The Unexpected Complexity of D'Angelo

D'Angelo's Chicken Grease is amazing. The song feels so good, and so effortless, but if you take a look under the hood, there are a lot of influences happening, from Classic Soul to Funk, from the 60s, 70s, AND 80s, and from hip hop to… Classical Music. No, I'm not kidding. That's how intricate this song is. Here are the 7 musical influences I found in D'Angelo's Chicken Grease.

Other videos mentioned in this one:

TOPICS COVERED
D'Angelo
Chicken Grease
Voodoo
Questlove
Marvin Gaye
Prince
James Brown
Beethoven
Classical Counterpoint
Curtis Mayfield
George Clinton
J Dilla
Neo Soul

[RenzoAse]

these videos are a music/hip hop heads dream!

[thegrimyeaper]

I remember my Dad and I sitting in the car the first time it played on the radio, we looked at each other and said "Prince?!" at the same time. Bought the album for his birthday and he danced with my mother to it. Good times.

[vflap]

Masterfully done! Voodoo is my favorite album ever! It's a joy to watch these videos and feel all the love and knowledge you put on it! Hope you keep it going!

[musamusashi]

Voodoo is my favorite album of the past 30 years. Mama's gun is probably the second...what an amazing, creative moment in music history 2000 was.
Love your videos, bro.

[norwoodsstokes]

Because of this segment, i have a whole nutha appreciation of the song...👐🏽👐🏽💪🏽💪🏽💯

[chuksdfutur]

I love your content...much needed in these times. My only feedback to this great digging is that James Poyser probably deserved more flowers in this piece. He allegedly did the bulk of this, going from an Okay Player video on the song, and D'Angelo and Questlove came to him and asked him to give it to them, instead of Common. When he agreed, they proceeded to swap with Common. Poyser worked with Dilla on Common's The Questions, and his beatmaking influenced him on the rest of his Electirc Lady sessions. Great content though. Many blessings!

[soursixteen]

I have the voodoo cd in storage. It's a little scratched up. I played it a lot. Chicken grease is one of my favorites 😍👑
One mo gin is my number one favorite on that album. ❤️

[particlejones]

I got to work with d recently, was a blessing, i have a recording of this live and also a denzel curry version of him doing chicken grease pretty rad, recorded on same room too

[_soulful.woman]

As a huge fan of D'Angelo, I'm here to say, this video was amazing !!

[usinganear]

Dude.. This is an extremely well-researched and executed video. Amazing job. So much useful info and amazing connections in here! I wish you the best with your channel, this stuff is gold!

[thevahnblack]

"Chicken Grease" is one of my favorites on Voodoo! I've always thought of it as his "Sexy MF" or "Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud". Prince was a bog fan of James so this lineage is no secret. D'Angelo put his FOOT in Voodoo and the band elevated the magic. Pino's bass playing on this track is some of the best on the album. He's such a thoughtful player playing with space in such a fun way. It's the most prevalent on "Chicken Grease." So happy to see other musicians analyzing D'Angelo's work! Good video.

[maelorach]

This is some real talent here, your pedagogy and your video’s production value are just excellent. My hat is off

[mdp]

Not only do you do your homework, but you put alot of time in your videos. Love it.

[idontwantahandlethough]

First time I heard Black Messiah it absolutely blew my mind. Was definitely worth the wait! Don't think I've ever heard an artist incorporate so many different kinds of music and sounds in his work. There's all sorts of parts where there's a random clarinet riff or something, and then then that's the only time that instrument makes a noise the whole song and I'm left thinking "wow, I wonder why that's there. I wouldn't have thought of that in a thousand years"

[Waynetronics]

I rarely comment on here but this video truly blew me away man. I've been a Voodoo truther for years now because I believe that Voodoo is the best R&B album so far this century but also how much of a homage it was to the great Black music that proceeded it so to see you so eloquently break this down was amazing man. Keep up the good work & I'm looking forward to seeing your channel continue to grow & take off. Salute

[RyanShawtech]

finishes video
immediately puts chicken grease on loop

[marlonlew]

Pino on bass was so key on this album!

[Ms.TriceyK]

I came across this channel in my YouTube feed and can’t stop watching the videos!!!! Amazing content! Thank you for highlighting real music!!!

[mattob]

Can’t believe I haven’t found your visa and channel until now. Been a huge D’Angelo fan since Brown Sugar.
So deeply appreciative of your incredible deep dives. Thank you 😎

[_sethweaver]

cannot get enough of your channel, man. so well done and way enjoyable.