Recording artist D'Angelo performs at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on August 21, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesThose that were waiting to see D'Angelo versus a worthy opponent on Verzuz got a little something different for the latest "match" as D pretty much battled himself and had some homies drop in to support. The event—D'Angelo & Friends—held at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York on Saturday night (Feb. 27) started off about an hour late. Yet, it wasn't a Keyshia Cole type hour late, as DJ Scratch (formerly of the legendary hip-hop group EPMD) held down the wheels of steel with a strong blended mix set and pre-show that spanned '80s, '90s, and 2000s hits of Black music.
Once D'Angelo sat behind the piano and thanked everyone for coming through, he played a song that set the tone that many didn't know (I still don't know that one), before easing into the familiar tracks: "Me And Those Dreamin' Eyes Of Mine," "Lady," and "Left And Right," with the latter punctuated by a surprise funk performance by the duo of Redman and Method Man. The smoke twins Red and Meth came out hyped as always and did their street version of the uncles at the BBQ doing the two-step. Many of the comments on the Instagram Live comment feed were filled with "Black don't crack..." and "Those guys are aging backward." Red and Meth were fire and showed love to the furry overcoat and wide brim-wearing D'Angelo. "Legends," is how D dubbed the duo when they walked off the set.
DJ Scratch continued to control the energy of the night as his cuts weaved in and out of D's storied favorites and the banter between the two was light and hearty. D'Angelo told the story of how he first came to Harlem and the Apollo as a teenager to compete on the famous Wednesday's Amateur Night. DJ Scratch asked, "So what happened?" D'Angelo sharply replied, "I won!" They laughed and D expressed how that's how he got his start in the music industry.
What was special about the night was how D was really surprised by the "Friends" that showed up for him. He seemingly found out who was on the bill with him at the same time as the live viewers. His moment with the songstress H.E.R. was so genuine as they turned their cordial fandom for one another into the coolest tune performance of "Nothing Even Matters." H.E.R. exclaimed, "I'm singing with D'Angelo right now! What is life?!"
Knowing that D'Angelo isn't much for the fanfare and bright lights of stardom, to see him perform for the Verzuz crowd sans a worthy opponent was a rare treat that we didn't know we needed. Normally everyone wants to see some musical bloodshed with a head-to-head battle, but it was good to see soul music just be soul music and that be the focus rather than the "Who won..." convo was a nice break in the Verzuz series. Even though D' didn't have someone to battle, the star of the night was his full-length, dark brown sheared mink coat. Look up the convos about it on various comment sections and you'll know why.
You can watch the full event down below or on Apple Music...or if you just want to run those incredible D'Angelo vintage vibes back, you can create a playlist with the songs he and his friends performed down below.
Interesting Fact: In a post-Verzuz live chat between Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, Swizz shared that D'Angelo was supposed to go against Maxwell on Valentine's Day, but it didn't work out.
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Suki Waterhouse has spoken candidly about how she found herself crying constantly after the birth of her daughter.
The singer and actress reflected on her experience as a mother more than two years after she and her partner, actor Robert Pattinson, welcomed their baby girl in March 2024.
During an interview with The Standard published on Thursday, Suki explained that motherhood has completely shifted her outlook on life.
"I think it's made me marvel at our humanness. It's so funny, even just your kid getting a fever, watching a little body recover from that, it's brought me down to what it is to be alive and I really love that," she said. "It feels very survivalist and medieval in a way, especially birth, birth is medieval."
The Daisy Jones & The Six actress, 34, shared that she was caught off guard by just how exposed and emotional she felt after giving birth to her daughter.
"I'm almost two and a half years in now, but when she was first born, I remember thinking that I can't believe everybody does this and I can't believe how vulnerable I feel," she told the publication. "I was crying all the time."
Suki continued, "It makes me cry now thinking about it. It was just... shocking."
The Notting Hill singer also admitted that she has never considered herself someone who cries easily, making those emotions all the more surprising.
"It's so f**king weird! I'm not a cryer! I'm so not an emotional person, I'm such a Capricorn. But being a mum just fed me up in such a sweet way," she stated. "It just absolutely broke open my heart, and I'm just madly in love and, despite my crying right now, I enjoy it so much and I'm so taken by my daughter and so in love with doing it with my partner and I just feel the preciousness of it very much."
Suki and Twilight actor Robert, 40, have been in a relationship since 2018 and announced they were expecting their first child together toward the end of 2023.
The pair have largely kept their romance away from the spotlight and have yet to publicly share the name of their daughter.
