Photo Credit: Marc Millman

In the decade since Black Messiah, D’Angelo fans have been afforded very little else to hold on to. Though the neo-soul figurehead famously follows his own production pace and holds his output to a high standard, his withdrawal from the spotlight after touring for his third studio album in 2014 has been enough to stir some doubts. Yesterday, Sept. 10, Raphael Saadiq shared some hope for new music soon in an interview for Rolling Stone Music Now.

Saadiq, an icon in his own right, said of his close friend and collaborator, “D’s in a good space. He’s excited. He’s like, ‘you gotta play bass. I’ve got this track. I’m telling you, you got to get on it. It got your name all over it.’ … He’s working on six pieces right now and he seems super excited.” The Tony! Toni! Toné! vocalist (who also suggested that we shouldn’t expect another reunion after the R&B trio’s 2023 tour) expressed that the project that has D’Angelo fired up is a follow-up to Black Messiah, his Grammy-winning jazz-forward 2014 ensemble record featuring Questlove, Roy Hargrove, Kendra Foster, Pino Palladino, Chris Dave, Jesse Johnson and more.

This project would be D’Angelo’s first release in a decade, save the Jay-Z collaboration “I Want You Forever” that appeared on the soundtrack for The Book of Clarence in January and “Unshaken,” his 2019 contribution to Red Dead Redemption 2. According to Saadiq, among the entries on this work in progress will be a cut from the vaults originally recorded by Linwood Rose, the Ummah offshoot featuring D’Angelo, Saadiq and Q-Tip.

“I think it’s going to be a record on D’Angelo’s new album when it comes out, a record that we all did together,” Saadiq said. “Linwood Rose lives. I’m playing bass, D’s playing, me and D is singing backgrounds. It’s funky as hell, too. It’s like, D is a bad boy. … It’s aged well. Good music ages well.”

Elsewhere in his conversation with Rolling Stone, Saadiq touched on his history with D’Angelo, with whom he has collaborated since the latter’s debut album. Describing their early connection, the artist accounts for the musical traditions informing their neo-soul brew. “I think more of his soul came from his gospel roots, not Prince,” says Saadiq. “But Prince had a huge gospel background, too. He was able to camouflage it a lot in his songwriting. And I think D’Angelo is the same way, too.”

As for D’Angelo’s future, we’ll have to wait and see. Listen to Saadiq’s Rolling Stone Music Now podcast here.