Adam D'Angelo
Adam D'Angelo, 2011
Born	1984/1985 (age 26–27)[1]
Education	California Institute of Technology
Occupation	co-founder of Quora
Known for	former CTO of Facebook

Adam D'Angelo is the chief executive and co-founder of Quora, an online knowledge market based in Palo Alto, California.

He was chief technology officer of Facebook, and also served as its vice president of engineering.^[2][3]

He left Facebook in 2008. In June 2009, he started Quora with Charlie Cheever, another early Facebook employee.^[4]

D'Angelo competed in the Association for Computing Machinery collegiate world programming contest while attending the California Institute of Technology.^[5] In 2005, he was one of the top 24 finalists in the international Topcoder Collegiate Challenge.^[6] He took eighth place in the 2001 USA Computing Olympiad for high school students.^[7]

Along with Cheever, D'Angelo has been cited as one of the smartest figures in technology by Fortune Magazine.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Adam D'Angelo at CrunchBase
• Why I Quit My CTO Job At Facebook And Started Quora, interview with Business Insider

Adam
Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam, a fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Adam is the figure on the left, and God the figure on the right.

Adam (Hebrew: אָדָם‎, Arabic: آدم‎, Syriac: ܐܵܕ݂ܵܡ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis, the Qur'an and the Kitáb-i-Íqán. According to the creation myth^[1] of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim ("Yahweh-God", the god of Israel), though the term "adam" can refer to both the first individual person, as well as to the general creation of humankind. Christian churches differ on how they view Adam's subsequent behavior (often called the Fall of man), and to the consequences that those actions had on the rest of humanity. Christian and Jewish teachings sometimes hold Adam and Eve (the first woman) to a different level of responsibility for the Fall, though Islamic teaching holds both equally responsible. In addition, Islam holds that Adam was eventually forgiven, while Christianity holds that redemption occurred only later through the sacrifice of God's son, Jesus Christ. Bahá'í Faith, Islam and some Christian denominations consider Adam to be the first Prophet.

Etymology[link]

"Adam" (Hebrew אָדָם comes from the trilateral root אָדַם ( 'ADM ), meaning "red", "fair", "handsome".^[2] In the Book of Genesis, Adam occurs as a proper name in chapters 2-5. As a masculine noun, 'adam ^[3] means "man", "mankind" usually in a collective context as in humankind,^[2] and may also refer to the individual human.^[4] The noun 'adam is also the masculine form of the word adamah which means "ground" or "earth". It is related to the words: adom (red), admoni (ruddy), and dam (blood).^[5]

Genesis narrative[link]

In the first five chapters of Genesis the word אָדָם ( 'adam ) is used in all of its senses: collectively ("mankind"),^[1:27] individually (a "man"),^[2:7] gender nonspecific, ("man and woman")^[5:1,2] and male.^[2:23-24][6]

In Genesis 1:27 "adam" is used in the collective sense, whereby not only the individual Adam, but all humans, are created on the sixth day. The interplay between the individual "Adam" and the collective “humankind” is a main literary component to the events that occur in the Garden of Eden, the ambiguous meanings embedded throughout the moral, sexual, and spiritual terms of the narrative reflecting the complexity of the human condition.^[7] Genesis 2:7 is the first verse where "Adam" takes on the sense of an individual man (the first man): the context of sex and gender, prior to these verses, is absent. The gender distinction of "adam" is then reiterated in Genesis 5:1-2 by defining "male and female".^[8]

A recurring literary motif that occurs in Gen. 1-8, is the bond between Adam and the earth ("adamah"). Adam is made from the earth, and it is from this "adamah" that Adam gets his name. God's cursing of Adam also results in the earth being cursed,^[3:17] and Adam returns to the earth from which he was taken.^[3:19] This “earthly” aspect is a component of Adam’s identity, and Adam’s curse of estrangement from the earth seems to render humankind’s divided identity of being earthly yet separated from nature.^[8:21][9]

Creation[link]

And Elohim Created Adam
William Blake.

According to Genesis 1, God (Elohim) created human beings. "Male and female created He them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam..." (Genesis 5:2). Here "Adam" is a general term for "mankind" and refers to the whole of humankind. God blesses "mankind" to "be fruitful and multiply" and ordains that they should have "dominion" (but the exact meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain and disputed) "over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" (Genesis 1.26-27).

In Genesis 2 God forms "Adam" (this time meaning a single male human) out of "the dust of the ground" and then "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life", causing him to "become a living soul" (Genesis 2:7). God then placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, giving him the commandment that "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:16-17).

God then noted that "It is not good that the man should be alone" (Genesis 2:18). He then brought every "beast of the field and every fowl of the air" (Genesis 2:19) before Adam and had Adam name all the animals. However, among all the animals, there was not found "a helper suitable for" Adam (Genesis 2:20), so God caused "a deep sleep to fall upon Adam" and took one of his ribs, and from that rib, formed a woman (Genesis 2:21-22), subsequently named Eve.

Fall of Man[link]

Adam and Eve were subsequently expelled from the Garden of Eden, were ceremonially separated from God, and lost their innocence after they broke God's law about not eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This occurred after the serpent (understood to be Satan in many Christian traditions) told Eve that eating of the tree would result not in death, but in Adam and Eve's eyes being opened, resulting in their being "as gods, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3.4-5). Convinced by the serpent's argument, Eve eats of the tree and has Adam do likewise (Gen. 3.6).

As a result, both immediately become aware of the fact that they are naked, and thus cover themselves with garments made of fig leaves (Gen. 3.7). Then, finding God walking in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve hide themselves from God's presence (Gen. 3.8). God calls to Adam "Where art thou?" (Gen. 3.9, KJV) and Adam responds "I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself" (Gen. 3.10, KJV). When God then asks Adam if he had eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam responds that his wife had told him to (Gen. 3.11-12).

As a result of their breaking God's law, the couple were removed from the garden (Gen. 3.23) (the Fall of Man according to Christian doctrine) and both receive a curse. Adam's curse is contained in Gen. 3.17-19: "Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field: In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (KJV).

Post-expulsion[link]

After his expulsion from Eden, Adam was forced to work hard for his food for the first time. According to the Book of Genesis, he had three male children with Eve named Cain, Abel, and Seth. The Book of Jubilees, a second century BC text which is not considered canonical by most Abrahamic faiths, states that Adam also had two daughters, Azura and Awan, who married Seth and Cain, respectively, in incestuous unions.

According to the Genealogies of Genesis, Adam died at the age of 930. With such numbers, calculations such as those of Archbishop Ussher would suggest that Adam would have died only about 127 years before the birth of Noah, nine generations after Adam. In other words, Adam's lifespan would have overlapped that of Lamech (father of Noah), at least fifty years. Ussher and a group of theologians and scholars in 1630 performed calculations and created a study that reported the creation of Adam on October 23, 4004 BC at 9:00 am and lived until 3074 BC. There was controversy over the fact that Ussher believed the whole creation process occurred on that day.

Religious views[link]

Jewish traditions[link]

In rabbinic writings and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Adam is a perfect human before his exile from Eden, but is diminished in stature when exiled.^[9] A traditional Jewish belief is that after Adam died, he was buried in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron. The Book of Joshua mentions a "City of Adam" at the time that the Israelites crossed the Jordan River on entering Canaan, but doesn't suggest any relationship between this city and the "first man" of Genesis.

According to some Jewish mystical traditions, the original glory of Adam can be regained through mystical contemplation of God.^[9]

In Jewish folklore, Lilith is the name of Adam's first wife, who was created at the same time and from the same earth as Adam. She left Adam after she refused to become subservient to Adam and then would not return to the Garden of Eden after she mated with archangel Samael.^[10] Her story was greatly developed, during the Middle Ages, in the tradition of Aggadic midrashim, the Zohar and Jewish mysticism.^[11] The resulting Lilith legend is still commonly used as source material in modern culture, literature, occultism, fantasy and horror.

Christian traditions[link]

Early Christian views[link]

In Augustine’s reinterpretation of Pauline theology, Adam’s sin is transmitted by sexual relations (specifically by semen) to each descending generation. This contrasts with Christ who was conceived without sin by immaculate conception.^[9]

Jehovah's Witnesses[link]

Jehovah's Witnesses view Adam and Eve as the ones who brought sin, and thus death, into the world by committing the original sin, by disobeying Jehovah's clear command not to eat of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil.

Eve's sin is counted as deliberate disobedience, as she did know that Jehovah had commanded them not to eat, but she is held to have been deceived by the Serpent. (She was deceived only about the effect of their disobedience, not about the will of God on the matter.) Adam's sin is considered even more reproachable, as he had not been deceived. Rather, when confronted with his sin, he attempted to blame both his wife Eve, and Jehovah himself. Genesis 3:12 NWT - "The woman who you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree and so I ate.".^[12] By his sin, he forfeited human perfection and was therefore unable to pass it on to his offspring.

Latter Day Saints[link]

The Latter Day Saint movement holds that Adam and Michael the archangel are the same individual.^[13] Michael the archangel fought against and cast out Lucifer (who became Satan) and his followers at the conclusion of the War of Heaven during the pre-mortal existence (see Book of Revelation 12:7-9). Michael was born into this mortal existence as the man "Adam, the father of all, the prince of all, the Ancient of Days" (see Doctrine and Covenants 27:11 and 107:54). Mormons also consider Adam to be the first among all the prophets on earth. Brigham Young and other early leaders spoke favorably about the Adam–God theory, the idea that Adam and God the Father were the same person, but it did not become church doctrine and has since been repudiated by the church.

The Latter Day Saints hold the belief that the "Fall" was not a tragedy, but a necessary part of God's plan. They believe that Adam and Eve had to partake of the forbidden fruit in order to fulfill God's will, and that it is good that they did so.^[14]

Seventh-day Adventists[link]

Seventh-day Adventist believe that the importance of the literal creation time-line is pivotal to the story of humanity, their relationship to God, and the plan of salvation and atonement for Adam and Eve’s transgression (fall), by which all their descendants are under subjugation. The Bible states, “Since by man (Adam) came death, by man (Jesus the Christ) came also the resurrection... (I Cor. 15:21).” To disavow a literal creation and our first parents (Adam and Eve) nearly 6,000 years ago negates a fundamental, orthodox doctrine and the supremacy of the Holy Bible that the sovereign, triune God --“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth,” (Genesis 1:26 NASB)—according to His own purpose and counsel and for His own glory, created humanity in the Biblical/Torah account.^[15]

Islamic view[link]

In Islam, Adam (Adem; Arabic: آدم) is believed to have been the first human being and the first prophet. Adam's role as the father of the human race is looked upon by Muslims with reverence, who also venerate his wife, Eve, as the "mother of mankind".^[16] Muslims see Adam as the first Muslim, as the Qur'an promulgates that all the prophets preached the same faith of submission to God.^[17] According to Hadith, Abu Huraira reports Muhammad as having said, "God created Adam, making him 60 cubits tall" and, "Any person who will enter Paradise will resemble Adam (in appearance and figure). People have been decreasing in stature since Adam's creation."^[18]

Bahá'í view[link]

In the Bahá'í view, Adam was the first Manifestation of God in recorded history.^[19] He is believed by Bahá'ís to have started the Adamic cycle 6000 years ago, which has culminated with Bahá'u'lláh.^[20][21] The Biblical story of Adam and Eve, according to Bahá'í belief, is allegorical and is explained by `Abdu'l-Bahá in Some Answered Questions.^[21]

Druze belief[link]

In the Druze religion, Adam and Eve are seen as dualistic cosmic forces and are complementary to one another. Adam represents the universal mind and Eve, the universal soul.^[22]

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Adam

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Adam

• Adam and Eve
• Adam Kadmon
• Banu (Arabic)
• Paradise Lost
• Table of prophets of Abrahamic religions
• Y-chromosomal Adam
• Mahabad (prophet)

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

• Bahá'u'lláh (1862). Kitáb-i-Íqán: The Book of Certitude. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 1-931847-08-8. http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/KI/. 

• Hendel, Ronald S (2000). "Adam". In David Noel Freedman. Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Eerdmans. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=eerdmans+dictionary+of+the+bible&hl=en&ei=Hu28TuaZA87nmAX22Z3MBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Adam&f=false. 

• Oxford annotated NRSV, editors, Michael D. Coogan, editor ; Marc Z. Brettler, Carol A. Newsom, Pheme Perkins, associate (2007). The new Oxford annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books : New Revised Standard Version (Augm. 3rd ed. ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-528880-3. 
• Barker, Kenneth (Editor); John H. Stek, Mark L. Strauss, & Ronald F. Youngblood (2008). The NIV Study Bible. Genesus: Zondervan Publishing House. pp. 7. ISBN 978-0-310-93896-5. 

vep:Adam

D'Angelo
D'Angelo performing at Brixton Academy in London, 2012
Background information
Birth name	Michael Eugene Archer
Born	(1974-02-11) February 11, 1974 (age 38)
Origin	Richmond, Virginia, United States
Genres	R&B, neo soul, funk, soul
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, keyboardist, producer
Instruments	Vocals, piano/keyboard, Hammond Organ, drums, bass, Rhodes piano, guitar
Years active	1991–present
Labels	EMI, Virgin, J, RCA
Associated acts	Soulquarians, Questlove, Raphael Saadiq, The RH Factor, Common, Mark Ronson, De La Soul, Q-Tip

Michael Eugene Archer^[1][2][3] (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo, is an American R&B and neo soul singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is known for his production and songwriting talents as much as for his vocal abilities, and often draws comparisons to his influences, Marvin Gaye, and Prince. D'Angelo was one of the most influential artists during the rise of the neo-soul movement.

Early life[link]

D'Angelo was born Michael Eugene Archer, in Richmond, Virginia on February 11, 1974, to a Pentecostal preacher father, and a mother he described as "powerful." He was raised in an entirely Pentecostal family. Strict, they forbade interaction with other church members. His time deep within Pentecostalism left Archer with several notable memories, including seeing his 9-year-old-brother receive the Holy Ghost. He would later recall one of his memories as a 12-year-old:

"I saw this one lady, she used to catch demons. She used to always catch 'em. And one night at this revival in the mountains, she caught a demon. She was going out of her way to disrupt. She ripped the Bible apart. She was being sexual. Stripping. Foaming at the mouth. She was speaking an evil tongue. I had never heard it before, but I knew it was evil. And this brother from the choir, he and the evangelist tried to get it out of her--to exorcise her, and she was screaming, "No! No!" She crawled out of there on all fours. There was a graveyard out back, and she was jumping on the hoods of cars. And the whole church went out and made a circle around her and started praying and singing. Then my grandfather laid hands on her. And it was over."

—D'Angelo, Vibe Magazine, 2000^[4]

Archer's musical talents were discovered very early on. At 3, he was spotted by his 10 year-old brother, Luther, playing the house piano.

"Mike was three - and it was not banging," Luther says with awe. "It was a full-fledged song, with melody and bass line. Shortly thereafter, he started playing for my father's church. My father had a Hammond organ, and he had to slide down to reach the pedals, but he did that very well."^[5]

—Luther Archer

Career[link]

[edit] 1991–1995: Career beginnings and Brown Sugar

D'Angelo signed a record deal with EMI Records in 1991 after catching the attention of record executives with a demo tape.^[6][7] He penned the hit song "U Will Know" on the Jason's Lyric soundtrack. It was performed by Black Men United for the Jason's Lyric motion picture soundtrack. Shortly after, he was signed by Gary Harris and he began recording his debut album for EMI records.

Brown Sugar was released in June 1995. Though sales were sluggish at first, the album was eventually a hit, due in large part to "Lady," a Top Ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, peaking at #10. The album earned platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of one million copies in the U.S.,^[8][9] while its total sales have been estimated within the range of 1.5 million to over two million copies.^{[6][10][11][12][13][14][15][note 1]} The album helped give commercial visibility to the burgeoning neo soul movement of the 1990s, along with debut albums by Maxwell, Erykah Badu, and Lauryn Hill. The album was a critical success as well, and appeared on many critics' "best of" lists for the year.

[edit] 1996–2000: Sabbatical period and Voodoo

Following his debut album's success, D'Angelo went into a four and a half year absence from the music scene and releasing solo work. His recordings for soundtracks included Belly ("Devil's Pie"), frequently singing covers like "Girl You Need a Change of Mind" (Eddie Kendricks, Get on the Bus), "She's Always in My Hair" (Prince, Scream 2) and "Heaven Must Be Like This" (The Ohio Players, Down in the Delta), as well as appearing on Lauryn Hill's landmark The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill on the duet "Nothing Even Matters".

The much-delayed follow-up to Brown Sugar, Voodoo, was finally released in 2000. It debuted at #1 and went on to win two Grammy Awards, one for Best R&B Album, and the other for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. The lead single, 1999's "Left & Right" (featuring Method Man and Redman) did well, but it was the second single, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" (a tribute to artist Prince), that became a huge R&B hit buoyed by an innovative video featuring a nude D'Angelo from his face to his hips while singing the song. The video was nominated for 4 MTV Video Music Awards and currently ranks #44 in VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Videos. He also performed "Be Here" (with Raphael Saadiq) from Saadiq's album Instant Vintage.

After the release D'Angelo embarked on what would become one of the most fabled series of live soul shows in history, "The Voodoo Tour." Consisting of a live group entitled "the Soultronics," (presumed to have been assembled by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson of The Roots) which engulfed arena-size stages with various dancers and instrument players, it was one of the most attended shows of the year. The tour was taken all around the world, one of the most notable performances being the Free Jazz Festival in Brazil. The live show was a thinly-disguised homage to Prince's late 80's shows, in its grandeur and conceptual stage set-up & setlist. Slum Village (then in its original line-up of Jay Dee, Baatin & T3) opened for D'Angelo on several dates, and soul-tinged R&B singer Anthony Hamilton sang backup in the band.

In 2002, Q magazine named him in their list of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die", and in 2003 Voodoo was ranked at number 488 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Pitchfork Media rated it at #44 on their list of the best albums of the 2000s.

2001–2009: Second sabbatical[link]

Since 2000, D'Angelo has conducted no interviews, live performances or released any new material, save for minor collaborations with other artists, and sporadic unfinished demos leaked to the internet. A follow up album to Voodoo has been rumored and speculated for years. D'Angelo's two studio albums had garnered much commercial and critical acclaim, and have been cited as "two of the most excellent and singular R&B albums of the past 15 years".^[16] Rock critic Robert Christgau has dubbed him as "R&B Jesus".^[17]

After a long period of inactivity, D'Angelo made guest appearances on several albums, including releases by J Dilla, Common,^[18] Red Hot & Riot and The RH Factor. Red Hot & Riot was released in 2002 by the Red Hot Organization as a compilation CD in tribute to the music and work of Nigerian musician, Fela Kuti. D'Angelo performed on a remake of the Fela Kuti classic, "Water No Get Enemy," with fellow hip-hop and R&B artists, Macy Gray, The Soultronics, Nile Rodgers, Roy Hargrove, and Fela Kuti's son, Femi Kuti. All proceeds from Red Hot & Riot were donated to charities devoted to raising AIDS awareness and fighting the disease. In August 2006 he began collaborations with Common and Q-Tip. He also entered discussions with Jermaine Dupri on how to market what appears to be a forthcoming LP, though the official news of a release has not been made public yet.^[19] Although music for his own album has yet to materialize, D'Angelo was featured on the song "Imagine", by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, from his album Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, released on November 21, 2006. On April 17, 2007 a new song called "Really Love" was leaked on Triple J Radio in Australia by Questlove^[20] D'Angelo also had a guest appearance on Common's 2007 album, Finding Forever on the track, "So Far to Go", a song that first appeared on J Dilla's 2006 release, The Shining. After a 2007 court proceeding, he confirmed very briefly that new music is "in the works" although the album remained untitled.^[21]

On June 24, 2008, Virgin EMI released an enhanced greatest hits CD/DVD which will include top hits, rare tracks & seven previously unreleased music videos from D'Angelo. According to the press release, the new collection is titled The Best So Far… because D'Angelo is far from finished, currently writing and recording his highly anticipated next musical chapter." There will also be a digital album, video downloads, and ringtones available on the day of its release.^[22] In November 2008, D'Angelo's collaboration with Q-Tip was officially confirmed with the release of the Q-Tip album The Renaissance which features D'Angelo on the track Believe.

[edit] 2009–present: James River and Europe Tour

The new album was originally slated for release in 2009. D'Angelo revealed that the album would be titled "James River" and that Prince would work heavily on the disc. The collaboration was to have a list reading like a who's who in the R&B, neo soul and funk genres. The year came and went with no album being released. D'Angelo's manager said in a brief statement that "'James River,' D’Angelo’s first studio effort in nearly nine years, is also sporting a collaboration with Gnarls Barkley’s Cee Lo Green. Green joins Raphael Saadiq, Mark Ronson, and Roy Hargrove, who have already contributed to D’Angelo’s forthcoming album."

In the early part of 2010, D'Angelo was rumored to be in the studio hard at work on his long-delayed third album.^[23] On January 29, 2010, an incomplete song titled "1000 Deaths" was leaked on to the internet and uploaded to YouTube claiming it was to possibly be from the James River album; however, after four days it was deleted due to a copyright claim by D'Angelo's publishing company. Although official website went offline in November 2009 in February 2010 it started linking to D'Angelo's official MySpace Page with a banner reading 'Album & Tour Summer 2010'. After his June arrest in New York City his MySpace page stopped showing the 'Album and Tour Summer 2010' banner and one day later his management issued a statement saying that he entered a plea of not guilty and is contesting the allegations made against him. Erykah Badu tweeted that he visited her in the studio while working on his own album at the Electric Lady Studios in New York.^[24] His manager's MySpace page stated "D’Angelo’s album is slated for release late summer 2010" until early 2011. At this current time however, his manager's MySpace mentions that "D'Angelo's album is slated for release Fall 2011",^[25] but delays in the album release are suspected.

In late May 2010, various online record stores began listing an album called 'Interpretations: Remakes' for sale.^[26] Most of the listed tracks have been widely available for some time, via CD or MP3, and it is not clear if this is an official release, as no announcement was made. The cover art is the same as 2008's "Best So Far" compilation album. Later in the year the website of Russell Elevado had claimed that D'Angelo had returned to New York for three months to finish his album, stating: "The time has finally come again to go in the studio with D'Angelo. starting the last week of August and for the next 3 months we're going in to complete overdubs and do final mixing on a few songs. Wish us luck...more updates to come."^[27]

No new announcements were made anywhere online or in the press about the album until December 6, 2010, when a company named "101 Distribution" quietly released an import album overseas titled "James River (Album Prelude)", featuring just under an hour of snippets of new songs, alternate versions of others and jam sessions, listing as the official first song off the album as "1000 Deaths". It was released in the United States on December 28 on Amazon's website in limited quantities for over US$ 25, immediately going out of print only 24 hours later. On several websites where the album is being sold it has been claimed that the James River album will finally have a 2011 release, but nothing else is known about 101 Distributors or the validity of their statement. It has also been claimed that the album is a bootleg recording of stolen material and is not an official D'Angelo release of any sort.

In late April 2011, Russell Elevado again posted an update regarding the upcoming album on his website.

"Since my last post i have continued sessions with D'Angelo. we've just finished up 5 months of recording. D has been doing vocals and guitars and we've had Pino Palladino back in for some more bass tracks. Also ?uestlove came in to jam with D and Pino. they've finally reunited after 7 or 8 years (lost track how long really). we're taking a few months break while i take care of some other projects that have been on the back burner." ^[28]

—Russell Elevado - April 2011

On October 7, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding J Records along with Arista Records and Jive Records. With the shutdown, D'Angelo (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release his future material on the RCA Records brand.^[29][30]

In late October 2011, two concerts were scheduled for January 30 and 31, 2012 at Club Paradiso in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Tickets went on sale on November 5 and were sold out within 24 hours.^[31]

In an interview with Pitchfork Media, drummer ?uestlove said the album was "97% finished" and D'Angelo was just finishing his lyrics.^[32]

For the 2012 Tour, he scheduled 11 concerts in Europe from January 26 to February 12 in London, Paris, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Zurich. The band includes Pino Palladino, Chris "Daddy" Dave, Jef Lee Johnson, Kendra Foster, Jermaine Holmes, Ray Angry, Jesse Johnson of The Time and others. He performed four new songs: 'Sugah Daddy', 'The Charade', 'Ain't That Easy' and 'In Another Life'. D'Angelo will continue to tour in Europe with dates booked throughout June 2012, plus an eagerly awaited performance at the Essence music festival, D'angelo's first performance state side in over 11 years.

Personal life[link]

In the 1990s he dated soul singer Angie Stone and helped produce her debut album Black Diamond in 1999. They have a son, also named Michael, born in 1998.

Legal issues[link]

On March 6, 2010, he was arrested and charged with solicitation after asking a female undercover police officer for oral sex at the intersection of Greenwich and Horatio streets in the West Village neighborhood of New York City, New York.^[33][34]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

• ¹ Only peaked on the U.S. Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay Tracks chart.

Tours[link]

• Brown Sugah Tour (1996)

• The Voodoo World Tour (2000)

• Occupy Music Tour (2012)

References[link]

Footnotes

External links[link]

• D'Angelo's channel on YouTube
• D'Angelo on imeem
• D'Angelo at Allmusic
• D'Angelo discography at Discogs
• D'Angelo at the Internet Movie Database

Adam Dunn
Chicago White Sox – No. 32
Designated Hitter / First baseman / Outfielder
Born: (1979-11-09) November 9, 1979 (age 32) Houston, Texas
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 20, 2001 for the Cincinnati Reds
Career statistics (through May 30, 2012)
Batting average	.243
Hits	1,353
Home runs	381
Runs batted in	959
Strikeouts	1,891
Base on Balls	1,107
Teams
Cincinnati Reds (2001–2008) Arizona Diamondbacks (2008) Washington Nationals (2009–2010) Chicago White Sox (2011–present)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star selection (2002)

Adam Troy Dunn (born November 9, 1979, in Houston, Texas), nicknamed "Big Donkey",^[1] is an American Major League Baseball first baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter for the Chicago White Sox. He bats left-handed and throws right-handed.

He is six feet, six inches (198 cm) in height and weighing 285 pounds.^[2] On July 4, 2009, he became the 123rd player to hit 300 career home runs.

Amateur career[link]

Dunn was a standout quarterback at New Caney High School in Texas. After graduating from high school, the Cincinnati Reds drafted Dunn in the second round (50th overall) of the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft. Dunn had previously committed to play football for the University of Texas. The Reds and Dunn agreed to a deal which allowed him to play minor league baseball during the summer, and return to Austin in August to prepare for football. Dunn redshirted his freshman season and served as a backup to Major Applewhite. When star recruit Chris Simms committed to Texas, Dunn was asked to move to the tight end position. As a result, he left the Longhorns to concentrate on baseball in 1999.^{[citation needed]}

Professional career[link]

Despite his high strikeout totals, Dunn exhibits good plate discipline. He has been among the major league leaders every season in number of pitches per at bat. His career batting average is slightly under .250, but he has nonetheless compiled a career on-base percentage above .380. He is annually among the league leaders in both bases on balls and strikeouts. His most adoring fans lovingly refer to him as "Dairy Queen."

Dunn has the fifth-lowest career at bats per home run average in Major-League history. His 13.96 ratio (about one home run every 14 times he comes to bat) is eclipsed only by Mark McGwire (10.61), Babe Ruth (11.76), Barry Bonds (12.90), and Jim Thome (13.68). Stretching behind Dunn are such Hall-of-Famers as Ralph Kiner, Harmon Killebrew, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Jimmie Foxx, and Mike Schmidt, respectively.

Dunn during 2008 spring training.

Cincinnati Reds[link]

Dunn made his Major League debut on July 20, 2001, and set a National League rookie record for the most home runs in a month by hitting 12 in August.

In 2002, Adam Dunn had a career-high 128 walks and a .400 on base percentage. During that same year, he was selected to the 2002 National League All-Star team. In that game, Dunn hit a ball to center field that was a few feet from being a game ending home run (the game famously ended in a tie). He also walked in his only other plate appearance.

Dunn's most productive season came in 2004, when he posted career highs in batting average (.266), home runs (46), runs (105), hits (151),, slugging average (.569), and OPS (.957). On September 30, 2004, Dunn once again got his name in Major League Baseball's record book. That day, Dunn struck out three times against Chicago Cubs right-hander Mark Prior, raising his season total to 191 and surpassing Bobby Bonds' single season strikeout record of 189, set in 1970. He finished the season with 195 strikeouts. He held the record until Ryan Howard broke it on September 27, 2007.

Dunn's 46 home runs in 2004 were the fourth most in Cincinnati Reds history. That year, he joined Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan as the only Reds players to score 100 runs, drive in 100 runs, and draw 100 walks in a single season. Dunn repeated the feat the following season making him the only player in Reds history to do it more than once.

On Mother's Day, May 14, 2006, Dunn was one of more than 50 hitters who brandished a pink bat to benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

In 2003, he led all major league outfielders in errors, with 10.^[3] In 2004, he tied for the lead among all major league left fielders in errors, with 8.^[4]

In 2004, 2005, and 2006, he struck out 34.3%,^[5] 30.9%,^[6] and 34.6%^[7] of the time, respectively. In each season, his was the highest strikeout percentage in Major League Baseball. In 2008 he struck out 31.7% of the time.^[8]

In 2006, he led all major league outfielders in errors, with 12, and had the lowest fielding percentage among left fielders, at .960.^[9][10]. Also in 2006, Dunn made Cincinnati headlines with one of the biggest home runs of his career, a walk off grandslam to cap a 7-1 rally to beat the Indians in a July game.

On October 31, 2007, Dunn's $13 million dollar option was picked up by the Reds, making him the highest-paid player on the team. ^[11]

On June 29, 2008, Dunn won the Ohio Cup MVP when he went 6-for-20 in the six-game series, with 5 home runs and 10 RBI.

Arizona Diamondbacks[link]

On August 11, 2008, Dunn was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for right-handed pitcher Dallas Buck and two other players to be named later.^[12] The two players were catcher Wilkin Castillo and pitcher Micah Owings.^[13]