[youtube id=”vCJY2NSSU1g”] Raphael Saadiq’s first solo album, Instant Vintage was released in 2002 after years of being an R&B trailblazer as a member of Tony!Toni!Toné!.Saadiq worked with D’Angelo in the ’90s as members of the Ummah collective. They had their first successful collaboration on D’Angelo’s Grammy-winning “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” taken from his Voodoo album. Saadiq’s “Be Here” and its accompanying album was seen as one of best records of the dwindling neo-soul era. Saadiq’s bassline and D’Angelo’s voice took their fans even deeper into their sound and visually engaged them with a video that was heavily played on BET. Instant Vintage and “Be Here” received Grammy nominations and lived up to the album’s title with fans who saw the two of them as the embodiment of a rare soul pedigree. Raphael Saadiq has five solo albums with Stone Rollin’ released in 2011 being his most recent one. In 2018, Saadiq received his first Oscar nomination for “Mighty River” that he wrote with Mary J. Blige and Taura Simpson for the Mudbound soundtrack.Â
