The music world is mourning D’Angelo, the maverick R&B singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, who has died of cancer at 51. Nile Rogers, Jill Scott, Missy Elliott, Bootsy Collins, Tyler, the Creator, Bartees Strange, DJ Premier, and Aminé were among those to pen tributes on social media, and Yasiin Bey memorialized his friend in a tearful Instagram livestream. Flavor Flav and DJ Quik also posted a photo in tribute to the musician.
Nile Rogers wrote about his first meeting D’Angelo: “My friend Gary Harris brought this musician named D’Angelo over to my NYC apt. He was trying to figure out what to do with the music he’d brought with him. I listened to every cut…not just out of respect but because it was smoking. At the end of the encounter he asked me, ‘What should I do with it?’ I remember this as if it were yesterday. I said, ‘Put it out. It’s perfect!’ Being the artist he is, I guess he had to explore some ways to make it better. About a year later I heard one of those songs on the radio. It was genius and it was exactly what he had played for me. I know…I still have the original cassette.”
Bootsy Collins posted on X, “Danggit!🤟Say it ain’t so, but we just lost a friend, a creator & legend, D’Angelo!😭 Prayer’s going out to his family & friends!🙏🙏🙏 We all love u lil-brother. R.I.P.”
Missy Elliott wrote, “Rest Peacefully D’Angelo🙏🏾🕊️ No parent want to see their children go but it’s painful for children to see their parents go to so send prayers up for his son who also lost his mom this year for strength 🙏🏾”
Tyler, the Creator penned a lengthy tribute, writing, “on my 9th birthday, march 6 2000, i landed at Sam Goody at the south bay galleria. i had $20 in birthday money and my eyes set on leaving with one thing. VOODOO by D’Angelo. citas world had ‘left&right’ on loop; brown sugar became a staple at home and nothing even matters by ms.hill was on repeat, so i had no doubt that voodoo would deliver. i had no idea that would help shape my musical dna. the amount of raps ive wrote to BOOTY on the front porch that year, the amount of times ive tried to mimic vocal phrasing from SEND IT ON, the scratches the disc ended up with from repeating THE ROOT……too many. ONE MO’GIN still puts me in the same trance as it did when i first heard it. that dragging sway of tempo that sounds like a porch sitting rocking chair. that grumpy but loose bassline. the subject of it, that feeling hes describing felt like a mirror. I took that and wrote RING RING RING (hence the one mo gin line). i couldnt understand how someone could write something so simple but personal but broad but genius. thats how special he was. a savant. a true alien. i am so lucky to have gotten my copy of VOODOO when i did. we are so lucky to have been alive to enjoy his art. my musical dna was helped shaped by this man. forever grateful. safe travels.”