Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo, is an American R&B and neo soul singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is known for his production and songwriting talents as much as for his vocal abilities, and often draws comparisons to his influences, Marvin Gaye, and Prince. D'Angelo was one of the most influential artists during the rise of the neo-soul movement.
D'Angelo was born Michael Eugene Archer, in Richmond, Virginia on February 11, 1974, to a Pentecostal preacher father, and a mother he described as "powerful." He was raised in an entirely Pentecostal family. Strict, they forbade interaction with other church members. His time deep within Pentecostalism left Archer with several notable memories, including seeing his 9-year-old-brother catch the Holy Ghost. He would later recall one of his memories as a 12-year-old:
"I saw this one lady, she used to catch demons. She used to always catch 'em. And one night at this revival in the mountains, she caught a demon. She was going out of her way to disrupt. She ripped the Bible apart. She was being sexual. Stripping. Foaming at the mouth. She was speaking an evil tongue. I had never heard it before, but I knew it was evil. And this brother from the choir, he and the evangelist tried to get it out of her--to exorcise her, and she was screaming, "No! No!" She crawled out of there on all fours. There was a graveyard out back, and she was jumping on the hoods of cars. And the whole church went out and made a circle around her and started praying and singing. Then my grandfather laid hands on her. And it was over."
—D'Angelo, Vibe Magazine, 2000
Archer's musical talents were discovered very early on. At 3, he was spotted by his 10 year-old brother, Luther, playing the house piano.
"Mike was three - and it was not banging," Luther says with awe. "It was a full-fledged song, with melody and bass line. Shortly thereafter, he started playing for my father's church. My father had a Hammond organ, and he had to slide down to reach the pedals, but he did that very well."
—Luther Archer
No comments:
Post a Comment