Raphael Saadiq

Since breaking through via Tony! Toni! Toné!'s "Little Walter" in 1988, Raphael Saadiq has steadily refreshed and transformed elements of longstanding Black musical traditions. Viewed in hindsight, the chart-topping R&B/hip-hop single, distinguished by its up-to-date production and shrewd reuse of the melody from the spiritual "Wade in the Water," reads as an early manifesto that has steered the polished retro-modern vocalist, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer across a catalog of exceptional breadth. As the multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated Tony! Toni! Toné! wound down during the mid-'90s, Saadiq slipped into a new phase as a wide-ranging collaborator. He waited until after scoring successes alongside D'Angelo on "Lady" and "Untitled," Lucy Pearl's "Dance Tonight," and Bilal's "Soul Sista" before issuing his first solo album, Instant Vintage, in 2002. Having captured a Grammy soon afterward as co-writer of Erykah Badu's "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip Hop)," Saadiq has since juggled outside commissions with his own releases, moving between standout work with contemporaries and influences and inventive throwback albums such as the Top 20 entries The Way I See It (2008) and Stone Rollin' (2011), followed by Jimmy Lee (2019).

Raphael Saadiq was raised amid music in both his household and his surroundings. Born Charles Ray Wiggins in Oakland, the future artist immersed himself in sound from an early age. He began studying bass at six under the guidance of an older brother—one of a dozen siblings in a blended family—and gained further instruction from aspiring local players. Before long he joined ensembles, starting as a youngster with the Gospel Hummingbirds, and benefited from the robust music curriculum at Castlemont High School. Shortly after turning 18 he won an audition for the backing band of fellow Oakland native Sheila E. on Prince's Parade tour. Consequently Wiggins, by then performing as Raphael rather than Ray, occasionally joined the star for impromptu post-show appearances.

That same year Wiggins appeared as bassist and background vocalist on Sheila E.'s self-titled album and launched his own trio, Tony! Toni! Toné!, alongside brother D'Wayne Wiggins and cousin Timothy Christian Riley. The group surfaced in 1987 with the independently issued "One Night Stand," an upbeat 12-inch in the vein of Cameo and the Time, before signing to Mercury's Wing imprint. Between 1988 and 1996 Tony! Toni! Toné! delivered four acclaimed albums, each certified gold, platinum, or multi-platinum. Among a dozen Top Ten R&B/hip-hop hits that began with "Little Walter" were "Feels Good," "If I Had No Loot," and the Grammy-nominated "Anniversary," all of which crossed over into the Hot 100's upper reaches.

Toward the close of Tony! Toni! Toné!'s ten-year run, Wiggins took the surname Saadiq and cut "Ask of You" for the Higher Learning soundtrack. Released as a single, the track entered the R&B/hip-hop chart in March 1995 and climbed to number two. Rather than leverage that momentum for an immediate solo launch, Saadiq remained content behind the scenes as a collaborator and even ventured into A&R by running Pookie Records. Courted during the latter half of the '90s by acts from John Mellencamp to Snoop Dogg, he reached his highest placement with D'Angelo's "Lady" (number two R&B/hip-hop), followed by the Roots' "What They Do" (number 21), Solo's "Touch Me" (number 28), and Willie Max's "Can't Get Enough" (number 20). He also notched a second solo single, "Get Involved" (number 21), from the soundtrack to the stop-motion series The P.J.s.

Still a few years from a solo album, Saadiq secured another hit in early 2000 as co-writer and co-producer of D'Angelo's "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" (number two R&B, number 25 pop). Later that year the short-lived Lucy Pearl, comprising Saadiq, En Vogue's Dawn Robinson, and A Tribe Called Quest's Ali Shaheed Muhammad, issued their sole self-titled album. It reached gold status behind "Dance Tonight" (number five R&B, number 36 pop) and, like "Untitled," earned a Grammy nomination in the R&B category. Saadiq's early-2000s songwriting credits grew further with Bilal's "Soul Sista" (number 18 R&B) and Angie Stone's "Brotha" (number 13).

Fifteen years into an already notable career, Saadiq finally unveiled his debut solo album. Instant Vintage appeared on major-label Universal in June 2002. Evidently reluctant to be linked with neo-soul—the promotional label that had become a subgenre he helped spark unintentionally—Saadiq labeled the expansive set "gospeldelic" on its back cover. Far broader in range than any single term could capture, Instant Vintage nevertheless achieved broad appeal, peaking at number 25 on the Billboard 200 and number eight on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. A collaborative effort, it featured Angie Stone and T-Boz along with D'Angelo on the lead single "Be Here." Commercially it was soon surpassed by "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip Hop)" (number one R&B/hip-hop, number nine pop), which Saadiq produced and co-wrote with longtime associates Glenn Standridge and Bobby Ozuna for Erykah Badu—the performer for whom the term "neo-soul" was originally coined. The track won the 2002 Grammy for Best R&B Song, giving Saadiq his first Academy recognition, while Instant Vintage itself and "Be Here" earned additional nominations that year.

Saadiq contributed to numerous further recordings issued between Instant Vintage and his second solo album, among them high-charting projects by TLC, Kelly Price, Nappy Roots, Kelis, and Truth Hurts. Amid this activity he released, via Pookie, the two-disc live set All Hits at the House of Blues, a career retrospective that included a brief Tony! Toni! Toné! segment. Pookie also served as the home for the proper Instant Vintage follow-up, Ray Ray. Issued in October 2004, the funkier, blaxploitation-tinged album accommodated another Tony! Toni! Toné! reunion plus appearances by Joi and Babyface. Teedra Moses, fresh from her Saadiq-assisted debut Complex Simplicity, sang on two tracks. The set entered the Independent Albums chart at number three. Saadiq soon received his third Best R&B Performance Grammy nomination, this time as featured artist on Earth, Wind & Fire's "Show Me the Way," which he also produced and co-wrote.

Between solo projects Saadiq added to his side catalog with work on further successful albums, including those by Anthony Hamilton, Mary J. Blige, Kelis, John Legend, Lionel Richie, Joss Stone, and Musiq Soulchild. He shared billing with Blige on "I Found My Everything," nominated for Best Traditional R&B Performance. After signing with Columbia, Saadiq returned in September 2008 with The Way I See It. The number 19 Billboard 200 album reflected a deepening interest in the classic R&B of his youth, evident in song construction as well as choice of equipment and recording methods. Motown veterans including Stevie Wonder, arranger Paul Riser, and percussionist Jack Ashford participated. Three further Grammy nominations followed: Best R&B Album, Best Traditional R&B Performance for "Love That Girl," and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Never Give You Up."

Side projects continued at a steady pace, with Stone, Blige, Ledisi, and Rick Ross among the main recipients of Saadiq's studio time. Quicker than usual despite touring and other creative commitments, Saadiq conceived and finished his fourth album, Stone Rollin', which arrived in March 2011. Retaining several musicians from prior sessions while handling more of the instrumentation himself—including four- and six-string guitars plus Mellotron, clavinet, and drums—Stone Rollin' offered a more direct and unvarnished retrospective sound. On a commercial upswing despite paying little heed to prevailing R&B trends, Saadiq again reached the Billboard 200's Top 20, attaining a career-best number 14. The album's "Trouble Man soul"-styled "Good Man," co-written with "Show Me the Way" collaborator and background vocalist Taura Stinson, earned a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional R&B Performance.

Eight years elapsed between Saadiq's fourth and fifth solo albums. The artist remained active throughout, appearing on recordings by partners spanning generations and genres, from Larry Graham, Booker T. Jones, and Elton John to Andra Day, Big K.R.I.T., and Miguel. Most notably he played a central role on Solange's number one 2016 album A Seat at the Table, co-writing and co-producing eight tracks including "Cranes in the Sky" and sharing executive-producer credit with the singer. Saadiq and Stinson next joined Mary J. Blige on the Academy Award-nominated "Mighty River," written and recorded for the 2017 period film Mudbound. After Justin Timberlake, Ne-Yo, the Midnight Hour (Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad), and John Legend each utilized his services, Saadiq completed a fifth album, Jimmy Lee, in August 2019. The following year he and composer Laura Karpman created the score for the series L.A.'s Finest. Saadiq also produced and sang on the compilation Stand Up for the global-advocacy group Global Citizen.