D’Angelo used to be the sh*t…personified. Especially after his 1995 video sensation “How Does It Feel” hit the airwaves showcasing those thug corn rows, his sexy brown skin, those washboard abs…. *sigh* yes…he did the dayum thing! Jame Foxx even spoofed the video on his show back in the day:

Now, I don’t know about you, but there has never been another video that celebrated the Black male form moreso than D’Angelo’s. That being said, years later (2005 to be exact) this arrest photo totally ruined the lives of all us who were salivating over D’Angelo, aka Michael Eugene Archer’s, tight form. The singer was arrested and plead no contest to a felony cocaine-possession charge. A week later he suffered a nasty car wreck—his Hummer ran off the road and flipped, and he was taken to the hospital in a helicopter. In 2006, Gary Harris, the record executive who first signed him, carted him off to rehab and in 2008, Virgin Records released a greatest-hits album.  In lieu of all the drama, D’Angelo has appeared as a guest musician here and there, but D’Angelo (circa 1995), the groundbreaking musician, has been all but absent from the scene.

Wonder what he’s been doing now? Check out an update below:

D’Angelo circa 1999 (still yummy)

D’Angelo circa 2005

D’Angelo circa 2006

He’s had about 3 years to get his life in order and word is, D’Angelo is on the comeback trail. There’s been talk of a new album dropping in 2009 but that talk quickly died down when Maxwell’s comeback stole the spotlight:

In January, talk surfaced about a new album titled James River, presumably named after the river of the same name that runs through D’Angelo’s hometown of Richmond, Va. Potential collaborators included Prince, John Mayer, Cee-Lo Green, and Raphael Saadiq. A tour and an album—in the U.S. and Europe—were announced for the summer, only to be scratched. To be fair, D’Angelo has a proven record of working slowly. Brown Sugar came out in 1995, and it took five years—including delays—to finally finish Voodoo. Maybe James River is only one more musical milestone in the making. Or maybe it’s much ado about nothing.

According to Lindsay Guion, D’Angelo’s manager, no album will be released this summer. No collaborators have been confirmed. The artist is living in Richmond. He’s recording there and in New York City, and he will deliver the tracks to his record company by September. Guion says they have just signed a contract for a U.S. tour that will begin around the holidays. So, the bottom line seems to be that nobody’s going to hear anything from D’Angelo at least well into the fall. That includes NEWSWEEK. After repeated requests for an interview, D’Angelo’s rep finally offered to pass on a list of questions by e-mail with assurances that D’Angelo would actually provide the answers. After a day, however, his management backtracked to say the singer was unavailable until the album was finished. (Source)

All I know is…the world is waiting for D’Angelo’s comeback. I’ve been rockin his “Brown Sugar” and “Voodoo” on the daily on my “A”pod and recently got re-acquainted to “Sh*t, Damn, Motherf*cker.”  D’Angelo’s music is classic!

And to think….Angie Stone had all that on lock!