Raphael Saadiq

Born Raphael Wiggins in Oakland, California, on 14 May 1966, Raphael Saadiq grew fond of music since his early childhood years. Aged six, he learned how to play bass and began performing at church, school and community events. It was the time when the young boy made up his mind to become a professional musician. Finishing high school, he was chosen as bassist to play for Prince during his international touring. After that, Raphael assembled his own band entitled Tony! Toni! Tone! They released their debut album Who? in 1988. The first single, Little Walter, featured a mix of new wave soul and still evolving rap, and topped the R&B charts. Raphael and his group spent the following years steadily perfecting their skills on stage and in studio. Saadiq utilized heavily the experience he gained while touring with Prince which was of a great help to work in his team. The result of their hard labor was the sophomore studio work The Revival (1990). Supported with the brilliant singles It Feels Good, and It Never Rains in Southern California, this album became a great seller distributing six million copies.

Amidst the highlights of Tony! Toni! Tone!, Saadiq began working on his own projects. He took part in making soundtracks to the then famed movies Higher Learning, and Boyz in the Hood. Despite the two other releases by Tony! Toni! Tone!, Sons of Soul (1993), and House of Music (1996), Saadiq grew bigger than the band and decided to quit. Shortly after, he formed another band, Lucy Pearl. It released the 2000 self-titled album to have good responses. However, it was the first and the last release by the group as it soon collapsed due to personal, creative and financial differences. Following the Lucy Pearl period, Saadiq released his first solo album, Instant Vintage (2002). It earned him five Grammy nominations and recognition of both audience and critics. The artist revealed all his many faceted talent acting as a singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. Feeding his music with classic soul music and modern hip-hop, he presented an original type of material sounding fresh and unusual. Nevertheless, this long player appeared a commercial flop which put an end to the relations between Raphael and Universal Records. Saadiq went to work on his own label Pookie Records and released Ray Ray (2004). He finally fulfilled his old plans to launch a sound recording company to produce albums by other performers.

Having a good reputation of a successful musician, Raphael Saadiq became even a more prominent producer to make a significant contribution to the contemporary music. Since the mid nineties, he began his massive work on promoting young talents in neo-soul. He achieved the best results with the American artist D’Angelo. Their cooperation resulted in the 1995 single Lady nominated for Grammy. In a blink of an eye, Raphael Saadiq became of the most respectable producers making each of his projects an outstanding event. In September 2008, he released his third solo album, The Way I See It, recorded in collaboration with Stevie Wonder and Joss Stone.