Editor’s Note: The Albumism staff has selected what we believe to be the 110 Best Albums of the 2010s, representing a varied cross-section of artists, genres, and styles. Click “Next Album” below to explore each album in the list or for easier navigation, view the full introduction & album index here.
D’ANGELO AND THE VANGUARD | Black Messiah
RCA (2014)
Selected by Marcus Willis
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Like the promise of a benevolent God who will someday return to save us from ourselves, music fans waited for nearly 15 years for the follow-up to Voodoo (2000), and for damn good reason. Black Messiah’s sloppy, dusty funk proved there’s no one in modern music who comes remotely close to doing what D’Angelo does. Never mind that the fuzzy, distorted, and sometimes mumbled vocals require a lyric-sheet read-along—this is soul for real, something you feel. Whether reminiscing, protesting, tenderly romancing, lamenting environmental destruction, or making pussies fart (no really, that’s in there), D’Angelo growls, seethes, and glides over each composition with unbridled passion. With the still-devastating loss of Prince in 2016, D’Angelo remains the last of a dying breed, and Black Messiah is our reminder that the funk lives on.
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