Editing D'Angelo (section)

===2014–2020: ''Black Messiah'' and "Unshaken"===
D'Angelo released his third studio album, ''[[Black Messiah (album)|Black Messiah]]'' in December 2014. D'Angelo originally wanted to release ''Black Messiah'' in 2015, but the controversial decisions in the [[Shooting of Michael Brown|Ferguson]] and [[Death of Eric Garner|Eric Garner]] cases inspired him to release it earlier.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/17/arts/music/dangelos-black-messiah-was-released-in-a-rush.html|title = D'Angelo's 'Black Messiah' Was Released in Response to Protests|date = December 17, 2014|access-date = December 18, 2014|website = The New York Times}}</ref> On December 12, 2014, [[Kevin Liles]], D'Angelo's manager, shared a 15-second teaser of the album on YouTube.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kwlmanagement.com/|title=KWL Management – A Kevin Liles Co.|publisher=Kwlmanagement.com|access-date=December 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205233112/http://www.kwlmanagement.com/|archive-date=February 5, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Two days later, the track "Sugah Daddy", which had been part of D'Angelo's [[set list]] since 2012,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/57828-dangelo-returns-with-new-track-sugah-daddy/ |title=D'Angelo Returns With New Track "Sugah Daddy"  |website=Pitchfork |date=December 14, 2014 |access-date=December 14, 2014}}</ref> premiered at 3{{nbsp}}am EST and 1,000 downloads were available on [[Red Bull]]'s 20 Before 15 website.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/d-angelo-announces-black-messiah-album-possibly-coming-next-week-update-new-single-dropping-tonight-news.13214.html|title=D'Angelo Announces|first=Trevor|last=Smith|work=HotNewHipHop|date=December 13, 2014 |access-date=December 15, 2014}}</ref> After an exclusive listening party in New York produced by Afropunk festival founder Matthew Morgan and Jocelyn Cooper, ''Black Messiah'' was released digitally on December 15 through [[iTunes Store|iTunes]], [[Google Play Music]], and [[Spotify]].{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} The album's unexpected release was compared to [[Beyoncé]]'s [[Beyoncé (album)|self-titled]] release in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|first=Chris |last=Molanphy |url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/613-dangelos-black-messiah-is-1-in-our-hearts-but-not-on-the-charts-what-gives/ |title=D'Angelo's Black Messiah Is No. 1 in Our Hearts, But Not on the Charts-What Gives? &#124; The Pitch |work=Pitchfork |date=December 19, 2014 |access-date=May 30, 2015}}</ref> On January 13, 2015, "Really Love" was released to [[urban adult contemporary]] radio in the US.

The album was met with universal acclaim from critics and it currently has a 95/100 [[weighted average|mean score]] on review aggregator [[Metacritic]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/black-messiah/dangelo|title=Reviews for Black Messiah by D'Angelo|publisher=[[Metacritic]] |access-date=December 19, 2014}}</ref> In its first week of release, ''Black Messiah'' debuted at number five on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] and sold 117,000 copies in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Robertson|first=Iyana|date=December 24, 2014|url=http://www.vibe.com/article/the-pinkprint-black-messiah-billboard-200-debuts|title=Nicki Minaj's 'The Pinkprint' And D'Angelo's 'Black Messiah' Debut In ''Billboard'' 200's Top 10|journal=[[Vibe (magazine)|Vibe]]|location=New York|access-date=December 29, 2014}}</ref> In its second week, the album dropped to number twenty five on the chart and sold another 40,254 copies.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Balfour |first=Jay |url=http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.31946/title.hip-hop-album-sales-nicki-minaj-j-cole-fabolous |title=Hip Hop Album Sales: Nicki Minaj, J. Cole, Fabolous &#124; Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales |magazine=HipHopDX.com |date=December 31, 2014 |access-date=May 30, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102194733/http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.31946/title.hip-hop-album-sales-nicki-minaj-j-cole-fabolous |archive-date=January 2, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number 47 on the [[UK Albums Chart]] with first-week sales of 7,423 copies.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Jones|first=Alan|title=Official Charts Analysis: X Factor's Ben Haenow lands the Christmas No.1|url=http://www.musicweek.com/businessanalysis/read/official-charts-analysis-x-factor-s-ben-haenow-lands-the-christmas-no-1/060421 |magazine=[[Music Week]]|access-date=December 22, 2014}}</ref>
D'Angelo supported ''Black Messiah'' with a tour called ''[[The Second Coming Tour (D'Angelo)|The Second Coming]]''. His band, once called "The Testimony" and later renamed "The Vanguard", includes drummer [[Chris Dave]], bassist [[Pino Palladino]], guitarists [[Jesse Johnson (musician)|Jesse Johnson]] ([[The Time (band)|The Time]]) and [[Isaiah Sharkey]], vocalists [[Kendra Foster]] (sometimes replaced by [[Joi Gilliam]]), Jermaine Holmes, and Charles "Redd" Middleton, keyboardist Cleo "Pookie" Sample, jazz trumpeter [[Keyon Harrold]], saxophonist Kenneth Whalum manning the horn section, and D'Angelo as the lead vocalist, playing the electric grand piano, electric guitar, and even the band's conductor at certain moments. D'Angelo and The Vanguard's ''[[The Second Coming Tour (D'Angelo)|Second Coming Tour]]'' commenced in [[New York City|New York]] on February 7, 2015, and concluded in [[Austin, Texas|Austin]] on November 6, 2015, with a total of 57 shows in Europe, Asia and North America. At the [[58th Annual Grammy Awards]], ''Black Messiah'' won Best R&B Album while "[[Really Love (D'Angelo song)|Really Love]]" won [[Grammy Award for Best R&B Song|Best R&B Song]] and was nominated for [[Grammy Award for Record of the Year|Record of the Year]]. ''Black Messiah'', [[Beyoncé]]'s [[Beyoncé (album)|self-titled album]] (2013), [[Run the Jewels]]' ''[[Run the Jewels 2]]'' (2014), and [[Kendrick Lamar]]'s ''[[To Pimp a Butterfly]]'' (2015) were noted as laying the groundwork down for the politically charged releases that happened in 2016, which included [[Rihanna]]'s ''[[Anti (album)|Anti]]'', Kanye West's ''[[The Life of Pablo]]'', and Beyonce's "[[Formation (song)|Formation]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://yaleherald.com/culture/kanye-beyonce-rihanna-and-the-pop-reformation/|title=Kanye Beyonce Rihanna and the Pop Reformation|work=[[Yale Herald]]|last=Potash|first=Jacob|date=March 3, 2016|access-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312064029/http://yaleherald.com/culture/kanye-beyonce-rihanna-and-the-pop-reformation/|archive-date=March 12, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In June 2015, D'Angelo confirmed to ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' that he was working on more material for a new album, calling it "a companion piece" to ''Black Messiah''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-second-coming-of-dangelo-20150614?page=4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617103509/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-second-coming-of-dangelo-20150614?page=4|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 17, 2015|title=The Second Coming of D'Angelo|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=January 30, 2018}}</ref> D'Angelo performed [[Prince (musician)|Prince's]] "Sometimes it Snows in April" on ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon]]'' in April 2016 accompanied by [[Maya Rudolph]] and [[Gretchen Lieberum]] as a tribute to the musician, appearing 'overcome with emotion' at the passing of a major influence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spin.com/2016/04/dangelo-tribute-sometimes-it-snows-in-april-tonight-show/|title=D'Angelo Delivers Beautiful Rendition of Prince's 'Sometimes it Snows in April' on the 'Tonight Show' {{!}} SPIN|date=April 27, 2016|website=Spin|access-date=May 7, 2016}}</ref> D'Angelo contributed to the soundtrack for the 2018 video game ''[[Red Dead Redemption 2]]''. He sang on the song "[[Unshaken]]" which was produced by [[Daniel Lanois]]. He had previously served as a [[playtest]]er for the game itself due to his love for the series. The game's music team eventually invited him to perform on a song, which was finished in a week.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/dangelo-red-dead-redemption-2-767748/ |title=D'Angelo F-cking Loves Playing 'Red Dead Redemption 2' |last=Leight |first=Elias |date=December 18, 2018 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=January 25, 2019}}</ref> "Unshaken" was later released as a digital single on January 4, 2019.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/dangelos-red-dead-redemption-2-song-gets-official-release-listen/ |title=D'Angelo's "Red Dead Redemption 2" Song Gets Official Release: Listen |last=Minsker |first=Evan |date=January 4, 2019 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |access-date=January 25, 2019}}</ref>