Questlove Teases Posthumous D’Angelo Album: “The Sound of Yesterday, But for the Future”

D’Angelo and Questlove formed a close collaborative relationship during the making of the singer’s classic sophomore album, Brown Sugar. While serving as the “co-pilot” of those sessions, Questlove helped guide the record’s sound, finding inspiration from legends such as Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Al Green, and George Clinton, as well as reruns of Soul Train. Though Questlove wasn’t as deeply involved with D’Angelo’s final studio album, 2014’s Black Messiah, he still contributed drums and programming for several tracks on the project. Questlove also hyped up the record in a 2011 interview, describing it as “the Black version of [The Beach Boys’] Smile” and comparing it to Sly and the Family Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On and Miles Davis’ On the Corner. Though D’Angelo once again retreated into seclusion after touring behind Black Messiah, he reemerged into the public eye in 2021, with close collaborator Raphael Saadiq revealing last year that he was working on a new album. D’Angelo was scheduled to headline Roots Picnic this past summer, but canceled his appearance due to health issues. He died last month after a private battle with pancreatic cancer.

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