Known as a perfectionist, the singer emerged in the 1990s during the neo-soul movement with his classic debut, Brown Sugar. He made just two more albums, Voodoo and Black Messiah. Both were treasured.
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Rodney Carmichael is NPR Music's hip-hop staff writer. An Atlanta-bred cultural critic, he helped document the city's rise as rap's reigning capital for a decade while serving on staff as music editor, culture writer and senior writer for the defunct alt-weekly Creative Loafing.