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**D'Angelo - Voodoo**
★★★★★

Thirteen years. That's how long the world waited between D'Angelo's earth-shattering debut "Brown Sugar" and this sensual, sprawling masterpiece that redefined what R&B could be in the new millennium. When "Voodoo" finally emerged in January 2000, it arrived not as a mere follow-up but as a seismic shift in popular music's tectonic plates – a record so intoxicating, so utterly revolutionary, that it's still casting spells over musicians and listeners more than two decades later.

The origins of "Voodoo" trace back to D'Angelo's post-"Brown Sugar" creative restlessness. Holed up in Electric Lady Studios – Jimi Hendrix's old haunt – the Virginia-born virtuoso assembled a coven of musical alchemists including drummer Questlove, bassist Pino Palladino, and guitarist Charlie Hunter. What emerged from those sessions was nothing short of musical sorcery: a record that took the blueprint of classic soul and twisted it into something entirely new, where rhythm became liquid and groove became gospel.

Musically, "Voodoo" exists in its own universe, one where Prince's Minneapolis funk collides with Sly Stone's psychedelic soul, where hip-hop's rhythmic innovations merge seamlessly with the spiritual intensity of church music. This is neo-soul at its most adventurous – a genre-defying statement that refuses to be categorized. D'Angelo's vocals float and flutter over rhythms that seem to breathe with a life of their own, creating an atmosphere so thick with sensuality and spirituality that it feels like stepping into another dimension entirely.

The album's crown jewel, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)," remains one of the most potent pieces of musical seduction ever committed to tape. Built around a hypnotic guitar loop and D'Angelo's falsetto pleadings, it's a six-minute exercise in controlled passion that culminates in one of the most iconic music videos of the era. But to focus solely on its carnal magnetism would be to miss its deeper spiritual currents – this is music that treats physical love as a pathway to transcendence.

"Devil's Pie," the album's opening salvo, announces D'Angelo's intentions with a menacing bassline that could wake the dead and lyrics that grapple with temptation and materialism over a beat that seems to move in slow motion. It's followed by "Playa Playa," a swaggering meditation on relationships that showcases the artist's ability to make even the most well-worn R&B themes feel revelatory through sheer force of musical invention.

The album's experimental peak comes with "Chicken Grease," an instrumental workout that sounds like Funkadelic jamming with a jazz fusion quartet while under the influence of particularly potent cannabis. It's here that D'Angelo's vision becomes clearest – this isn't just R&B, it's a complete reimagining of what Black American music can be when freed from commercial constraints and allowed to follow its most adventurous impulses.

"Left & Right," featuring Method Man and Redman, proves that D'Angelo could navigate hip-hop's waters without losing his essential identity, while "Send It On" closes the album with a spiritual intensity that recalls the great gospel traditions while pointing toward an uncertain but hopeful future.

The influence of "Voodoo" cannot be overstated. It spawned an entire generation of artists – from Frank Ocean to The Weeknd – who understood that R&B didn't have to choose between innovation and authenticity. The album's approach to rhythm, particularly Questlove's deliberately behind-the-beat drumming, became a template that's still being followed today. Its seamless blend of the sacred and profane, the political and personal, established a new paradigm for how contemporary soul music could address the complexities of modern life.

Today, "Voodoo" stands as one of the essential albums of the 21st century's first decade, a work that grows more impressive with each passing year. In an era of playlist culture and shortened attention spans, it remains a full-album experience that demands to be consumed whole, like a fine wine or a powerful drug. It's a record that changed everything while sounding like nothing else, a singular artistic statement that continues to cast its spell over anyone brave enough to surrender to its magic. In the pantheon of great soul albums, "Voodoo" doesn't just deserve