DAngelos Voodoo [Paperback]

Voodoo, D'Angelo's much-anticipated 2000 release, set the standard for the musical cycle ordained as neo-soul, a label the singer and songwriter would reject more than a decade later. The album is a product of heightened emotions and fused sensibilities; an amalgam of soul, rock, jazz, gospel, hip-hop, and Afrobeats. D'Angelo put to music his own pleasures and insecurities as a man-child in the promised land. It was both a tribute to his musical heroes: Prince, Sly Stone, Marvin Gaye, J Dilla...and a deconstruction of rhythm and blues itself.

Despite nearly universal acclaim, the sonic expansiveness ofVoodooproved too nebulous for airplay on many radio stations, seeping outside the accepted lines of commercial R&B music.Voodoowas Black, it was definitely magic, and it was nearly overshadowed by a four-minute music video featuring D'Angelo's sweat-glistened six-pack abs. The Video created an accentuated moment when the shaman lost control of the spell he cast.

Faith A. Pennickis a Chicago-born, Los Angeles-based filmmaker and writer. Pennick's fiction and nonfiction films have aired on U.S. television and screened at film festivals throughout the world. She has written for National Public Radio and the pop culture websiteThe Learned Fangirl, among other outlets.A part of the influential 33 1/3 Series ... Filmmaker and writer Faith Pennicks new book is a pop culture passion project that digs deep into music, race, masculinity, and the enduring power of one particular music video. -LSA Magazine