not my jam and toast

Vibes Indeed

a vibe indeed

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.

A bit samey, nothing special. Would rate 5/10

This is another debut album. The style has been described as “neo-soul”, which seems to be updated soul/R&B. Not to diminish the album, but this would be good background music while you clean the house or work in the garage. ‘Smooth” has a Marvin Gaye vibe. “Cruisin” is a cover of the Smokey Robinson” song. “When We Get By” is a nice smooth jazz number. Overall impression: 3.3 stars.

D'Angelo died very recently, so I'm gonna feel extra guilty when I don't like this. But I really D'ont. R&B is always just so boring to me, unless the lyrics are particularly funny, which these aren't. Slur count = 1. Hey, I know 'Cruisin'! Not that I like the original(?) particularly much, but slowing it down even more is not what that song needed.

Talented guy, multi-instrumentalist, the Prince influence is blaring out there, but on the whole this is not for me thanks, I gave it a few tracks, and gave up.

Good, but not quite Black Messiah

"Scarred old slaver know he′s doin' alright, hear him whip the women, just around midnight" Oh, wait not that one.......... This is definitely the soundtrack that a gentleman CONSIDERABLY more successful with the ladies that I ever was used to soundtrack his "do you fancy some dinner at my place for a third date". And I respect that. With a deep side-helping of jealousy

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.

I knew D'Angelo as a neo-soul pioneer and collaborator with Lauryn Hill, but I can't remember ever consciously listening to any of his songs. On his debut album “Brown Sugar,” he is still searching for his style, and accordingly, it is a mélange of still quite distinct soul, jazz, and hip-hop influences. Personally, I like the jazzier tones on “Me And Those Dreamin' Eyes Of Mine” and “When We Get By” best.

I thought I would like it more than I did. The cover of Crusin' was the only memorable song.

1.8

Nothing to interest me here

This was pleasant enough. D'Angelo is a great singer and arranger, the production is excellent, but unfortunately it didn't seem particularly memorable. The whole album felt a bit too polished and homogenised to stand out to me.

Interesting transition from Jerry Lee Lewis to D'Angelo. Fortunately, the same subject matter. No incredible songs but no real disappointments.

I’m digging these Tonz on My Phonz

i liked it honestly but not much to write home about

Favorite Song: Lady

Didn’t really enjoy this.

It’s ok. Sounds like a lot of artists who came before him.

This felt like a bridge between classic R&B and modern R&B. The live instrumentation gave it a warm feel and the hip hop beats kept it current. Still not my favorite genre, I like old R&B so I appreciated the Smokey cover, but modern R&B doesn’t really excite me. I did enjoy the live band element of the album, some great musicianship on here, but most of the songs were so so.

Some good and some bad, shame cause I think he has a good vibe.

It had its highs and lows

He sounds great, it’s just too long. The songs are too long, the album is too long, the songs start to sound the same after a while. If this had been about 15-20 minutes shorter this would’ve been a 4 for me.

enjoyed this as background music on a gloomy day. did kinda drag at the end & got little bored w/the falsetto's

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.

Smooth, but not too smooth. I saved Alright and Cruisin' to my playlist

Not a fan

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.

Smooth as it gets. Also there’s that current of darkness underlying it knowing what he was going through personally and such intricacies to the production that make it a truly great record.

...

what a vibe

He's got a lovely smooth buttery voice - but this really is not my bag and does absolutely nothing for me.

Brown Sugar The title track is superb, and there are some great moments throughout, the jazzy accents, rather than relying purely on a 70s soul pastiche, gives it lightness and groove, the production has a warm polish to it, and the overall buttery smoothness makes it an easy listen. However it is thematically and tempo-wise pretty one note, and no matter how sweet his voice is and how easily it slips by, it does suffer from a sense of repeating itself, making the full 53 minutes drag a little. Alongside Brown Sugar, I like Smooth, the cover of Cruisin’ is good, Shit Damn Motherfucker is strangely catchy. I like Lady, although it carries quite a few neo-soul tropes, its minimalist funk groove is solid, and Higher is nice, even if it is fairly rote. I don’t mind neo soul in general, and this, as one of the progenitors, is one of the better examples, but it still does butt up against the structural restrictions of the genre so it struggles to really elevate itself to more than an easy listening, solid to high 3. 🤎🤎🤎 Playlist submission: Brown Sugar

Just like a black girl should! Oh not that one. This is classed as 'neo-soul' but the moniker makes me neo-nauseous, and brings to mind wannabes in tight-knit woollen-hats trying to be Marvin Gaye, but sounding like Ginuwine. This is simply soul. Via jazz. With gospel. I'll tell you what it isn't - Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite (aptly titled cos you want to hang yourself when you're there). This is clearly on a higher plain. In fact 'Lady' made me think of the cool, funky stylings of Thundercat. A delicious bass groove. There are plenty of groove-laden basslines, often quite jazzy, such as the walking bass of the smooth 'When We Get By'. D'Angelo is clearly a great singer even if he leans into just going 'oo, oh, oh, baby' quite a lot. I was minded to put it to a four but I think that's the surprise element talking. This is a completely solid three.

It's not bad, but there's a surprising lack of depth both musically and lyrically for a neo-soul album.

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

Good voice but a very bland album

R&B classics.

Vibessss

Sferig 3,5

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!!!

Instrumentalt är det toppen men jag tycker att hans sång är smörig tyvärr. Fint att det banade väg för så mycket annan bra neosoul!

Sexy music!

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.

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!

He's got a good voice, but a filter on it makes him constantly seem far away. Down tempo makes every song sleepy and kinda dull. Less that it's bad, more that I'm not too into it.

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.

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

5 sterne

If I had to describe Brown Sugar in two words, it'd be "wasted potential." D'Angelo has a great voice for R&B and these instrumentals are so rich & vibrant, but the overly repetitive lyrics and undercooked vocal melodies aren't doing this album any favors. If he had put a more competent songwriter behind the wheel here, we might be looking at a four (or five) star score, rather than a two. Highlights: Brown Sugar, Smooth, Lady

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!

I only managed 3 full songs in this and then skipped to snippets of the rest of the album. Not my thing at all. Found it very bland and very very blerg. I’m giving it a 2 instead of a 1 though because the production on it is great. I just don’t like the songs or style of music.

Enjoyed it in background music kinda way

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

Like almost every 90's US neo-soul release, it fails the music test: take away the vocals and what have you left? The only redeeming positive from listening to this is that I'm still alive, although why it is thought that I needed to hear this before the inevitable is beyond me. After a while it got switched off. Heard before ❌️ Listened this time ✅️ 60% Revisit ❌️ ★☆☆☆☆ (2/10) Total reviewed : 234 Already owned : 53 Purchased : 12 To buy list : 3 Nope : 166

Not for me. 1/5

Mid 90s neo soul/soul album, I don't know much about this era of the genre but this album sounds very good, relaxed, and smooth, the production is top notch. Not sure I will relisten it soon but I liked it at first listen.

A bit long and repetitive

Better than Coldplay

Funky!

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

Way too smooth for the morning commute.

this is sexy AF. I like Voodoo more though

Neo soul, covering Smoky, Prince wannabe Jonz in my bonz Lady

Very smooth listening

Sounds nice but also boring. Would be good background music

This is the go-to album for neo-soul. It's all about sensual minimalism, taking cues from old soul legends like Marvin Gaye and Prince, but with a chill, lo-fi hip-hop vibe. The production is super smooth and atmospheric, with smooth vocals and groovy basslines, perfect for late-night chill vibes. Tracks like "Lady" and "Brown Sugar" really show off D'Angelo's talent, creating a sound that's both timeless and intimate. Sometimes the lyrics are a bit cheesy and predictable, and the falsetto can get a little repetitive. But overall, it's a classic debut that captures the 90s R&B vibe perfectly. It's cool and influential, even if the slow groove isn't for everyone.

"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.

I really don't like this style of music, modern(ish) R'n'B. The soft singing, tedious groove guitars. The second track Alright really annoyed me, it went on for much longer than it should have, and When We Get By was basically just that line sung again and again for 5 minutes in a falsetto. About the highest praise I can offer is that this is at least better than Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite but almost anything would be.

this was honestly really forgettable which i was not expecting. i've heard d'angelo here and there so i'm familiar with how lovely his voice is, but this album felt repetitive, samey, and simplistic. like his voice is *so* good and he's so smooth, yet there's little that stands out to me here. these songs just feel under developed. it doesn't help that he doesn't particularly vary his vocal style here either leading to a number of tracks that to me are missing any dynamism that might make them stick more. "when we get by" for instance is the same refrain for 6 minutes with little deviation across any channel. it's tiresome.

Honestly I think the things it inspired is probably better then this album itself, I don't neccessarily think this holds up to a full album listen. I can do with albums that all center around similar topic matters, Clipse have been rapping about that one time they sold cocaine for 30 years and I am yet to be bored of it, but at the least there's got to be diversity in the WAY the subject matter is talked about. That's not really the case here and the result is an extremely one note affair, especially with the delivery being very similar throughout. It sort of makes all the songs feel interchangeable with one another.

This album got me pregnant.

Men in Black if it was D’Angelo instead of D'Onofrio: “More..brown sugar.” Chalk it up to this just not being my genre so I really felt the length, but I never had a bad time. & Shit Damn Motherfucker made me laugh out loud so a bonus star

🍫🔥😩🍆💦

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

I just can't with this one. Every song sounds the same and isn't something I really vibe with.

Fine - not for me but fone

Heard of D’Angelo but never listened to an album. Brown sugar is pretty good. Catchy chorus. Good production. Very mid 90s. Alright was fine. Very forgettable. O thing special or unique to it. Production on jonz in my bonz is a lot better. Songwriting is lacking. There’s barely anything going on with the last two songs aside from the production. Too much auto tune too. Much better songwriting on me and those dreamy eyes. This is a good song. Production on shit damn is really good too. Rest of it is eh. Smooth is the opposite. Good writing but not as big of a fan of the production. Good piano tho. Cruisin is really good. Good vocals/lyrics and really good production. This is a banger. Chorus is going to be stuck in my head. Piano in all these songs is so good. When we get by is another really good song. Horns and drums with the piano are elite. Good songwriting again. Trumpet solo towards the end🔥🔥. First half of lady isn’t my favorite, second half is much better. Really good production. An again great production on higher. So soulful. Great way to end the album. Very 90s but I like it. Overall good not great album. Some really good songs but also some really forgettable. Overall, 3.3 stars.

Blind album and artist. I can never understand this R&B like this with this style. Its unappealing sometimes.

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

It’s good but barely memorable

rip 😭😭

Solid smooth tunes. Not my jam but enjoyable.

If there's one thing I've learned about my own taste recently, it's that I don't like contemporary R&B all that much, case in point here. The instrumentation tends to be pretty great throughout the songs, but none of them deserve to be as long as they are and while D'Angelo has a great voice it's wasted on some truly insipid lyrics on here. The song "Cruisin'" should be an all time classic, bit it's let down by everything wrong about this album.

Album #1,030 A one-note horny R&B record. He doesn’t even change his tone on the song he threatens to kill his best friend and cheating girlfriend…what?! It sounds the same as all the others.

Fine music, but not my thing.

I think I was listening to the same song, probably about having sex, for 55 mins. Quite a nice voice but ultimately very boring!

Has some pleasant easy-listening sounds as long as you don’t pay attention to the lyrics. I’m honestly not a fan of the explicit themes, and nearly every song overstays its welcome. “Alright” and “Smooth” were the highlights. The singing is accomplished but not my style. I feel like I heard enough stuff like this on 90s pop radio.

Not really my music but ok I guess. Music to be playing in the background.

not my style of music but some songs were good

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.

Meh

Not my usual listen. I played it on out of curiosity more than anything. What I hear is a relaxed, smooth album that takes its time. The playing is good and the groove is obvious, even if it is not always grabbing me. I respect what it is doing more than I love listening to it. Glad I heard it. Not one I would reach for often.

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

Unfortunately it did nothing for me.

J'ai trouvé ça pas mal suave.

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!

Pleasant, not my favourite neo-soul but decent. Lady was my favourite.

At first I wasn't into this. As the album went on I got into it more and more, and I have a feeling that repeat listens for this are very rewarding. 3 for now, but perhaps trending upward in the future.

Peak peak peak peak peak

His voice is gorgeous but the album as a whole is a bit repetitive, still the songs are gorg 3.25/5

Very interesting, felt like i was playing GTA or watching an early 2000's movie. Not exactly my jam, but not terrible.

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😢

It’s fine. Didn’t grab me in the same way Stevie Wonder did. Definitely has the slower feel and tempo that I associate with R&B. Have to admit it was a bit boring. 4/10 Acceptable

Smooth

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

Classic but not my vibe

This album is made up of the first track, 'Brown Sugar', which is a bit of a tune, and then a warbling half-hour track which is all about having sex or something. Dunno. Bit boring.

Decent R&B album

I laughed at the song where he seemed surprised that when he shot his best friend and wife they were bleeding a lot and then couldn't work out why he was in handcuffs. Every song could be background music in a clothes shop that I would want to leave.

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

Ok background music

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

I thought it was def a vibe. Good background music for working.

Album 25 Top 3 favorites off the album: When We Get By; Shit, Damn, Motherfucker; Me And Those Dreamin' Eyes Of Mine This was a smooth listen, kind of to the point of being boring. I'm not super well-versed in R&B, but I've always liked the warmth that the harmonies bring. D'Angelo has a good voice. The album as a whole flowed into one looooooong track in my head, only really broken up by the first two of my three favorites. Lyrically, some things hit, others didn't. It's a matter of personal preference, and a lot of this just wasn't mine. I'd still rather consume all these lyrics in this genre than in a lot of other ones, though. Points for that! This is good background music for me. I will come back to this one, just not all the time!

Perfect--no notes.

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

EH TURMA ESSE AQUI EH PRA QUEM CURTE PUTARIA SEXO LOUCURA MALUCA DEBAIXO DO EDREDOM 🥵😈🥵😈 bem importante pro r&b esse aqui, hein. um pouco cansativo pro meu gosto, mas não foi ruim não. bem bacana ver de onde veio essa leva de r&b safadão do início do século!!

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.

Class. Funky, soulful, and seminal.

Nice

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*****

chill

breathy, groovy, intimate, swinging

There is potential here but it’s a charisma free zone I’m afraid. I feel sad that he hated being known for THAT video but must admit it’s the first thing I think of. Sad also that him and Angie Stone both passed away last year

Reduced my IQ by 17 points

nothing to see here NEXT

Very cool

Nije ovo voodoo ali je i dalje sjajno

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

pas désagréable mais certainement pas mémorable à écouter en fond (en fond de quoi jsp) très répétitif entre les chansons et au sein des chansons

nice enough

This falls safely into the basket of "I really liked this but probably not likely to listen to it again". Extremely 90's R&B, so think it fits this list pretty well even if there's not a huge amount of song variety.

The irony of this being put out on Virgin Records.... smooth vibe and great voice, but I just hate this kind of music. Same tempo the entire album. This was a real struggle to finish. 1/5

First listen Saved 5/10 Top track: Brown Sugar

Voodoo is better. Honestly, it all kinda blends together

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

All the songs sounded the same.

rip brown sugar- 6 alright- 5 jonz in my bonz- 5 me and those dreamin eyes of mine- 5 shit damn motherfucker- 5 smooth- 5 cruisin- 5 when we get by- 5 lady- 5 higher- 5

I found the lyrics repetitive and the harmonies redundant, but there's potential. Maybe his subsequent releases are better. there wasn't much variety in instrumentation or tempo.

Not far from Cool 'n the Gang.

Classic

Artiste inconnu. Le 1er morceau est terriblement répétitif, trop long, donc très ennuyeux malgré le minuscule chorus de clavier. Les autres morceaux ont le même problème : durée en général entre 5 et 6 mn, et pas assez variés. Ceci dit l'album n'est pas désagréable à entendre, en musique d'ambiance : j'ai finit par faire autre chose en même temps. Mais je ne l'écouterais pas une seconde fois. =>2/5

Eh definitely not for me, but I can see others liking this

Cool 90s rnb

Nice!

Fav: Alright Least Fav: Shit, Damn, Motherfucker Ashamed to admit this is the first time I’ve heard his music outside of Red Dead Redemption 2, it contains the chillest vibes

Gramny bait. An album desperate to be described as smooth

Not a lot of musical variation, but what an absolute vibe of an album! I think this is the perfect album for a romantic dinner, etc.

Well... this is actually pretty bland. And how I hate when songs are enlarged just for the sake of making them longer. Alright (and Jonz In My Bonz and, to be honest, every single song on this album) is the example of that. Is the last minute necessary? No and, actually, is half of the album necessary? It gets very repetitive and uninteresting. It's just some guy moaning over songs with soulless "soul" and hip-hop percussion bases. And how I dislike (to not say hate) hip-hop! And this album is not better, it's not good at all. But, well, I guess I've listened to many other worst albums, so I give two stars to this one (but now I'm feeling too generous for such a boredom).

Boring

An okay album, no real stand out songs.

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.

Brown Sugar Shit, Damn, Motherfucker

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.

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'll never get excited for rnb, although its funk elements are very flowy and i sorta enjoyed it to my capacities...

Awesome R&B

Very smooth R&B and a pretty good listen. There isn't a ton of variety, and the vocals are pretty basic, but this was much better than I thought that it was going to be.

Not a big D’Angelo fan

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

have to admit that seeing a track with the title ‘Shit, Damn, M*F*er’ on this album made me a little trepidatious, but I didn’t need to worry too much. This is very much old school R&B in the style of Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson with a 90s smooth sensibility. There’s a touch of soul, a pinch of smooth jazz and a hint of Prince in the delivery and the end result is pretty good for a debut album

Não conhecia muito do D’Angelo, apenas uma faixa ou outra, mas vi a repercussão nas notícias de seu falecimento. Certamente despertou em mim uma curiosidade e vontade de conhecer o seu trabalho, então obrigado 1001 álbuns pelo empurrãozinho. A voz dele é boa. Ótima até. Mas achei o disco, como um todo, um tanto quanto pedestre. Não me cativou totalmente. Achei as composições fracas e desinteressantes. O que carrega o álbum é o estilo vocal de D’Angelo, se colocar qualquer outro vocalista nesse álbum seria uma grande bomba. Senti falta também de um hit forte, com um refrão chiclete e uma produção viciante. No máximo, temos a canção titular do álbum, mas ela não cumpre esse papel nos meus olhos. Enfim, é um disco decente, mas não mudou minha vida. Linda voz, mas infelizmente aqui ela foi desperdiçada com composições e produção medianas. 3/5

Bog standard 90s R&B. Saccharine sweet and cheesy.

Groovy! Super enjoyable listen.

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.

Phew...slick and silky but not my case...

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

Vähän geneeriseksi jää vaikkakin taitavaa

3.5 I was excited to listen to this for the first time, since I know it’s supposed to be legendary. First listen - it’s alright. Maybe it’d grow on me with more listens. It’s not bad at all. But only a few songs really connected with me.

knew one song! but a different version - cover - of it. otherwise wasn't too fussed. bleh.

Enjoyed the shuffle afterwards more

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.

Two great songs - others are nice. Was groundbreaking back then but normal now

Not for me

Album 972 of 1089 D'Angelo - Brown Sugar (1995) Rating : 2 / 5 Today’s album was Brown Sugar by D’Angelo. I’ll give credit where it’s due - he’s clearly talented, the production is smooth, and I can absolutely understand why this album is held up as a key moment in neo-soul. But for me personally, it just doesn’t spark anything beyond “pleasant enough.” The groove is warm, the vocals are silky, and the vibe stays consistent, but it all lands in that space where I can appreciate it without actually connecting to it. Some albums pull you in whether or not they’re in your preferred genre — this just isn’t one of those for me. Nothing offended the ear, and the musicianship is clearly there, but nothing stuck with me either. More background music than something I’ll reach for again. Still, for folks who love the smooth, laid-back R&B of the mid-90s, I can see this being a standout. It just isn’t made with my musical tendencies in mind - and that’s fine. On to the next one.

nice

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

Hmmm, I have mixed feelings on this one. It's pure cheese. The lyrics on all the songs are pretty overtly sexual with a slow R&B/Soul feel, delivered passably. Lots of falsetto. The music is decent enough, very chill. It's a little slow, not really my vibe. I looked up D'Angelo because I'm not familiar with him and was pleased to see he's a multi-instrumentalist and played a lot of what is laid down in the album which is always nice to see. Standouts were "Me and Those Dreamin' Eyes of Mine" and "Cruisin'." In the end, this album was exactly like how I imagined it would be. Nothing super special or unique, but nice low-key ballads. Smooth listening, but I didn't hate it. 3/5

I've got this album and liked it all right when it came out.

One of the better 90s R&B records.

Never have listened to D'Angelo before, but I heard he has recently passed away, so may he rest in peace. This is a huge influence on neo-soul movement in the 90s and actually sounded more or less what I expected it would sound like. Not exactly my kind of soul (I prefer classic sounds), but this is still good, just about the middle of the road for me. Not a huge fan of lyricism here, but bass bunches through, and it is mixed well. P.S. On 2nd listen some tracks did stood out like Shit, Damn, Motherfucker or When we get by. I am tempted to check his most famous album "Voodoo" which is surprisingly not on this list! So this artist is perhaps the one to REVISIT? Planning to maybe give 3.5/5.0 on RYM and 3 stars here

Meh

it was okay lots of the songs weren’t quite as dynamic as i prefer

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

Not for me. Deeply boring to me, but I guess a 2 is unnecessarily critical.

Very smooth.

8/10… neo soul / r&b / *1995

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

Smooth and sophisticated. Rest in peace D'Angelo

Pure vibes. This was an outstanding listen!

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

6/10

Schmaltzy and smooth, but it doesn’t do much that excites me.

He’s got a kind of nice voice but just every song sounded the same. 5/10

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

Very long, not good

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

Was alright, but would have rather listened to Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones

I kinda liked it, sure

This is definitely not a genre I listen to often, but overall this isn’t bad. Probably not something I’m likely to go back to, but I definitely enjoy the instrumentation. 3+ stars.

Good laid back R&B, something I'd revisit on a lazy Sunday morning.

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.

horny

I don’t like R&B, but good background music as it doesn’t demand attention.

Some nice production, like this a little less than Voodoo, some interesting parts but overall not the most memorable thing ever

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.

Chillout R'nB

Peak

a classic neo soul album. Great song writing and performance

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.

Great beats, good voice, average lyrics, but ultimately forgettable.