Raphael Saadiq was born Charlie Ray Wiggins on 14 May 1966 in Oakland, California. He's an American singer, bassist, songwriter and record producer in the R&B/soul traditions. Having played music since age six, during the 1970's and 1980's, he played bass both at school and in church. Forming Tony! Toni! Toné! with his brother Dwayne Wiggins in the mid-1980's, going on to enjoy a successful solo career in the 1990's. He was also a member of R&B 'supergroup' Lucy Pearl during their brief time. He has also collaborated with the artist D'Angelo to great Grammy critical success --winning the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, for track "Untitled (How Does It Feel)"-- and many other major label artists including Q-Tip, Kelis, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Macy Gray, and Bilal amoungst others. In 2002, Saadiq founded his own record label, Pookie Entertainment, featuring artists on the label Joi, ex-Lucy Pearl member [Invalid Artist], and Truth Hurts. In 2007, Saadiq was called on to produce the whole of the third album from UK soul singer Joss Stone. She also returned the favour by featuring on his fourth solo album, "The Way I See It", along with Stevie Wonder.
Raphael Saadiq (born Charlie Ray Wiggins on May 14, 1966 in Oakland, California) is an acclaimed American music artist. He is a singer, songwriter and record producer associated with the neo-soul music movement.
Saadiq made a name for himself as the lead vocalist in the rhythm and blues and dance trio Tony! Toni! Toné!. He went by his birth name during the beginning of Tony! Toni! Toné!, where he was joined by his brother Dwayne Wiggins, and his cousin Timothy Christian. He adopted the name of Raphael Saadiq in the mid-1990s.
After the 1996 Tony! Toni! Toné! album, House of Music, (when he performed under his current name) Saadiq started his solo career. He produced a few solo tracks, but Saadiq's next big project became the R&B supergroup Lucy Pearl. He recorded the self-titled album with Dawn Robinson (En Vogue) and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest). This group only lasted for one album. His solo album Instant Vintage, released in 2002, also earned 5 Grammy nominations.
Saadiq released his third solo album, The Way I See It, on September 16 2008, featuring collaborations with Stevie Wonder and Joss Stone. Saadiq acknowledges the album's old school soul sound, which he says includes nods to Gladys Knight & The Pips, Al Green, The Four Tops, The Delfonics and The Stylistics.
Various artists have tapped Saadiq to produce their work through the years. Some of Saadiq's most notable work has been with D'Angelo. The 2000 collaboration "Untitled" won D'Angelo a Grammy award for Best R&B Album. In 2007, Saadiq was called on to produce the whole third album from UK Soul singer Joss Stone. Other artists he has collaborated with include The Roots, Macy Gray, Snoop Dogg, Kelis, Q-Tip and Young Bellz.
In 2002, Saadiq founded his own record label, Pookie Entertainment. Among the artists on the label are Joi and Truth Hurts.
Saadiq has been playing music since the age of six. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, he played bass at church and school. He also enjoyed his on-stage moments at various local events of his hometown.
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From Wikipedia:Raphael Saadiq (born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Saadiq has been a standard bearer for "old school" R&B since his early days as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! He also produced songs of such artists as Joss Stone, D'Angelo, TLC, Mary J. Blige, and John Legend. He and D'Angelo were occasional members of The Ummah, a music production collective, composed of members Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest, and the late Jay Dee (also known as J Dilla) of the Detroit-based group Slum Village.
Saadiq's latest critically acclaimed album, The Way I See It, released on September 16, 2008, featuring artists Stevie Wonder, Joss Stone and Jay-Z, received three Grammy Award Nominations and voted Best Album on iTunes of 2008.