While gathering quotes from Philadelphia area musicians to reflect on D’Angelo, I couldn’t help but think about the similarities between him and beloved 76ers legend Allen Iverson. Both from Virginia, right? Masters in their fields and hella down to earth. Relatable yet so revered. I can imagine that Philadelphia has influenced Allen Iverson about as much as he has been an influence here. Similarly, you don’t have to go to more than one local jam session to hear D’Angelo’s influence on Philly musicians. Nor do you have to read too far down D’Angelo’s liner notes to see the impact Philadelphia bred musicians and collaborators such as James Poyser and Questlove have had on him.
D’Angelo has been The North Star for many musicians all over the world, all the while pointing back to the greats in gospel, rock, funk and soul who came before him. For many musicians upon hearing him for the first time, they didn’t simply become fans; they became students. Allen Iverson and D’Angelo are both trailblazers who made all of those around them and those that came after them want to either be them or be a better version of themselves (or maybe even a little of both). If Allen Iverson is The Answer then D’Angelo is The Reason.
Below are five Philly Soul musicians who shared with us about the influence D’Angelo has had on their artistry and the gratitude they have for his legacy.
P🔺IN – Some things are just embedded in your musical DNA — almost ancestral, if not exactly that. D’Angelo is, and will forever be, one of those roots in mine. His artistry shaped the way I hear, feel, and create. Honestly, he’s the foundation — when people ask what my music sounds like, I’ve always said, “If Frank Ocean produced D’Angelo.” That’s how deeply his sound lives in my creative identity.
People have called him an alien, a genius, not of this world — and maybe they’re right. But through his music, I didn’t feel distant from him. I felt seen. I felt affirmed. I felt heard. D’Angelo reminded us what soul really means — not just as a genre, but as a living, breathing force. His music carried truth, vulnerability, and divinity all at once.
Thank you, D, for being unapologetically Black. Thank you for honoring those who came before you, while always pushing the sound forward.Thank you for proving that real musicianship, real vocals, and real feeling still matter — and that good music doesn’t fade; it endures. It transcends.
“Africa is my descent… here I’m far from home.”
Welcome home, D. 🕊️
Arnetta Johnson– D’Angelo was the blueprint. He showed what it looked like to be gifted yet vulnerable enough to always remain an explorer. As an artist this is truly what one can aspire to be. The voice, the rhythm, the chords, the horns…Gospel, Funk,Jazz, RnB, Hip Hop, Soul…somehow he made multiple worlds collide to shape his own. Learning of his transition felt like someone snatching off your headphones. You were zoned out in another place and then abruptly cast into a reality that didn’t exist before. The record stopped. Yet now, suddenly we find ourselves revisiting songs we listened to all our lives…as if it were our first time hitting play. Although in another life, his world is yet still spinning.
Carla Gamble– D’Angelo has been a major influence in developing my artistry. The passion in his voice and smoothness in his sound was undeniable. The life of D’Angelo was a gift to all and truly an inspiration to many artists, especially Soul artists like myself. He created a sound that was made to last a lifetime. His legacy is undeniable, reaching all areas of music, and will continue to do until the end of time.
Nico Bryant– One of the Yodas has crossed over and is now one with the Force.
There are so many words that I can say about how D’Angelo’s music helped to change, shape, and save my life. But all that I can muster right now is “thank you for everything.” My heart goes out to his family, blood-related and musical. Peace and love.
Tuck Ryan– The sheer outpouring of collective sorrow and genuine love for the life of Michael Eugene Archer has left myself and countless others around the world both heartbroken and deeply grateful to have born witness to such a tenacious and uncompromising artist. He has been my North Star for half of my life. His loss is profound and unfathomable.
He owed us nothing, yet he gave us everything. He gave us more by giving us less. Three deeply encompassing seasons of life documented to tape, each more profoundly personal and artistically daring than the last. He changed the game and recognizing his monumental effect on recorded music and songwriting is a necessary and worthy plight to make. But if there is one gift I can speak to personally that he gave me, that I know many of my musical peers share, it was the freedom to be myself.
To not be boxed in. To make music you love, and to let nothing comprise that piece of you. To truly seek to share a part of your soul with the world in hopes of making someone’s life easier or more deeply understood. To create in a way that raises a mirror to you, the artist, and the listener.
God Bless you, D. Thank you from the wells of my being. Our love for your spirit and the music are eternal. Rest now.
“The future’s not ours to see, Que Sera Sera. What will be, will be.”