D'Angelo - Brown Sugar

I know we have been covering a lot of contemporary music lately, but D'Angelo cannot go unrecognized this far into it. While he has not recorded too many albums as of late, his presence in the emergence of neo-soul was felt.

With just two albums under his belt with another one the way, it is hard to get to deep into his work, but that is not to say that D'Angelo has not been active in the industry. He has shown his face on tracks by Common and Raphael Saadiq and is scheduled to release his third album this year. Along with some of the songs that he is featured in, I encourage you to check out his version of Smokey Robinson's - Cruisin'.

Here is a link to D'Angelo's version of Cruisin'.

Today, we are going to stick with D'Angelo's debut album and first major single. Brown Sugar was the first song I heard by D'Angelo and to this day remains my favorite piece of work by him. It is a song for the ages and definitely helped spark the neo-soul revolution.

Listen Now: D'Angelo - Brown Sugar
D'Angelo - Brown Sugar Download
D'Angelo - Brown Sugar Lyrics

Smokey Robinson - Cruisin'

"Cruisin was made for love"

Smokey comes through with one of my all-time favorites. Riding around town with the girl you love, cruisin' to the smooth sound of Smokey is about as good as it gets. When you have got the back seat of a cadillac to go with a view of the bay, this song will quickly turn from a jam made for cruisin to a jam made for for lovin. Listen Now: Smokey Robinson - Cruisin'

Smokey Robinson - Cruisin' Lyrics

Smokey Robinson - Cruisin' Download