The five best D'Angelo videos

D’Angelo’s second album Voodoo is getting a plush 180g vinyl re-issue later this year to the rejoice of his devoted fans and slight pangs of impatience from those expecting his long-awaited third. Famously described by critic Robert Christgau as the “R&B Jesus”, D’Angelo’s personal troubles have hindered his career output but there’s still plenty to work with and look forward to, as these videos show.

1. HOW DOES IT FEEL
   This video, complete with anecdotes about first seeing it in dead silent hair salons and awkward living rooms, is unforgettable. His stripped-back Prince homage was all emotion, and the video works because, well, it is too. Some people still talk about an underlying narrative, but that’s by-the-by really.
   
2. DEVIL’S PIE
   This isn’t an official video but a fan-made compilation based around the 1998 movie ‘Belly’, which heavily featured the single Devil’s Pie. The Hype Williams-produced film is more like an extended music video anyway, and Devil’s Pie fits with its visceral punch and hazy moral interrogations perfectly.
   
3. SHIT, DAMN, MOTHERFUCKER
   D’Angelo’s live shows are often quite apart from his studio work, stretching his songs into extended vamps and making the most of an excellent live band that includes The Roots’ drummer ?uestlove and bassist Pino Palladino. Shit, Damn, Motherfucker is a blurred narrative about finding his wife and his best friend in his bed, and it sounds like an absolute riot at this Montreux Jazz Festival performance from 2000.
   
4. CRUISIN’
   This Smokey Robinson cover from his first album ‘Brown Sugar’ is one of his smoothest tracks. D’Angelo’s far too raw and rootsy to be a proper crooner, but he does a great impression: serenading the whole city via radio in the video for Cruisin’.
   
5. CHICKEN GREASE
   This mobile phone footage of D’Angelo in Stockholm performing fan favourite Chicken Grease earlier this year showed the singer on stage for the first time in years. Re-united with key members of his old band, and sounding great and looking healthy, he made it clear he was well and truly back.
   

Light in the Attic’s Modern Classics will re-release Voodoo on the 11th December 2012.