Credit: D'Angelo

Raphael Saadiq has provided an update on posthumous music from D’Angelo following his death last year.

The iconic neo-soul singer died in October following a battle with pancreatic cancer. In his final years, he was reportedly working on new music.

One of his close collaborators, Raphael Saadiq, recently sat down with Rolling Stone for an interview and shared what he knew about the unreleased music.

“I don’t know that he has enough to make an album,” he admitted. “But he did have a lot of jams that are better than albums. If you got Pino [Palladino], Questlove, [guitarist Isaiah] Sharkey, and D – that’s all you need. If D is just mumbling and humming, that’s a record.  So hopefully they do have something they could pull into it.”

The pair worked together on classic songs such as ‘Lady’ from 1995’s Brown Sugar and ‘Untitled (How Does It Feel)’ from 2000’s Voodoo. They also teamed up on ‘Be Here’ from Saadiq’s Instant Vintage album in 2002.

Saadiq spoke about the intense loss of his brother and D’Angelo, explaining how their deaths have impacted him. “It’s still affecting me a lot,” he said. “I had a dream about my brother this morning. Losing my brother and also my good friend Michael Archer, D’Angelo – it put a battery in my back. It’s sometimes hard for me to listen to D’Angelo’s music.”

He added, “When you meet somebody at the beginning of their career and you’re very tight and you understand each other, you just really miss them. I feel like I am talking to them through spirit and energy.”

Questlove confirmed a posthumous D’Angelo album in November. “You’ll see soon,” he said. “But you know, with him, it’s always the sound of yesterday, but for the future, and this record’s no different. So when it comes out, you’ll know.”

In 2024, Saadiq said, “D’s in a good space… He’s excited. He’s like, ‘You gotta play bass. I’ve got this track. I’m telling you, you got to get on it. It got your name all over it.’ He’s working on six pieces right now, and he seems super excited.”