When three-year-old Michael Archer started playing piano, it was clear he was talented. And when he became D’Angelo and took it all off for Untitled (How Does It Feel), it was clear he was fine as a split frog hair. But what wasn’t clear was why he dropped out of sight in 2000.
Some said he had issues with alcohol and drugs. Others said the singer was uncomfortable with his image as a sex symbol and wanted to get away from it. The truth?
It was all those things and none of them. D’Angelo tended to his mind, body, and spirit, spent time with Black Panther Bobby Seale, and reckoned with the losses of close friends and band members.
D’Angelo left the public eye to protect himself. After witnessing police brutality and other anti-Black racism, D’Angelo timed the release of his 2014 Black Messiah album to protest lynching of Black men. And that helped protect us.
D'Angelo chose silence over spectacle in a world that consumes Black genius until there’s nothing left. His hiatus reminds us that stepping away can be the most radical way to stay whole for ourselves and each other. How can you show love to yourself and others right now? After all, we are the most powerful in community.