D’Angelo – “Sugah Daddy”

D’Angelo – “Sugah Daddy”

When D’Angelo’s manager Kevin Liles promised that the legendary R&B singer’s third album would be out this year after a 14-year gap since Voodoo, we wrote: “We’ll believe all this when it happens.” Well, it’s happening. News broke Friday that Black Messiah — credited to D’Angelo And The Vanguard — will be out this week, and lead single “Sugah Daddy” premiered in the middle of the night. This is the culmination of a long, long way back for a guy hailed by many as the greatest living soul singer; for more details, check GQ’s great 2012 profile. But first, listen to “Sugah Daddy” below. It sounds great!

D’Angelo performed “Sugah Daddy” live when he returned to the stage in 2012. Some fan-shot footage below from London’s Brixton Academy shows that the song has largely survived unchanged since then. Check it out.

Black Messiah will be streamed in full at a listening party today in New York hosted by author Nelson George, sponsored by Red Bull Music Academy and Afropunk. We’ll have a report from the session tomorrow.

Black Messiah is rumored to be out this Tuesday, 12/16, on RCA.

UPDATE: Check out some words from D’Angelo explaining the meaning behind Black Messiah that was handed out at tonight’s listening party:

D'Angelo

And here’s the album tracklist:

01 “Ain’t That Easy”
02 “1000 Deaths”
03 “The Charade”
04 “Sugah Daddy”
05 “Really Love”
06 “Back in the Future (Part I)”
07 “Till It’s Done (Tutu)”
08 “Prayer”
09 “Betray My Heart”
10 “The Door”
11 “Back in the Future (Part II)”
12 “Another Life”

The album is out digitally tonight at midnight.

UPDATE 11:15PM EST: Black Messiah is available on iTunes now.

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