Raphael Saadiq was a close friend and frequent collaborator of D’Angelo.
In an interview with The Root, Saddiq revealed that he was D’ Angelo before he passed away. He reflected on dealing with the aftermath of the tremendous loss.
“I got a chance to be with him the week he was making his transition. We had a beautiful conversation. He was a person who wasn’t out a lot. He wasn’t touring a lot, and he was really inconsistent in the way people thought he should be. But the other person was a very insightful person,” Saadiq said.
“He was very smart and [we were] very inspirational to each other. What he wanted to do, what I wanted to do,” he continued. “What music we liked, what challenges we would have, because we both loved music. All kinds of music, world music.”
”It was hard for me to listen to his music after he made his transition,” he added. “I wouldn’t listen to it for a long time. I just started listening to it again, maybe a day before his birthday.”
Saddiq also shared how he’s still dealing with the loss of his brother D’Wayne Wiggins.
“My brother and D’Angelo were born in the same month. Dwayne, who just passed, his birthday was on February 14. It made a lot of sense; they were both alike in some of their wild streaks,” Saddiq said. “But I definitely took it in, really miss him [D’Angelo]. [Gone] way too soon, what a genius, and I don’t use that word lightly.”
”I’m still dealing with it though,” Saadiq said. “We miss him because there’s so much more we all wanna do while we’re here…He did the best that he could. He did a damn good job, he made some good music,c and he was a natural beast of a singer and a musician. I sing when I have to; he grew up doing it. He learned a lot from me, and I learned a lot from him, and that was our relationship.”