So I had been meaning to write this review for a while, because honestly Brown Sugar is one of my favorite albums of all time. It’s by an artist named D’Angelo, and I don’t know, it just takes me away. When I need chill time or whenever I was working on stuff for work, or knitting something, or just needed some music to relax to, listening to this album’s songs has always helped. I just decided to listen to the full album today and just see if I could write about it. At first I was worried about not sounding perfect but I realized that it doesn’t have to sound perfect at first. Of course, when I publish this I want it to sound cohesive and to the point but at the same time I have to just start off with listening and appreciation of the music. I’m going to try to sound objective when reviewing this album, and hopefully I accomplish doing this. I’m going to be honest I may not be able to pick out all the instruments that are involved on the album, but I am going to try my best.
I think the song that really got me started with D’Angelo’s music was the 1st song on the album, and it’s also the title of the album, called “Brown Sugar.” It is smoky, sexy, brilliant. It is everything. And it was really hard for me to figure out what to say about this album because it elicits so many emotions and feelings for me, and his singing and instrumentals are just so raw and beautiful that putting it in words, I mean, I don’t really know if it will do the album justice. And honestly while I am writing I am going to spout some hogwash and my writing for this first draft will make very little if no sense. I sound really self-critical here, but I’m just getting my thoughts out.
Anyway, I’ll just write my basic feelings about the album even if it’s not totally comprehensive or put-together. I first heard about D’Angelo when I was browsing iTunes, because there’s another neo-soul artist named Joss Stone, and what iTunes did back in the day is compile a playlist of the songs that actors, musicians and entertainers love. One of the playlists was for Joss Stone, and one of the songs on the playlist was “Brown Sugar” by D’Angelo. The first time I heard it, it sounded okay, but then I didn’t know if I would pursue D’Angelo’s music again after that. But back then, I was still exploring the soul genre and had just started with artists like Joss Stone and Amy Winehouse, then slowly started moving towards classic singers such as Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin over time. In college I had a few D’Angelo songs on my iPod Nano (it was the super skinny one and it came in the red color as part of the Product(RED) campaign. I still have that baby to this day.). But when I actually listened to the full album Brown Sugar, I came to more appreciate D’Angelo’s artistry and the different influences that appear in his music. Also, reading more about who he is as a musician was amazing because he plays multiple instruments and although he had help from other artists in the production of Brown Sugar he produced the majority of the album in addition to writing the songs. According to the Wikipedia page about D’Angelo, he was influenced to do this because of Prince. Prince took full control of the production of his music, and was really serious about copyright, probably because he knew the music industry might try to control his rights as an artist. Especially as a Black artist, when you think about how historically Black artists were robbed of their rights and copyright while working under white record executives, it’s not surprising that artists like Prince or D’Angelo would take full control of their albums.
If you’re looking for an album that will help you relax, this is definitely one of those albums. And especially if you’re a huge fan of R n B or quiet storm music, this is an album that many fans and critics loved and still celebrate. I don’t know too many close friends who know about his music, but a couple of times I talked with some fellow R n B fans and we have gushed about D’Angelo’s music together. It’s a mature album, and not just because it has the Parental Advisory sticker on it. It’s an organic, beautiful album that must have involved a serious process where D’Angelo thought about and worked really hard on, along with his team. It’s incredibly sophisticated, and is reminiscent of a lot of classic Motown R n B artists. Of course, I can’t exactly compare Marvin Gaye’s music and D’Angelo’s music because they were produced during different times and with different recording equipment, but the crooning of Marvin is similar to the crooning of D’Angelo, as well as the song content. Marvin Gaye’s songs have a lot to do with romance and sex and love, and so do the songs on Brown Sugar. This album also reminded me a lot of Thundercat’s album Drunk because both albums mix funk, R n B and jazz, and both vocals are incredible on both albums. I guess also because both are alternatives to mainstream R n B.
The album
- “Brown Sugar”: The song opens up with a smooth jazz riff, and then D’Angelo delves into an incredibly beautiful story about his encounter with a beautiful woman named Brown Sugar. He can’t help but be attracted to her because she is so attractive and he needs more of this woman to be satisfied. This song was caramel, brown sugar when you melt it in a pan and let it simmer. It is delectable, juicy, sexy, and sweet. The drums and the voices make it feel like my body is melting in chocolate. I close my eyes and I’m just totally taken in. The background noises convey the narrator with his friends as he’s thinking of this beautiful woman he can’t get enough of. The more times I listen to this song the less tired I get of it, and the more I crave it. I can’t help but move my body to this music. It is incredible. I know there is a Rolling Stones song called “Brown Sugar” but this version (which, of course, is totally different from the Rolling Stone one) is pure beauty.
- “Alright”: The song opens with some old school radio crackling, giving the song an old school feeling. The album overall has a very old-school feeling and of course that’s not surprising because it came out in 1995. I really love D’Angelo’s soaring vocals. The song is in a major key, A major. I found myself closing my eyes and swaying to the music. It just has a sweet groovy feeling, like those 90s movies you watch when two people meet in high school and do old-school romantic things together.
- “Jonz in My Bonz”: this song has a really cool hip-hop beat to it. It’s almost like a mantra that repeats through the song, “I’ve got a jonz in my bonz” and this mantra over the really chill percussive rhythms.
- “Me and Those Dreamin’ Eyes of Mine”: I love this song. I listened to it in college and I have always sought comfort in D’Angelo’s rich sophisticated voice. I love the key it is in G Major. There is a beautiful bass beat underlying the song. I love how the chorus sounds, too, just so beautiful. And I love how the drums sound throughout the song it gives it its jazz and R n B feel.
- “Shit, Damn, Motherfucker”: I love the intro to this song. It has a groovy feel in E minor and has a sort of dance rhythm. Like “Jonz in My Bonz”, “shit, damn, motherfucker” is like a mantra throughout the song.
- “Smooth”: the jazz intro is absolutely gorgeous. Then it moves into old school rhythms. And like the title of the song, the song itself is smooth. I love the use of piano in the song, too. I found myself bobbing my head to the rhythms.
- “Cruisin'”: This is originally a song by Motown artist Smokey Robinson released in 1979, and D’Angelo gives it a new spin. It just sounds sexy as hell, just being perfectly honest. It’s like D’Angelo’s voice just took me away. It also relaxed my muscles and helped me destress. I also love the strings and the drums backing up the vocals. It’s like D’Angelo’s voice wrapped me up inside it and never let me out.
- “When We Get By”: This is actually one of my favorite songs on the album and it’s the one I can’t stop listening to. I love the key of F sharp major, and I see the color gold when I hear it. This song had a very pleasant feel, like when you wake up in the morning and don’t have to rush about, you can just take your sweet time and eat your breakfast and make your coffee and smell the roses. It made me want to take a nice stroll outside.
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