fancy lacriminal

8mo

Voodoo vinyl reup (got mine)
https://shop.udiscovermusic.com/collections/dangelo/products/dangelo-voodoo-2-lpexplicit-lp

Brown Sugar pre-order already sold out

eye contact

8mo

americanalovesyou

Ur sick af dude

brownsugah

8mo

Nevermind. I guess you have to follow me to get the link. It lets me DM it. (I’m female btw lol).

johnno

8mo

Still can’t believe it

We were so blessed to share an existence with him

God rest his soul in peace

Leftside

8mo

F*** man

eye contact

8mo

i think there are folks with the musicianship but the effects of the digital revolution and everything downriver of it (social media, screen time, the algorithm, individuality disappearance of legacy) has destroyed the ability to cultivate an reputation and discipline anywhere near as replacable as someone like D's

insertcoolnamehere

8mo

· edited

@Delfunk24 it's also how the audience receives art these days.

Like, I'll provide a real life example.

I teach after school music at a public school in the Bronx for 3rd graders right. This week we went over "genres/type of music" and used some of their fav artists they named (e.g. taylor swift, ishowspeed, ksi, one girl said dd osama and kyle richh, etc.) and through that, I showed them other types of artists and eventually went to D'angelo.

Lot of em wasn't even feeling him lol. Said his voice sounded ugly.

(also earlier I brought up Off The Wall by MJ and half the class was too caught up in the album cover and how "weird" he looked, one girl even said he looked zesty. mind you the man is just smiling lol.)

and while it was funny because these are 9 year olds and it's just interesting to hear their input even if it's negative, it does hammer home the point that the zeitgeist has made it so this type of music doesn't even register to the ears of the young. Look at how dijon is received now, as "hootin and hollerin" music on twitter and that'll get likes and retweets.

And yes, D'Angelo's interesting way of pronouncing lyrics was always talked about from Saul Williams liner notes in voodoo to the label calling it "D'Bonics" but even with ALL that, niggas still wanted to listen. Niggas still wanted to go buy those albums. And niggas still wanted to go to the shows.

Meanwhile, 3:50 is too long of length for a song now (most shocking comment I've heard so far from my class imo)

I told @xingu about his musician friend a few weeks ago this (and every present musician needs to think about) and that you REALLY have to decide more than ever why did you want to become an artist in the first place. If it's intrinsic and the journey itself brings you a sense of inner peace and understanding within your own life, you better f***ing keep at it.

But if it was because of external reasons like reputation and the sensation of chasing success, ngl, you should hang up your jersey cause you'll be so very very depressed. We're probably in the worst era of musicianship in a while where trying doesn't get you anywhere and the works that break the mold get trapped under the wave of "not viral enough"

And the extra "oomph" of D'Angelo dying is the realization that s*** is really cooked.

We tell everyone that s*** is on the internet but we forget to realize that...the marginalized never really evolved with that line of thinking and everything for them is STILL in 2025 given to them via radio.

Don't think niggas gonna realize the scope of all that we lost until like 30-40 years from now when a black youth dem from this instant gratification generation digs through the archives of the days of yesteryear and hears a "The Root" and thinks it's AI because they just can't fathom a song like that being accomplished as a human feat unless they were white/came from the Jacob Collier School of musical excellence.

tl;dr: It's a freedom in admitting it's not gonna get better

Jim Halpert

8mo

Unfortunately you are spitting.

F*** streaming culture.

insertcoolnamehere

8mo

· edited

@Delfunk24 it's also how the audience receives art these days.

Like, I'll provide a real life example.

I teach after school music at a public school in the Bronx for 3rd graders right. This week we went over "genres/type of music" and used some of their fav artists they named (e.g. taylor swift, ishowspeed, ksi, one girl said dd osama and kyle richh, etc.) and through that, I showed them other types of artists and eventually went to D'angelo.

Lot of em wasn't even feeling him lol. Said his voice sounded ugly.

(also earlier I brought up Off The Wall by MJ and half the class was too caught up in the album cover and how "weird" he looked, one girl even said he looked zesty. mind you the man is just smiling lol.)

and while it was funny because these are 9 year olds and it's just interesting to hear their input even if it's negative, it does hammer home the point that the zeitgeist has made it so this type of music doesn't even register to the ears of the young. Look at how dijon is received now, as "hootin and hollerin" music on twitter and that'll get likes and retweets.

And yes, D'Angelo's interesting way of pronouncing lyrics was always talked about from Saul Williams liner notes in voodoo to the label calling it "D'Bonics" but even with ALL that, niggas still wanted to listen. Niggas still wanted to go buy those albums. And niggas still wanted to go to the shows.

Meanwhile, 3:50 is too long of length for a song now (most shocking comment I've heard so far from my class imo)

I told @xingu about his musician friend a few weeks ago this (and every present musician needs to think about) and that you REALLY have to decide more than ever why did you want to become an artist in the first place. If it's intrinsic and the journey itself brings you a sense of inner peace and understanding within your own life, you better f***ing keep at it.

But if it was because of external reasons like reputation and the sensation of chasing success, ngl, you should hang up your jersey cause you'll be so very very depressed. We're probably in the worst era of musicianship in a while where trying doesn't get you anywhere and the works that break the mold get trapped under the wave of "not viral enough"

And the extra "oomph" of D'Angelo dying is the realization that s*** is really cooked.

We tell everyone that s*** is on the internet but we forget to realize that...the marginalized never really evolved with that line of thinking and everything for them is STILL in 2025 given to them via radio.

Don't think niggas gonna realize the scope of all that we lost until like 30-40 years from now when a black youth dem from this instant gratification generation digs through the archives of the days of yesteryear and hears a "The Root" and thinks it's AI because they just can't fathom a song like that being accomplished as a human feat unless they were white/came from the Jacob Collier School of musical excellence.

tl;dr: It's a freedom in admitting it's not gonna get better

malédiction

8mo

It’s not that black and white, I get what you’re saying and it’s true that the zeitgeist affects how younger audiences receive art but don’t forget it’s also a reflection of musical environment.

To show an audience who are growing up surrounded by algorithmic music, snippets, and songs made with virality in mind; that becomes their entire frame of reference. So then when you show them someone like D’Angelo and you get a response like “his voice sounded ugly” what do you actually expect..

When they hear something that demands slower listening or deeper emotional engagement, it doesn’t immediately resonate because they’ve never been introduced to the language of that kind of artistry (often starts in the household).

No doubt that the zeitgeist affects how audiences receive art, but it’s also important to acknowledge how exposure and context shape what we’re even capable of appreciating in the first place.

And honestly, a lot of that other stuff your class listens to doesn’t even exist as independent art. It’s part of a larger content ecosystem; short, visual, personality-driven. Always online, clipped up, and repackaged every day f***ing day. And that’s exactly how they’re consuming it. Hence why 3:50 is too long, what they’re listening to is like an add-on the content creator has made to retain attention/views and an additional revenue stream. It’s not a selfless and pure musical expression.

If they eventually develop an ear for music that isn’t, for lack of a better word “content” then great. If not, then it is what it is. There are plenty of adults who grew up in an era of phenomenal music/film/sports/art etc and still didn’t give a f*** or have the willingness to appreciate something unfamiliar.

ialexlopes

8mo

this news is obviously one of the saddest and biggest losses we had in the music world recently, but it's so good to see that his music touched A LOT of people, from regular internet dudes like us, to big stars like Solange and Beyoncé.

the guy was really a living legend, and he has transformed R&B forever. all these modern R&B acts literally wouldn't exist without his influence, and that whole Neo-Soul movement - while it's kinda "controversial" - is a real thing.

D'Angelo, Erykah Baduh, Musiq Soulchild, Raphael Saadiq, Questlove, J Dilla, Common, Pino Palladino and everyone involved with that era are so important to music in general, and we should give the flowers to the ones that are still among us while they are alive and well.

This is such a tremendous loss, and one of the few artists I actually cried about their passing away.

If you haven't yet, read the 33 1/3 book on Voodoo. It's such an eye opening book about how that album came to be, personal struggles, mindset, etc. You can find it on Apple Books, or your local indie music store probably will have that one too.

Anyway, there's not much to say, and a whole lot to mourn.

RIP D'Angelo, you were a true legend, in every sense of the word.