D'Angelo wants music to get smarter

You might not have thought D'Angelo was ever going to change the world, but he might yet surprise us all. He's returned to music in the last few months, and is disappointed how detached it's become from modern society:

"I grew up on Public Enemy, and it was popular culture to be aware,” D’Angelo said."People were wearing Malcolm X T-shirts and Malcolm X hats. It was a very cool thing to know who Malcolm X was. It was all in the lyrics. It was trendy to be conscious and aware. Now the trend... it’s just [expletive]. But to tell you the truth, there are a lot of people who feel the same way that I feel and that are making great music, conscious music."

"But for some reason or another it seems like the gatekeepers are not allowing that stuff to filter through to the mainstream. Kendrick Lamar, he’s an example of someone who is young and actually trying to say something. Who else? You got Young Jeezy and Young Thug. You know what I’m saying? It’s stupid. It’s ridiculous," he continued.

The is D'Angelo. Whose biggest hit had lyrics that went like this:

You're my little baby, my darling baby
I swear you're the talk of the town
And everybody wants to know what's going down
Babe, I know they've seen us before
Maybe at the liquor store, or maybe at the health food stand
They don't know that I'm your man

The man who is known for a song about how people might not realise he was in a partnership even although they'd go to buy quinoa together is calling you out for being empty and stupid, modern music. He's suggesting that writing a song about holding hands in a Trader Joe's would be better for society than your current output. And you know what? He's kind-of right.