In a rare interview, the reclusive D'Angelo recently spoke with Rolling Stone about his Black Messiah album and the struggles he went through with his label for years to get the album out. D'Angelo noted that his own personal troubles contributed to the delay of the album, but also said that countless changes in his management and at the record labels really put a strain in the process and was the main reason for the 14-year break in-between Voodoo and Black Messiah.
"Back in the day, the executives actually gave a fuck about music — that's the biggest change. The music business is a crazy game, especially for somebody like me who is really a purist about the art. Trying to balance the pressures of commercialism, it's a tightrope. It's a fine line between sticking to your guns and insanity."
While Black Messiah is still very fresh on fans' minds, D'Angelo also revealed that he's already working on his next project, which is apparently a continuation of Black Messiah because D'Angelo intended for the album to be longer. "What I'm working on now is like a companion piece. I hope people receive it that way. It's part of the same vision," D'Angelo said. D'Angelo and the Vanguard are currently on tour through the rest of this month, so it will be interesting to see how quickly he intends to put out his next project, with his track record indicating that we probably won't see it released in the near future, but we can hope. Read his full interview with Rolling Stone here.
