Last year, R&B god D'Angelo offered the surprise delivery of his comeback album Black Messiah. We've since learned that he's hard at work on a companion piece, and while that album has yet to surface, he certainly hasn't retreated from the public spotlight. Instead, he recently offered up a rare TV interview with an appearance on The Tavis Smiley Show.
The lengthy clip includes some performance footage, but it's mostly a lengthy chat between D'Angelo and Smiley. The pair discuss everything from religion and civil rights to his own personal influences.
In the interview, D'Angelo reveals that he counts James Brown, Prince, George Clinton, Curtis Mayfield, Smokey Robinson, Sly and the Family Stone, and Parliament Funkadelic among his favourite artists.
He also explains how Black Messiah was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. Calling it "the most sociopolitical stuff I've done on record," he said, "The Black Lives Matter movement is going on, young black men and women are getting killed for nothing. I've always been a big reader and fan of history, and I love the Black Panthers.
"I'm not trying to be like a poster child or anything of the movement, but definitely a voice as a black man — as a concerned black man and as a father, as well."
Watch D'Angelo's appearance on The Tavis Smiley Show below.
The lengthy clip includes some performance footage, but it's mostly a lengthy chat between D'Angelo and Smiley. The pair discuss everything from religion and civil rights to his own personal influences.
In the interview, D'Angelo reveals that he counts James Brown, Prince, George Clinton, Curtis Mayfield, Smokey Robinson, Sly and the Family Stone, and Parliament Funkadelic among his favourite artists.
He also explains how Black Messiah was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. Calling it "the most sociopolitical stuff I've done on record," he said, "The Black Lives Matter movement is going on, young black men and women are getting killed for nothing. I've always been a big reader and fan of history, and I love the Black Panthers.
"I'm not trying to be like a poster child or anything of the movement, but definitely a voice as a black man — as a concerned black man and as a father, as well."
Watch D'Angelo's appearance on The Tavis Smiley Show below.