D’Angelo released his last album, Black Messiah, nearly 10 years ago, and according to longtime collaborator Raphael Saadiq, his long-awaited follow up is in the works.
Saadiq revealed the status of D’Angelo’s new album on an episode of the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast. “D’s in a good space,” Saadiq told Rolling Stone. “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.”
D’Angelo historically works at his own pace, and Saadiq claims that his new album has been in the works for a while. Among the new songs, Saadiq confirms one is an old track from Linwood Rose, a short-lived supergroup that featured D’Angelo, Saadiq, and the rapper Q-Tip.
“I think it’s going to be a record on D’Angelo’s new album when it comes out, a record that we all did together,” Saadiq said. “Linwood Rose lives. I’m playing bass, D’s playing, me and D is singing backgrounds. It’s funky as hell, too. It’s like, D is a bad boy. … It’s aged well. Good music ages well.”
Elsewhere in his chat with Rolling Stone, Saadiq discussed working with Beyoncé on Cowboy Carter as well as the conclusion of his band, Tony! Toni! Toné!.
While D’Angelo hasn’t put out an album since 2014, he did share his first new song in five years back in January: “I Want You Forever,” a collaboration with Jay-Z that appeared on the soundtrack for the film The Book of Clarence.