Happy Birthday to D’Angelo (February 11)!
The first time I saw D’Angelo was a brief glimpse of him in the video for “U Will Know” from the group Black Men United. The song was featured in the 1994 film Jason’s Lyric and featured a who’s who of talent such as Tevin Campbell, H-Town, Boyz II Men, Brian McKnight, Lenny Kravitz, and Raphael Saadiq. He appeared to be mesmerized in the company of some great individuals as he dabbled at the keyboard. About a year later, I was working at KSYM-90.1 FM when a new batch of CD’s came into the studio. I began shifting through them when I stumbled upon a single called “Brown Sugar.” My co-host Jamal and I played the track and immediately liked what we heard. The music was fresh and much needed in an era of blunt hats, Dickies, and chronic smoke. That weekend, we premiered “Brown Sugar” on the show and watched as it quickly became one of our most requested songs.
