Posthumous D'Angelo Music On The Way? Questlove Says So
Posthumous D’Angelo Music On The Way? Questlove Says So
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Months before D’Angelo tragically passed away at the age of 51, he’d teased a new album on the way. When he cancelled his June appearance at the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia after “complications due to surgery,” he said in his post that “@m currently in the lab and can’t wait to serve up what’s in the pot. Love you all and see you very soon.”
Unfortunately, after a stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis in July, Michael Eugene Archer instead transitioned to join the ancestors on Oct. 14. But his former collaborators say that a posthumous album is forthcoming.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson was asked about it on the red carpet at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony on Nov. 8. He played in the band that included Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson and Flea, paying homage to Sly Stone, who D’Angelo was heavily influenced by. Stone died on June 9 at the age of 82.
“You’ll see soon,” Quest told reporter Courtney Tezeno when she asked if a posthumous release was on the way and what it might sound like.
“It’s always the sound of yesterday but for the future, and this record’s no different,” he told her.
Raphael Saadiq also said that D was working on new music in an interview last year.
“D’s in a good place,” Saadiq told Rolling Stone Music Now in 2024 that D was working on six songs and was “really excited.”
Q-Tip also said that there is a song recorded for the dormant Lynwood Rose project, which was first going to be a supergroup of Q-Tip, D’Angelo and Raphael Saadiq. It later morphed into the short-lived Lucy Pearl project with Dawn Robinson, Saadiq and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Tip said the song would be on D’s next album.
The D’Angelo Estate, once it’s set up, would likely have the final word on any posthumous releases, along with his last label, RCA Records, if they still have him under contract. There is music in the pipeline, once all approvals happen. Though he only released three albums in his lifetime, D’Angelo recorded hours and hours of unreleased music, dating all the way back to the Voodoo sessions in 2000. Much of his third album, Black Messiah, was made up of songs that had been recorded years before.
Some of those tracks, as well as collaborations and lesser-known productions, are on this Soundcloud playlist.
While there is concern that any music released would not have D’Angelo’s seal of approval, his youngest son’s mother, Toni Hunter Davis, said in an interview shortly after his death that Black Messiah had been taken away from D’Angelo by the label and released without his knowledge. The album won two Grammys for Best R&B Album and for Best R&B Song for “Really Love.”
“They put it out without him knowing,” Hunter Davis said. “I remember when they put the album out. He was like ‘THEY TOOK MY MUSIC!’ The label put it out. He was so mad.”
So if that’s what D’Angelo’s “unfinished work” was like, his posthumous album should be just fine.
RELATED: R&B Icon D’Angelo Reportedly Dead At 51 After Private Cancer Battle
Posthumous D’Angelo Music On The Way? Questlove Says So was originally published on cassiuslife.com
