Raphael Saadiq (born
Charlie Ray Wiggins May 14, 1966, Oakland,
California
), is an American
singer, songwriter and
record producer. Saadiq has
been a standard bearer for "old school" R&B since his early
days as a member of the multiplatinum group
Tony! Toni! Toné! He also produced songs of such
artists as
Joss Stone,
D'Angelo,
Mary J.
Blige, and
John
Legend.
Saadiq has been playing the bass guitar since the age of six. He
first began singing at age 12 with a group called "The Gospel
Humminbirds". After high school, Saadiq joined
Prince and
Sheila
E. on the
Parade Tour.
Saadiq's latest critically acclaimed album,
The Way I See It, released on
September 16, 2008, featuring artists Stevie Wonder, Joss Stone and
Jay-Z, received three Grammy Award Nominations and voted Best Album
on iTunes of 2008.
Career
Tony! Toni! Toné!
Saadiq began his professional career as the lead vocalist and
bassplayer in the
rhythm and blues
and dance trio
Tony! Toni! Toné! He used the name Raphael
Wiggins while in Tony! Toni! Toné!, where he was joined by his
brother
Dwayne Wiggins, and his
cousin Timothy Christian. He
adopted the name
of Raphael Saadiq in the mid-1990s. His change of surname led
many to speculate that he had converted to
Islam at that point; in reality, Saadiq is not a
Muslim, but rather just liked the way "Saadiq" sounded and changed
his last name simply to distinguish himself from and avoid
potential confusion with his brother, Dwayne Wiggins. As he
confirmed by telling noted R&B writer Pete Lewis of the
award-winning 'Blues & Soul' in May 2009, "I just wanted to
have my own identity!"
Tony! Toni! Toné would become major
R&B
superstars throughout the late-1980s and 1990s. However, after the
1996 album entitled
House of
Music, which did produce several hits, nonetheless failed
to duplicate previous success, Tony! Toni! Toné! went their
separate ways.
Lucy Pearl
In 1999, Saadiq's next big project became the R&B supergroup
Lucy Pearl. He recorded the self-titled
album with
Dawn Robinson (
En Vogue) and
Ali
Shaheed Muhammad (
A Tribe
Called Quest). The group only lasted for one album.
Solo work
"Ask of You"
In
1995, Saadiq had his biggest solo
hit to date, when "Ask of You", featured on the
Higher Learning
Soundtrack peaked at #19 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the
R&B chart. In 1997, Saadiq hooked up with
EPMD for the tune "Da Joint". Two years later,
he teamed up with
Q-Tip for another minor hit,
"Get Involved", which was featured on the animated TV series,
The PJs (see also
The
PJs: Music from & Inspired by the Hit Television
Series).
Instant Vintage
He released his first solo album
Instant Vintage in 2002 and earned 5
Grammy nominations.
Ray Ray
Released the album
Ray Ray in 2004
on his own record label Pookie Entertainment.
All the Hits at the House of Blues
Released a 2 disc live album
All The Hits AT The House of
Blues in 2004 on his own record label Pookie
Entertainment.
The Way I See It
Saadiq's latest release, his third solo album,
The Way I See It, released on
Columbia Records on September 16, 2008, available in a collector's
edition box set of 7" 45 rpm singles as well as on traditional CD,
was critically well-received, made several critics' 2008 best
albums lists, and garnered three Grammy nominations including Best
R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals (for "Never Give
You Up," featuring Stevie Wonder & CJ Hilton); Best Traditional
R&B Vocal Performance (for "Love That Girl") and Best R&B
Album for The Way I See It.
The Way I See It was released back in September 2008, and
Saadiq is currently touring and promoting the project. Touring with
a nine piece band, Saadiq hit the 2009 summer music festival
circuit with performances at Bonnaroo, Hollywood Bowl, Outside
Lands, Pori Jazz Festival, Stockholm Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz,
Essence Music Festival, Summer Spirit Festival, and Nice Jazz
Festival, Bumbershoot Music Festival and Austin City Limits. Saadiq
has been touring Europe extensively, and held a five-night
residency at the House of Blues in Tokyo, Japan in June 2009.
Music from
The Way I See It is featured in the following
motion pictures:
Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To
Jail,
Bride Wars,
Cadillac Records,
Secret Life of Bees,
In Fighting .
Music producer
His 2000 song collaboration "
Untitled " won
D'Angelo a
Grammy
Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance; it was also
nominated for
Grammy
Award for Best R&B Song . The song was ranked #4 on
Rolling Stone's "End of Year
Critics & Readers Poll" of the
top singles of 2000 .
D'Angelo's album
Voodo won a
Grammy Award for Best
R&B Album at the
2001 Grammy
Awards.
In 2004, Saadiq produced a remix of the song "Crooked Nigga Too" by
the late
Tupac Shakur which is featured
on the album
Loyal To The
Game.
In 2007, Saadiq produced
Introducing Joss Stone, the
third album of British soul singer
Joss
Stone.
He produced songs for
LeToya
Luckett's forthcoming second album
Lady Love, set for
release August 2009.
In 2009, Saadiq produced "Please Stay" and "Love Never Changes" for
Ledisi's August 2009 release "
Turn Me Loose".Saadiq also was the executive
producer for an emerging group called
Tha
Boogie.
Tha Boogie's first EP was
released on iTunes and is titled "
Love Tha Boogie,
Vol. 1
.
Other artists he has collaborated with include
Whitney Houston,
Mary J. Blige,
The Isley Brothers,
Teedra Moses,
The
Roots,
Erykah Badu,
Jill Scott,
Macy Gray,
Angie Stone,
Snoop
Dogg,
Devin the Dude,
DJ Quik,
Kelis,
Q-Tip,
Lil'
Skeeter,
Ludacris,
The Bee Gees,
Musiq
Soulchild,
Jaguar Wright,
Chanté Moore,
Lionel Richie,
Marcus
Miller,
Noel Gourdin,
Nappy Roots,
Calvin
Richardson,
T-Boz from
TLC,
Floetry,
Leela James,
Amp
Fiddler,
John Legend,
Joss Stone, Young Bellz,
Anthony Hamilton,
Babyface,
Ledisi,
Goapele,
Ghostface
Killah,
Ginuwine,
Stevie Wonder,
Earth, Wind & Fire,
Bilal, as well as many others.
Other
In 2002, Saadiq founded his own record label,
Pookie Entertainment. Among the artists
on the label are
Joi and
Truth Hurts.
On April 13, 2007, Saadiq played the role of Anthony Hayes in
Disturbia.
In 2008 Saadiq formed a new label called Velma Records, a place
where Raphael promises "people can express themselves like I did
with
The Way I See
It... where they can dream something up and just go with
it".
In 2009 Saadiq announced his video game development company called
IllFonic. The first video game in development by IllFonic is titled
Ghetto Golf, with an expected
release late in 2010.
In 2009 Saadiq teamed up Bentley Kyle Evans, Jeff Franklin, Martin
Lawrence, and Trenten Gumbs to create a new sitcom called
Love
That Girl! starring
Tatyana Ali.
Raphael is an executive producer and composer for
Love That
Girl!. The show is currently in development.
Awards/Nominations
- Grammy Awards
- 2009, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group "Never Give
You Up" (nominated)
- 2009, Best R&B Album The Way I See It
(nominated)
- 2009, Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance "Love That
Girl" (nominated)
- 2007, Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance "I Found My
Everything" (nominated)
- 2005, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group "Show Me the
Way" (nominated)
- 2003, Best Urban/Alternative Performance "Be Here"
(nominated)
- 2003, Best R&B Song "Love of My Life (Ode to
Hip-Hop)" (winner)
- 2003, Best R&B Song "Be Here" (nominated)
- 2003, Best R&B Album Instant Vintage
(nominated)
- 2003, Best Song Written for a Motion Picture of Television
Special "Love of My Life (Ode to Hip-Hop)" (nominated)
- 2002, Best R&B Song "Untitled (How Does It Feel)"
(nominated)
- 1995, Best R&B Song "Anniversary" (nominated)
Discography
Singles
| Year |
Song |
Chart positions |
Album |
| U.S.
Hot 100 |
U.S. R&B |
U.S.
Adult R&B |
U.K. |
| 1995 |
"Ask of You" |
19 |
2 |
— |
76 |
Higher Learning OST |
| 1999 |
"Get Involved" (feat.
Q-Tip) |
67 |
21 |
— |
36 |
The P.J.'s OST |
| 2002 |
"Be Here" (feat. D'Angelo) |
99 |
68 |
— |
— |
Instant
Vintage |
| "Still Ray" |
— |
79 |
— |
— |
| 2004 |
"Rifle Love" (feat. Lucy Pearl & Tony! Toni! Toné!) |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Ray
Ray |
| "Chic Like You" (feat. Allie
Baba) |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| 2005 |
"I Want You Back" (feat.
Teedra Moses) |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| 2008 |
"Love That Girl" |
— |
45 |
13 |
— |
The Way I See It |
| "Big Easy" (feat. The
Infamous Young Spodie & The Rebirth Brass Band)[92468] |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| 2009 |
"100 Yard Dash" |
— |
125 |
— |
— |
| "Never Give You Up" (feat.
Stevie Wonder & CJ
Hilton) |
— |
26 |
4 |
— |
| "Let's Take a Walk" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| "Staying in love" |
— |
74 |
— |
— |
| "—" denotes the single
failed to chart or wasn't released. |
|
See also
References
- Tower.com: Voodoo (EXPLICIT) (CD) by D'Angelo
(Artist) Music. Tower.com. Retrieved on 2008-08-08.
- Rolling Stone End of year Critic & Readers
lists. www.rocklist.net. Retrieved on 2008-08-08.
External links
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