NobleMag

The August issue of Spin magazine details, in an EXCELLENT story... the rise and fall of R&B crooner D'angelo. The story is in many ways unfortunate as his former manager Alan Leeds talks about D'angelo's extreme vulnerabilty and extreme desire to be recognized as an artist instead of a dick. The "Untitled" video, by Alan's accounts literally ruined him. He would be on stage trying to perform his material and the women would scream for him to take his clothes off. Leeds says that D'angelo was devastated that he was no longer viewed for his music and that he was uncomfortable with the video concept and shoot from gate and that everyone on the set was uncomfortable because of it. He states D'angelo was not accustomed to that kind of attention and everyone was looking at his pajama bottoms that were hanging dangerously low to film the video instead of him even on the set. If you read between the lines, the story states that D'angelo may have intentionally let himself go and gain almost 100 pounds to reclaim his comfort zone. The story even compares him to Maxwell, Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill as equals who, all of which are actually easy on the eye, have intentionally changed their images as well to run from the "sex symbol" stereotypes that often kills their artistry. Erykah, who makes herself look like an alien, Lauryn, who acts crazy and makes herself look like a zombie and Maxwell, who has totally changed his image to look like a high school nerd have taken similar steps to ensure they are not looked at like fucking machines....

The story goes on to detail how D'angelo's alcoholism was so bad after the video, that he would literally empty every mini bar in a hotel room that he came across. Then on several occasions, he would break down and cry. On a lighter note, D'angelo's new reps say he has the alcoholism and drug addiction under control at this time and that while he may not be ready to film another "Untitled" video, he's in great shape these days and he has his new addiction to Karate` to thank for that.