D’Angelo’s second album, Voodoo, is one of those rare records that seems to operate according to its own laws of gravity. Released in 2000, it pulls soul, funk, R&B, jazz and hip-hop into something loose, murky and impossibly deep, where rhythms drag just behind the beat and every bassline feels capable of rearranging the furniture.
 
Recorded largely at New York’s Electric Lady Studios, D’Angelo surrounded himself with an extraordinary cast including Questlove, Pino Palladino, Roy Hargrove, Raphael Saadiq, DJ Premier, Method Man and Redman. Rather than polishing everything into submission, they chased feel. Drums stumble beautifully, guitars flicker in and out, vocals pile on top of one another and songs unfold with the patience of a late-night jam session.
 
There are obvious landmarks: the filthy pocket of Devil’s Pie, the glorious looseness of Chicken Grease, the Latin-jazz rush of Spanish Joint and the devastating sensuality of Untitled (How Does It Feel). But Voodoo works best swallowed whole. It is dense, intimate, humid music, full of tiny rhythmic details that reveal themselves gradually and grooves that somehow get deeper every time around.
 
Frequently grouped with the neo-soul movement, Voodoo ultimately feels much bigger than any genre tag. This is D’Angelo reaching backwards through Prince, Sly Stone, Marvin Gaye, Parliament-Funkadelic and classic soul while simultaneously absorbing the crooked rhythmic language of hip-hop. More than two decades later, it still sounds gloriously out of time.
 
TRACKS:
Side A
Playa Playa
Devil’s Pie
Left & Right
 
Side B
The Line
Send It On
Chicken Grease
One Mo’Gin
 
Side C
The Root
Spanish Joint
Feel Like Makin’ Love
 
Side D
Greatdayndamornin’ / Booty
Untitled (How Does It Feel)
Africa