Five years after his
Brown Sugar album helped launch contemporary R&B,
D'Angelo finally returned with his sophomore effort,
Voodoo. His soulful voice is just as sweet as it was on
Brown Sugar, though
D'Angelo stretches out with a varied cast of collaborators, including trumpeter
Roy Hargrove and guitarist
Charlie Hunter, fellow neo-soul stars
Lauryn Hill and
Raphael Saadiq, and hip-hop heads like
DJ Premier,
Method Man &
Redman, and
Q-Tip. It must have been difficult to match his debut (and the frequent delays prove it was on his mind), but
Voodoo is just as rewarding a soul album as
D'Angelo's first. ~ John Bush