Today on January 25, 2025, D’Angelo’s groundbreaking sophomore album turns 25 years old! It is so amazing how this album has stood the test of time and continuously influences and inspires generations to come! D’Angelo and his collaborators set out to create a genre-defying album that honored the legacy of musical greats while showcasing raw authenticity and unparalleled musicianship. In celebration of this iconic album’s lasting impact, here are 25 incredible facts you may not know!
1. Voodoo was recorded at Electric Lady Studios, the famous studio founded by Jimi Hendrix in 1968. Before Jimi built the studio, the building was previously a nightclub that hosted many jam sessions by artists like B.B. King and Chuck Berry. While recording at the studio, D’Angelo has stated that Jimi’s spirit was very prevalent during the making of the album. There was even a studio pet, a white cat, named after Jimi that often hung around during the studio sessions.
2. According to the album’s engineer Russell Elevado, about 85% of the album was recorded live. They often went with the first take cuts for the album, which kept the sound raw and authentic.
3. Each song on Voodoo came from 3-hour long jam sessions of cover songs from artists like James Brown, Prince, and Marvin Gaye. After these jam sessions, a new idea for a song would manifest. For example, the song “Africa” was created after a jam session of cover songs from Prince’s album Parade. The song “The Root” grew out of a Jimi Hendrix jam session.
4. The first jam session that catapulted the Voodoo album recordings was the song “Fair, But So Uncool” by Earth, Wind, and Fire. Check out the actual live cover and story told by Questlove below!
5. D’Angelo once mentioned that they recorded up to 72 hours of songs for the Voodoo album and had to cut down to only the tops songs of the batch for the album’s release. That means that there are many more songs from the recording sessions in a vault that we may hear one day!! According to Russell Elevado, there are about 50 songs sitting in the vault!
6. Some of the never before heard, lost tracks from the Voodoo recording era include songs titled Slave, B***h, Ghetto Children, and The City.
7. D’Angelo layered his vocals up to 40-50 times on each track, creating a new rich and soulful sound and vibe. His vocal layering technique is often compared to that of Marvin Gaye and Ray Charles.
8. The Soulquarians were a collective of genius musicians recording albums at Electric Lady Studios. They often sat in on and collaborated on each other’s projects, giving small and large contributions. For instance, Common was there recording his album “Like Water for Chocolate.” He can be heard contributing handclaps on the song “Chicken Grease” from the Voodoo album.
9. The song “Playa, Playa” was recorded in Cuba during a traditional religious ceremony by African descendants of the country. You can actually hear the ceremony taking place in the background of the song.
10. Guitarist Charlie Hunter played bass and guitar at the SAME TIME on the tracks The Root, Spanish Joint, and Greatdayndamornin’/Booty. He used an 8-string guitar that had 5 guitar strings and 3 bass strings at the top. Watch this video of Charlie demonstrating below!
11. The backwards guitar solo in the song The Root was Russell Elevado’s idea and it was inspired by Jimi Hendrix and his unorthodox playing techniques.
12. D’Angelo and the musicians on the album often watched old video footage of Soul Train reruns and live performances from the 70s to immerse themselves even deeper into that nostalgic sound for the album. This footage included artists like Al Green, James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, and Jimi Hendrix.
13. The first song written for Voodoo was Send It On, created after the birth of D’Angelo’s son with singer-songwriter Angie Stone.
14. The song “Left & Right” originally contained verses from Q-Tip. D’Angelo replaced them with verses from Method Man and Redman, stating that they matched the track’s energy and vibe better. The original recording with Q-Tip may still be out there somewhere waiting to be released!
15. There is a slightly extended version of the song “Left & Right” released on Wu Tang’s compilation album “Wu Chronicles Chapter II”. The additional vocals can be heard below at the 3:51 to 4:51 mark. D’Angelo may have cut the song down due to it being too long. D’Angelo is said to have many initial recordings that go up to 20 minutes!
16. D’Angelo named his band The Soultronics during the Voodoo Tour and they are regarded as one of the greatest live bands of all time. Some of the personnel in the band included the album’s collaborators like Questlove, Pino Palladino, Roy Hargrove, James Poyser, and Spanky Alford. Other members of the band included Anthony Hamilton, Norris Jones, Junius Bervine, Frank Lacy, and Shelby J.
17. During live performances, D’Angelo would often incorporate mash ups of classic songs with songs from Voodoo. For example, during the performance Left & Right, he would often throw in an interpolation from the song “Good to Your Earhole” by Funkadelic. The live versions of each song during the Voodoo Tour brought a fresh new perspective and new vibe instead of playing the songs exactly as they are on the album. Here is some of my favorite footage from the tour:
18. Some of the opening acts during the Voodoo Tour included well-known acts like Slum Village, Mos Def, Lucy Pearl, and Amel Larrieux.
19. The song Really Love was originally meant for the Voodoo album, but it didn’t make the cut and was later released on D’Angelo’s subsequent album Black Messiah 14 years later.
20. According to Questlove, Curtis Mayfield’s song “Mother’s Son” influenced 70% of the drum patterns on Voodoo. Questlove stated that he used the song as a template during the making of the album.
21. The song One Mo’ Gin was written by and all instruments played by D’Angelo (except bass, which was played Pino Palladino). If you listen closely, you can hear D’Angelo and a woman talking in the background of the song.
22. The woman heard laughing and chatting with D’Angelo at the end of “Feel Like Makin’ Love” is journalist Dream Hampton, most known for her contributions at Vibe Magazine.
23. For the song Devil’s Pie, DJ Premier originally created the bassline for the rapper Canibus. He let D’Angelo hear the track and he instantly wanted to cut it! The producers J. Dilla and Alchemist were also present during the recording session of the song.
24. D’Angelo won two Grammys for the album in 2001. The album won the Best R&B Album category and the song “Untitled” won the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance category.
25. The song “Untitled” finishes abruptly because they ran out of analog tape during the recording. Knowing that the same thing happened to the Beatles on the song “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”, they decided to keep the mistake instead of re-record it.
Be sure to stream the album today and comment your favorite song from the album below!
Amazing! I learned so many new things. Thank you for sharing.
🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
This album changed how I listened to music and made me go back and discovered loads of othet artists and albums. Amazing how much it influenced new artists and continues to do so often.
I’m Portuguese, born in Africa. The African sounds are something I relate with a lot. The sprititualism and soul of it is unmatchable.
This song was my father’s favourite from this album. Everyone I listen to it now, it reminds me of him.
This is a great website. Thank you.
Same here, Edson! I’ve learned so much and continue to do so with each listen! Thank you so much for supporting & sharing your thoughts❤️