D’Angelo – Brown Sugar

Brown Sugar is the debut studio album by American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist D’Angelo, released on July 3, 1995, through EMI. The album was recorded during 1994 and 1995 in sessions at Battery Studios and RPM Studios in New York City and at the Pookie Lab in Sacramento. Its production, instrumentation, arrangements, and songwriting were primarily handled by D’Angelo, who employed both vintage recording equipment and modern electronic devices. The songs feature earnest lyrics about love and romance, set against a fusion of contemporary R&B and traditional soul music with elements of funk, quiet storm, and hip hop music.

Brown Sugar debuted at number six on the US Billboard Top R&B Albums chart, selling 300,000 copies in its first two months. With the help of its four singles, it spent 65 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart and received platinum certification within a year of its release. Brown Sugar was also met with widespread acclaim and earned D’Angelo several accolades, including four Grammy Award nominations. Regarded by music journalists as a pivotal release in neo soul, the album brought commercial exposure to the burgeoning musical movement amid the prominence of producer-driven, digitally approached R&B.