Brown Sugar (album)

Infobox Album |
Name = Brown Sugar
Type = studio
Artist = D'Angelo


Released = July 3, 1995
Recorded = 1994–1995
Battery Studios
RPM Studios
(New York, New York)
Pookie Lab
(Sacramento, California)
Genre = Neo soul, contemporary R&B
Length = 53:17
Label = EMI Music
32629
Producer = D'Angelo
Ali Shaheed Muhammad
Raphael Saadiq
DR Period
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:k9ftxqyhldde~T0 link]
*Review-Christgau|hm2|artist=303
*"Entertainment Weekly" (A) [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,297798,00.html link]
*"NME" Rating|9|10 [http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/2619651/a/Brown+Sugar.htm link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|4|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/dangelo/albums/album/245794/review/6068057/brown_sugar link]
*"Spin" Rating|8|10 [http://www.tower.com/brown-sugar-dangelo-cd/wapi/105785643 link]
*"VIBE" (favorable) [http://www.tower.com/brown-sugar-dangelo-cd/wapi/105785643 link]
*Yahoo! Music (favorable) [http://music.yahoo.com/read/review/12042481 link]
Last album =
This album = "Brown Sugar"
(1995)
Next album = "Live at the Jazz Cafe"
(1998) |

"Brown Sugar" is the debut album of neo soul musician D'Angelo, released July 3, 1995 on EMI Records. Described by critics as a promising album with old-school crooning and new-school beats, "Brown Sugar", along with "Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite", helped kick-start the musical movement widely known as neo-soul. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,995906-1,00.html http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,995906-1,00.html] ] The hit singles "Brown Sugar" and "Lady" helped the album to sell well (double platinum) and widespread critical acclaim made D'Angelo one of the 90's brightest new soul musicians. "Brown Sugar" is also widely considered as one of the best R&B/Soul albums of the last 15 years before its release. [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3jfyxz9jldke allmusic { The Best So Far... > Overview }] ] Following the critical and commercial success of "Brown Sugar", D'Angelo would not release new studio material for four years until his follow up album "Voodoo" in early 2000.

Music

Prior to "Brown Sugar"'s release, the neo soul movement was yet to be defined by a major release and the genre was largely played by British artists such as Omar. With his hip hop background and classic soul influences, which include Marvin Gaye, Sly Stone, and Prince, D'Angelo ushered in a new sound, blending classic soul arrangements with contemporary R&B beats, and setting up a definitive blueprint for the subgenre.cite web |url=http://digital.spin.com/spin/200808/?pg=68 |title=Spin magazine - August 2008 - Body & Soul article by David Peisner (pgs. 64-72) |publisher=www.spin.com |accessdate=2008-08-09]

Although songs such as "Cruisin'" and "When We Get By" (the former a Smokey Robinson cover) were conventional in the classic sense, risque subject matter like those found on "Sh*t, Damn, Motherf*cker" and the moody, bass driven "Jonz in My Bonz" gave the album an edge thought to be lacking in mainstream R&B at the time. The title song, "Brown Sugar", is a thinly-veiled ode to marijuana, which also works as an analogy for a woman. As D'Angelo sings, "We be making love constantly / That's why my eyes are a shade blood burgundy". On "Sh*t, Damn, Motherf*cker", D'Angelo depicts a scenario where he has caught his best friend having an affair with his wife. He sings "Why the both of you buck-balled naked? / I tell ya what's on my mind / I'm bout to go get my nine and kill both of y'alls behind".

"Lady" is a guitar-driven affirmation of D'Angelo's commitment to his partner. The album closes with the gospel-inspired "Higher". In September 1995, D'Angelo performed a well-received live session at The Jazz Cafe in London, including songs from this debut album. Recordings from the event were subsequently made available on his release, "Live at the Jazz Cafe" (1998).

Critical reception

The album's appeal was widespread among critics. [http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=1294973&title=Brown+Sugar+%5BEdited%5D&artist=D'Angelo Tower.com: The Planet's Entertainment Destination for Music, CDs, Movies, DVDs, Books & more ] ] "Entertainment Weekly" praised the album in a 1995 article and giving the album an "A" rating, while "NME" magazine wrote that "D'Angelo's downbeat world blurs the borders..., kicking over the traces of the genre game" "VIBE" magazine also praised the album, writing "determined to give pre-hip hop forms like blues, soul, gospel, and jazz a mid-'90s vibe....inhabits his songs from odd angles, without non-stop Vandross-style aural showmanship." Cheo H. Coker of "Rolling Stone" magazine praised "Brown Sugar" for its revolutionary sound and departure from the New Jack styles of the time:

"Brown Sugar" was nominated for the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song. The album was also nominated for Best R&B Album. "Lady" was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. The album was later included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's." (Rolling Stone, 5/13/99, p.74) It was also ranked #21 in Village Voice's 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll (Village Voice, 2/20/96) and ranked #97 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics".

Track listing

"All songs written by D'Angelo, except where noted."
#"Brown Sugar" (M. Archer, Muhammad) – 4:22
#"Alright" – 5:13
#"Jonz in My Bonz" (M. Archer, Stone) – 5:56
#"Me and Those Dreamin' Eyes of Mine" – 4:46
#"Sh*t, Damn, Motherf*cker" – 5:14
#"Smooth" (M. Archer, L. Archer) – 4:19
#"Cruisin'" (Robinson, Taplin) – 6:24
#"When We Get By" – 5:44
#"Lady" (Archer, Saadiq) – 5:46
#"Higher" (M. Archer, L. Archer, R. Archer) – 5:28

;Bonus tracks:"Japanese release of this album included three bonus cuts."
#"Brown Sugar" (Radio Version) – 4:03
#"Brown Sugar" (TV Track) – 4:26
#"Brown Sugar" (Instrumental) – 4:25

Album singles

Personnel

Musicians

*D'Angelo – vocals, various instrumentation, production, vocal and musical arrangements
*Bob Power, Raphael Saadiq, Mark Whitfield – guitar
*Larry Grenadier, Will Lee, Raphael Saadiq – bass
*Tim Christian – piano
*Gene Lake, Ralph Rolle – drums
*Ali Shaheed Muhammad – drum programming
*Laura Vivino – flute and picolo
*Dunn Pierson – orchestra conductor and arranger
*Eugene Bianco – orchestra contractor and copyist
*Gerald Tarack, Marilyn Wright, Regis Iandorio, Matthew Raimondi, Masako Yanagila, Natalie Kriegler, Alexander Simionescu, Winterton Garvey – violins
*Julien Barber, Olivia Koppell, Sue Pray, Eufrosina Railenu – violas
*Jesse Levy, Seymour Barab – cellos

Additional personnel

*Ali Shaheed Muhammad – production
*Bob Power, Russell Elevado, G Spot, Darrin Harris – engineer and mixing
*Rob Farrell, Chaz Harper, G Spot, Suz Dweyer, Julio Peralta, Martin Czember – assistant and additional engineering

References

External links

* [http://www.emigroup.com/ Official record label website]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:qsjn7i8og71r~T1 AllMusic entry on "Brown Sugar"]