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33⅓ Main Series #144
Voodoo
Voodoo, D'Angelo's much-anticipated 2000 release, set the standard for the musical cycle ordained as "neo-soul," a label the singer and songwriter would reject more than a decade later. The album is a product of heightened emotions and fused sensibilities; an amalgam of soul, rock, jazz, gospel, hip-hop, and Afrobeats. D'Angelo put to music his own pleasures and insecurities as a man-child in the promised land. It was both a tribute to his musical heroes: Prince, Sly Stone, Marvin Gaye, J Dilla...and a deconstruction of rhythm and blues itself.
Despite nearly universal acclaim, the sonic expansiveness of Voodoo proved too nebulous for airplay on many radio stations, seeping outside the accepted lines of commercial R&B music. Voodoo was Black, it was definitely magic, and it was nearly overshadowed by a four-minute music video featuring D'Angelo's sweat-glistened six-pack abs. "The Video" created an accentuated moment when the shaman lost control of the spell he cast.
Despite nearly universal acclaim, the sonic expansiveness of Voodoo proved too nebulous for airplay on many radio stations, seeping outside the accepted lines of commercial R&B music. Voodoo was Black, it was definitely magic, and it was nearly overshadowed by a four-minute music video featuring D'Angelo's sweat-glistened six-pack abs. "The Video" created an accentuated moment when the shaman lost control of the spell he cast.
- GenresMusicNonfiction
136 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 5, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 24, 2024
I'm a huge neo soul fan and D'Angelo's Voodoo is probably one of the genre's highlights (next to Baduizm and The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill) those slinky, fluid grooves just give me goosebumps.
Faith A. Pennick's book on the album is excellent. Starting with a brief bio of D'Angelo's musical career, some trivia on the making of Voodoo, the critical acclaim and panning and of course THAT video which ruined his life.
There's a lot of love in this book and like Voodoo it envelopes the reader. Highly recommended.
Faith A. Pennick's book on the album is excellent. Starting with a brief bio of D'Angelo's musical career, some trivia on the making of Voodoo, the critical acclaim and panning and of course THAT video which ruined his life.
There's a lot of love in this book and like Voodoo it envelopes the reader. Highly recommended.
January 4, 2022
Recently, on a
YouTube channel
that I watch, legendary session bassist Pino Palladino was interviewed about his own first album as a bandleader and the interviewer gave what I think was the most ringing endorsement that I've ever heard for any record. "On D'Angelo's Voodoo," Brian Krock told Palladino, "you changed my understanding of eighth notes." It was once a cultural commonplace to make fun of Natalie Portman's blithe, millennial character in the movie Garden State and her assertion of the "life-changing" qualities of the Shins' first record, but, seriously, I've never heard anyone claim that a record changed not just their perspective on their own circumstances but, indeed, their idea of the structure of music. I clearly needed to hear this record. And now that Voodoo was on my radar, it seemed, suddenly, that everyone was talking about it.
Everyone kinda was. Voodoo turned twenty this year, and, partly to mark that anniversary, Bloomsbury Press published this book as part of their 33 and 1/3 series of monographs about record albums. As happens with these things, Faith Pennick was appearing on what felt like every show and podcast that deals with the topic of popular music. She was articulate and charming and seemed like the perfect guide to a record that was situated in a context of which I am woefully ignorant. I know next to nothing about contemporary R & B. In 2000, I knew nothing at all, as is clear from the fact that I was totally unaware of a record that was something of cultural juggernaut. I clearly needed to read this book, as well.
The album is great. Really, really great. The book is not. I've read a few 33 and 1/3 titles and they've been, with one smart and exciting and well-written exception , consistently disappointing. I know I'll keep going back to the well (I'm partway through another one as I write this, in fact), though, because I love records and I'm hungry for information about them and I want to know the opinions and feelings of other people who love records. That Faith Pennick really loves this record and this musician buys her some indulgence from me. The chapters about D'Angelo's early career and the production and release of the record are solid and workmanlike and I really liked her discussion of her own and her friends' feelings about R & B, D'Angelo, this record and its 2014 follow-up, Black Messiah, and, most important and most vividly, the hugely popular and controversial video for the track, " Untitled/How Does It Feel? ," outsized reactions to which had a profoundly dislocating effect on D'Angelo's psyche and career.
The chapters where Pennick discusses and analyzes the actual music, though, have a real undergraduate quality, awkward and bombastic and full of not-quite-right, thesaurus-y words like "extol" and "bellwether." Abstracted from our mundane existence as it is, music is notoriously hard to write about, "dancing about architecture" and all that. I have very rarely encountered the writer who can do it well, but I'm sorry to say that Pennick's attempts were sometimes downright painful. Kudos to her for trying, though, and my thanks for showing me around her favorite record, which is indubitably a feast. If, like me, you're someone who loves records but is so severely blindered by their own demographic predilections that you missed a cultural behemoth like Voodoo, maybe you should check it out. Really glad I did.
Everyone kinda was. Voodoo turned twenty this year, and, partly to mark that anniversary, Bloomsbury Press published this book as part of their 33 and 1/3 series of monographs about record albums. As happens with these things, Faith Pennick was appearing on what felt like every show and podcast that deals with the topic of popular music. She was articulate and charming and seemed like the perfect guide to a record that was situated in a context of which I am woefully ignorant. I know next to nothing about contemporary R & B. In 2000, I knew nothing at all, as is clear from the fact that I was totally unaware of a record that was something of cultural juggernaut. I clearly needed to read this book, as well.
The album is great. Really, really great. The book is not. I've read a few 33 and 1/3 titles and they've been, with one smart and exciting and well-written exception , consistently disappointing. I know I'll keep going back to the well (I'm partway through another one as I write this, in fact), though, because I love records and I'm hungry for information about them and I want to know the opinions and feelings of other people who love records. That Faith Pennick really loves this record and this musician buys her some indulgence from me. The chapters about D'Angelo's early career and the production and release of the record are solid and workmanlike and I really liked her discussion of her own and her friends' feelings about R & B, D'Angelo, this record and its 2014 follow-up, Black Messiah, and, most important and most vividly, the hugely popular and controversial video for the track, " Untitled/How Does It Feel? ," outsized reactions to which had a profoundly dislocating effect on D'Angelo's psyche and career.
The chapters where Pennick discusses and analyzes the actual music, though, have a real undergraduate quality, awkward and bombastic and full of not-quite-right, thesaurus-y words like "extol" and "bellwether." Abstracted from our mundane existence as it is, music is notoriously hard to write about, "dancing about architecture" and all that. I have very rarely encountered the writer who can do it well, but I'm sorry to say that Pennick's attempts were sometimes downright painful. Kudos to her for trying, though, and my thanks for showing me around her favorite record, which is indubitably a feast. If, like me, you're someone who loves records but is so severely blindered by their own demographic predilections that you missed a cultural behemoth like Voodoo, maybe you should check it out. Really glad I did.
April 23, 2021
This didn't work for me. "Voodoo" is my favorite album and my hope for this book was to find a new way to enjoy it. Pennick wrote a different book than that and it was a huge disappointment. I'm not calling it out for being expressly bad, just "fan-fiction" for an all-time great record and I was hoping for something different
June 10, 2021
A strong devotee to the word, the temple, the religion of soul music - as Solange put it into words - Faith A. Pennick writes about D'Angelo's turn of the century R&B benchmark "Voodoo" in such a loving, respectful, humanist manner. Starting with her own first impressions, including a teaser to her jaw-dropping reaction to the video that goes with no name, Pennick continues her fan non-fiction including personal interviews with creative collaborators, former mentors and ex-lovers of Michael Eugene Archer, next to quotes from her own social circle.
All this is diligently done to sketch the cultural impact of a seminal, Grammy-winning soul album, whilst trying to establish a deeper understanding of its making process, debunking myths and misunderstandings of the artist behind it on the way. As gifted and deeply vulnerable as D'Angelo is, he's also known to be very enigmatic, reclusive even. And that's exactly the wall this book runs into quite early into its page count.
This 33 1/3 #144 is a nice, well-researched collection of anecdotes, interviews, fun facts, criticism and interpretation, seasoned with a personal touch in the shape of musical love letter to the artist and the album. I guess we'll never know the intentions, thoughts, struggles and emotions of D'Angelo making "Voodoo" (and kinda disappearing afterwards) on first hand, but as was also the case with spiritual predecessor Prince: the music speaks for itself. This book realises its shortcomings and will mostly help you understand it better, next to reliving the uniqueness and fun of early zeroes R&B bliss.
For a completer image and understanding of D'Angelo's struggle between the release of "Voodoo" and his third album "Black Messiah", I'd recommend a viewing of Carine Bijlsma's documentary "Devil's Pie: D'Angelo" (2019), in which the Dutch fillmmaker gets to follow D'Angelo on and preparing for his "Black Messiah" tour in 2015 - a request he didn't decline(!!). Streaming link of "Devil's Pie: D'Angelo": (Dutch Broadcasting Network): https://www.npostart.nl/3doc/23-11-20...
All this is diligently done to sketch the cultural impact of a seminal, Grammy-winning soul album, whilst trying to establish a deeper understanding of its making process, debunking myths and misunderstandings of the artist behind it on the way. As gifted and deeply vulnerable as D'Angelo is, he's also known to be very enigmatic, reclusive even. And that's exactly the wall this book runs into quite early into its page count.
This 33 1/3 #144 is a nice, well-researched collection of anecdotes, interviews, fun facts, criticism and interpretation, seasoned with a personal touch in the shape of musical love letter to the artist and the album. I guess we'll never know the intentions, thoughts, struggles and emotions of D'Angelo making "Voodoo" (and kinda disappearing afterwards) on first hand, but as was also the case with spiritual predecessor Prince: the music speaks for itself. This book realises its shortcomings and will mostly help you understand it better, next to reliving the uniqueness and fun of early zeroes R&B bliss.
For a completer image and understanding of D'Angelo's struggle between the release of "Voodoo" and his third album "Black Messiah", I'd recommend a viewing of Carine Bijlsma's documentary "Devil's Pie: D'Angelo" (2019), in which the Dutch fillmmaker gets to follow D'Angelo on and preparing for his "Black Messiah" tour in 2015 - a request he didn't decline(!!). Streaming link of "Devil's Pie: D'Angelo": (Dutch Broadcasting Network): https://www.npostart.nl/3doc/23-11-20...
November 4, 2024
One of the greatest records ever- just a near perfect album, the only thing is sometimes I’m not in the mood to listen to it because like the book says it’s not a singles album it’s a sit down for 80 minutes and groove. The amount of whoopie made to this album is probably incalculable.
I love this series of books but this one didn’t elucidate on anything I didn’t already know nor really strike on something deeper. If you like this record or D’Angelo it’s a great read but I’m not sure any of these books are for people who don’t already love the album. If you read this before listening to Voodoo you’re missing out. I really hope D returns one day-
No artist is ahead of his time. He is the time. It is just that others are behind the time.
—Martha Graham
I love this series of books but this one didn’t elucidate on anything I didn’t already know nor really strike on something deeper. If you like this record or D’Angelo it’s a great read but I’m not sure any of these books are for people who don’t already love the album. If you read this before listening to Voodoo you’re missing out. I really hope D returns one day-
No artist is ahead of his time. He is the time. It is just that others are behind the time.
—Martha Graham
March 30, 2021
Great little essay on one of my favorite albums. Strong recommendation for anyone who’s a fan of D’Angelo.
March 13, 2021
Funciona muy bien retratando la época y el momento en el que Voodoo empieza a tomar forma. Creo que el capítulo de El Vídeo es el punto más alto de este ensayo por cómo habla de lo que generó y estaba a la vista de todos pero también todo lo que vino por atrás a nivel personal y marketing.
December 20, 2020
Faith A. Pennick’s Voodoo is a great afternoon read on one of my favorite albums of all time.
As with any expository writing for music I appreciate, I read this to deepen my listening experience of the album—and with its wealth of fun facts and context, it certainly did. It was cool to learn that “Chicken Grease” was a Prince code word for his guitarist to play a 9th minor chord while playing 16th notes; that “Untitled” wasn’t supposed to be about sex at all but about a profound spiritual experience with the Holy Ghost and about D’Angelo and Angie Stone’s romantic and musical relationship.
Most importantly though, I was unaware of the personal consequences on D’Angelo after becoming objectified and over-sexualized with the release of his “Untitled” video. It’s clear that D’Angelo, as someone singularly focused on his music, did not want to become a sex symbol. But his managers and label executives thought it was a great idea for promotion and after the video became a phenomenon D’Angelo lost autonomy over his own body. It’s devastating to see the record industry, time and time again, concurrently dehumanize and capitalize off of Black people. Why do so many different industries from music to sports take on this superstructure from slavery? Is it simply racism, capitalism, and its exploitative nature?
As with any expository writing for music I appreciate, I read this to deepen my listening experience of the album—and with its wealth of fun facts and context, it certainly did. It was cool to learn that “Chicken Grease” was a Prince code word for his guitarist to play a 9th minor chord while playing 16th notes; that “Untitled” wasn’t supposed to be about sex at all but about a profound spiritual experience with the Holy Ghost and about D’Angelo and Angie Stone’s romantic and musical relationship.
Most importantly though, I was unaware of the personal consequences on D’Angelo after becoming objectified and over-sexualized with the release of his “Untitled” video. It’s clear that D’Angelo, as someone singularly focused on his music, did not want to become a sex symbol. But his managers and label executives thought it was a great idea for promotion and after the video became a phenomenon D’Angelo lost autonomy over his own body. It’s devastating to see the record industry, time and time again, concurrently dehumanize and capitalize off of Black people. Why do so many different industries from music to sports take on this superstructure from slavery? Is it simply racism, capitalism, and its exploitative nature?
November 12, 2022
The perfect Saturday morning palette cleanser. Pennick loooooves D’Angelo’s music and she loves this album and her joy in talking about it just leaps off the page.
.
Also there’s a commentary on being Black in America, being a Black man in America, politics (in general), the politics of masculinity and vulnerability, and the politics of relationships. Great insights from additional people like Imani Perry (lots of Perry in the second half of the book!) and Danyel Smith (both of whom you’ve heard a lot about this year if you too are a member of the Stacks Pack @thestackspod and if not, why aren’t you!).
.
I 100% enjoyed this.
.
If you’re in Chicago and looking for more 33 1/3, hie thee hence to @exileinbookville which has rapidly become a favorite Chicago bookstore.
.
Also there’s a commentary on being Black in America, being a Black man in America, politics (in general), the politics of masculinity and vulnerability, and the politics of relationships. Great insights from additional people like Imani Perry (lots of Perry in the second half of the book!) and Danyel Smith (both of whom you’ve heard a lot about this year if you too are a member of the Stacks Pack @thestackspod and if not, why aren’t you!).
.
I 100% enjoyed this.
.
If you’re in Chicago and looking for more 33 1/3, hie thee hence to @exileinbookville which has rapidly become a favorite Chicago bookstore.
April 4, 2021
Thank you Faith Pennick for writing this awesome little book. A great read for any D’Angelo fan and Voodoo enthusiast. Many important intersections were highlighted and explored; race, masculinity, gender etc. in relation to the industry, music creation, art, identity etc. I particularly enjoyed learning more about Angie Stone and how important she was to D’Angelo’s success and career. I initially heard of Faith Pennick and her book on a Switched On Pop podcast and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book. Thank you Faith, your writing is beautiful and it was a joy to read. I look forward to reading more of your work in the future.
July 1, 2022
Generally speaking, the book is a good, light read. I think it definitely helps fill in some holes on the D'Angelo story, but seems like Pennick had some trouble gathering interviews, so based a lot of the details on source material. So, it was well research and informative, but perhaps didn't go as far as I would have liked.
January 29, 2022
Not bad but this felt more like a article on the album or a really long Wikipedia entry than a great 33 1/3 book. Wish there was more on the creation of the album and went deeper on specific influences.
May 18, 2022
This book made me appreciate some of the tracks on the album more. Yet it still has not changed my stance on Left and Right. The only track that I consistently skip. That said she wrote about it more than I expected and her perspective on it was appreciated.
January 9, 2025
Great quick read about a record everyone should hear at least once in their life
October 20, 2025
Tengo un problema con varios de los que he leído de esta serie (como el de TPAB de Kendrick) y es que recopilan los hechos, desmenuzan las canciones, pero no tienen estilo ni ritmo ni ofrecen un argumento distinto. Un tanto wikipediesca la vaina; y cuando entra la parte académica el lenguaje se pone aun más mustio, ahí no florece nada. La historia obviamente es fascinante, la música es perfecta, pero el libro se queda corto. Es apenas correcto.
Read
March 20, 2024Fun. Lively. Personable. The right sort of fan-centric entry into the series. I just wish it had spent more time connecting the album with the audience. Her chapter on "The Video" was the best part of the book, and earlier chapters would have benefited from such a focus and/or thesis.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews