t-time

Apparently this video ruined D’Angelo. From Necole Bitchie :

“We couldn’t get through one song before women would start to scream for him to take off something” says Hargrove. “It wasn’t about the music. All they wanted was for him to take off his clothes.”

The cat calls had an undeniable effect on D’Angelo. “He’d get angry and started breaking sh*t,” Thompson remembers. “The audience thinking, “f*ck your art, I wanna see your ass!” made him angry”.

For D’Angelo, who, as Trenier puts it, “isn’t a sexy dude” but a “real musician who wears glasses and plays video games,” the objectification appeared to do lasting damage. “I didn’t realize how vulnerable he was or how deep his issues ran.” Says Leeds. “He’s cursed now with fretting over how much of his fan base is because of how he looked as opposed to his music. It took away his confidence, because he’s not convinced why any given fan is supporting him.

“I feel really guilty, because that was never the intention” Trenier says. “Untitled wasn’t supposed to be his mission statement for Voodoo. I’m glad the video did what it did, but he and I were both disappointed because, to this day, in the general public’s memory, he’s the naked dude.” - Spin Magazine August 2008 Issue

To be honest, it never would have crossed my mind to yell at him to take his clothes off. D’Angelo had me at Brown Sugar. The “Untitled” video was just a nice bonus. It’s sad that what shoud have been a good thing, being at the height of his career was so destructive. I’ve really missed him. He definitely wa putting the “Neo” in “Neo-Soul.” He was pre-Maxwell and Erykah and Jill. He was The Man. I used to spend weekends rocking “Brown Sugar” fantasizing that when I got older I’d have a man like that…lol.

Anywho, rumor has it he will have an album out later this year now that he’s signed to J-Records. Here’s hoping. His music and talent is very missed. Hey, he’ll always be sexy to me with or without the body. And for old time’s sake: