D'Angelo (born Michael Eugene Archer on 11 February 1974 in Richmond, Virginia, United States) is a neo-soul singer and keyboardist. He has released two albums, "Brown Sugar" (1995) and "Voodoo" (2000), with a third, at one time rumored to be titled "James River," with no announced release date. D'Angelo signed a publishing deal with EMI Music in 1991 after catching the attention of record executives with a demo tape. He penned the hit song "U Will Know" on the Jason's Lyric soundtrack. ...show more

D'Angelo (born Michael Eugene Archer on 11 February 1974 in Richmond, Virginia, United States) is a neo-soul singer and keyboardist. He has released two albums, "Brown Sugar" (1995) and "Voodoo" (2000), with a third, at one time rumored to be titled "James River," with no announced release date. D'Angelo signed a publishing deal with EMI Music in 1991 after catching the attention of record executives with a demo tape. He penned the hit song "U Will Know" on the Jason's Lyric soundtrack.

It was performed by Black Men United for the Jason's Lyric motion picture soundtrack. Shortly after, he was signed by Gary Harris and he began recording his debut album for EMI records. Brown Sugar was released in June 1995. Though sales were sluggish at first, the album was eventually a hit, due in large part to "Lady," a Top Ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, peaking at #10.

The album earned platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America, following sales in excess of one million copies in the U.S., while its total sales have been estimated within the range of 1.5 million to over two million copies. The album helped give commercial visibility to the burgeoning neo soul movement of the 1990s, along with debut albums by Maxwell, Erykah Badu, and Lauryn Hill. The album was a critical success as well, and appeared on many critics' "best of" lists for the year. Following his debut album's success, D'Angelo went into a four and a half year absence from the music scene and releasing solo work. ...show less