Recording
After his successful performance with his group Precise at the Apollo Theater in 1991, D'Angelo received a $ 500 check for his work at the venue and used most of it to purchase a four-track recorder and a keyboard. At his mother's house in Richmond, he began writing and recording most of the material that would constitute Brown Sugar during 1991 and 1992. Recording for the album took place during 1994 and 1995 at Battery Studios and RPM Studios in New York City, and at the Pookie Lab studio in Sacramento, California, which served as the personal recording studio of R&B musician and record producer Raphael Saadiq. Additional recording took place at Back Pocket Studios in New York City for the track "Cruisin'".
In contrast to the production style of contemporary R&B at the time, which featured predominant casting of well-known record producers for an artist's project, D'Angelo handled most of the album's production, as well as contributing all of the vocals. While most of the production was handled by D'Angelo, other producers contributed as well, including Saadiq, Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest and legendary studio engineer Bob Power, who had previously produced Me'Shell NdegéOcello's debut album Plantation Lullabies (1993).
D'Angelo's expertise and ability to play various instruments, including drums, saxophone, guitar, bass, and keyboards, aided him in the recording of Brown Sugar, as most of the album's instrumentation and production were credited to his name. In a 1995 interview, he discussed the influence that musician Prince had on his approach to recording the album, stating "I was one of those guys who read the album credits and I realized that Prince was a true artist. He wrote, produced, and performed, and that's the way I wanted to do it." For the album, D'Angelo and the production personnel utilized antiquated, vintage equipment, including Wurlitzer musical instruments and dated effects boxes, as well as modern electronic devices such as drum machines and computers. Notable instruments used by D'Angelo were the Fender Rhodes electric piano and the Hammond organ. The album was later mastered by engineer Herb Powers Jr. at The Hit Factory mastering studio in New York City.
Read more about this topic: Brown Sugar (D'Angelo Album)
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