D’Angelo – Voodoo

Voodoo is the second studio album by American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist D’Angelo, released on January 25, 2000, through Virgin Records. D’Angelo recorded the album during 1998 and 1999 at Electric Lady Studios in New York City, with an extensive line-up of musicians associated with the Soulquarians musical collective. Produced primarily by the singer, Voodoo features a loose, groove-based funk sound and serves as a departure from the more conventional song structure of his debut album, Brown Sugar (1995). Its lyrics explore themes of spirituality, love, sexuality, maturation, and fatherhood.

Following heavy promotion and public anticipation, the album was met with commercial and critical success. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 320,000 copies in its first week, and spent 33 weeks on the chart. It was promoted with five singles, including the hit single “Untitled (How Does It Feel)”, whose music video garnered D’Angelo mainstream attention and controversy. Upon its release, Voodoo received general acclaim from music critics and earned D’Angelo several accolades. It was named one of the year’s best albums by numerous publications.

D’Angelo promoted Voodoo with an international supporting tour in late 2000. While successful early on, the tour became plagued by concert cancellations and D’Angelo’s personal frustrations surrounding his sexualized public image from the album’s marketing. Voodoo has since been regarded by music writers as a creative milestone of the neo soul genre during its apex and has sold more than 1.7 million copies in the United States, being certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).