Afropunk, D’Angelo, and The Subtle Tribute

I saw the man I grew up idolizing for the first time and it was like he never left….

As the aroma of weed smoke clouds a warm Sunday night at Commodore Barry Park, I await on the lawn of the main stage for the headlining act. It is 8:45 p.m. and D’Angelo (along with The Roots as his backup band) is running late, yet the crowd is still dancing to a plethora of calypso and EDM tracks from a riveting DJ set. I chat with my friend who attended with me as she was just as excited to see D’Angelo as much as I was. For me, my entire feeling of the event fell on this one performance and I wasn’t going to accept anything less.

Watching D’Angelo live was a personal bucket list goal of mine, as he one of the few musicians from my hometown that is looked at as an idol. Aside from the notable success of Tidewater’s Timbaland, The Neptunes, and their associates, Richmond, Virginia didn’t have much that equated to that level. Of course there was Mad Skillz who had a short wave in Hip-Hop and his never-ending year-end raps, but it was D’Angelo that was Virginia’s flag bearer for R&B at one time. He was on top of the world after the critical success of his second full-length album, Voodoo, an all-time favorite of mine. Then he faded into obscurity following a troubled battle with drugs and the pressure fame brought.

As you can see, there was a cause for my concern even if I jokingly commented on reasons why he was late to folks around me. While D’Angelo has been doing well recently during his comeback tour of sorts these past few years, there were rumors swirling of him no-showing the event. The numerous shots of beer and pinot grigio wine began to wear off on me as it turned 9:25 p.m. and the crowd grew restless. Then suddenly, Questlove appears out of nowhere and prepares his own personal sound check as the rest of The Roots band revs up for the man of the hour backing the piano…

Afropunk in general was the fourth music festival I attended in my life and it was in the best setting possible in Brooklyn, New York. For my first full weekend there in the city, it was if I stepped into the internet and found myself into the nexus of Tumblr. It was a legitimate melting pot of cultures, people, fashion, and music that was brought together all for the sake of community. I couldn’t tell you how many folks I ran into from Twitter, college, and even from back home there, conversing and drinking throughout.

There were a number of performances I was inclined to checking out. Shabazz Palaces and Lianne La Havas ruled on Saturday though the former’s set was cut short to 30 minutes and I missed the first ten minutes. The latter was my first time even checking out La Havas’ music and it was stunningly beautiful as she was. Sunday had SZA and The Internet rocking the Red Stage to the delight of the youth present, Melo-X having a wicked DJ Set at the Gold Stage, Bad Brains reveling in Punk renaissance at the Black Stage, and Fishbone having a blast on the main stage. Still, my focus was set entirely on Richmond’s favorite son giving Brooklyn a set no one would forget.

When he got on stage, the audience erupted to the singer as he raised his fist up in the hair proudly and pick slightly sticking out of his fro. He started with a jam session covering Bob Marley’s “Burnin’ & Lootin’”, which symbolized much of what America was enduring with police brutality. Well before he took the helm of his performance, we had our hands in the air shouting “Don’t Shoot!!” in light of the events of Ferguson, Missouri, the death of Michael Brown, and Eric Garner. It was an emotionally charged, yet peaceful protest in the form of two days of unity.

D’Angelo would continue on with a jam session of covers ranging from Prince to Sly & The Family Stone and performing Voodoo deep cut “Greatdayinthemornin’”. I figured that many were expecting to sing along to “Lady”, “Untitled”, and “Brown Sugar”, but it didn’t come to fruition. I also expected many to be disappointed as I slightly was, but I was happy off the strength that I got to see D’Angelo be him at his absolute best. He’s still reclusive, yet livelier as he was in 2001 and his voice still evokes a soul that is commanding enough to lead a congregation. As with so many others that saw him, it still leaves hope that could be a new album after all.