Raphael Saadiq

Raphael Saadiq is a Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, producer, and musician. He is known for his neo soul and 1960s vintage sound after starting out with the New Jack Swing sounds in his group Tony! Toni! Toné! He has produced for many artists such as D'Angelo, Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, Snoop Dogg, A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, Erykah BaduBeyoncé, Solange and Joss Stone among others. Born Charles “Charlie” Ray Wiggins in Oakland, California on May 14, 1966, he attended Castlemont High School and became Raphael Wiggins when he auditioned to play bass guitar with Sheila E.’s backing band on Prince’s Parade Tour in 1984. Following the tour, Raphael returned to Oakland and started working on music for Tony! Toni! Toné! in 1986 with his brother D'Wayne Wiggins and their cousin Timothy Christian Riley. They released their gold debut album Who? in 1988 and followed that with a string of hit singles and platinum albums: The Revival (1990), Sons of Soul (1993), and House of Music (1996). After the Sons of Soul album, Raphael changed his last name to Saadiq—Arabic for “man of his word"—as a way to stand out and avoid potential confusion by having the same last name as his brother. He released his hit debut solo single “Ask of You” in 1995 and left the Tonys in 1997. In 1999, he joined with Dawn Robinson and Ali Shaheed Muhammad to form the group Lucy Pearl and they released their only self-titled album in 2000 before disbanding. He and D'Angelo were also honorary members of Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Q-Tip and J Dilla’s production crew The Ummah. He released his debut solo album Instant Vintage in 2002 and followed with four more albums: Ray Ray (2004), The Way I See It (2008), Stone Rollin' (2011), and Jimmy Lee (2019). Raphael Saadiq won two Best R&B Song Grammy Awards, first in 2003 for his work on Erykah Badu’s single “Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)” and also in 2023 for Beyonce’s “Cuff It.” In 2018, he was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Original Song category for Mary J. Blige’s “Mighty River” from her movie Mudbound. He also won a Black Reel Television Award for Outstanding Musical Score for his work as the Musical Composer on Issa Rae’s HBO show Insecure.

Related performers: JoJo (6) , A.X.L , Medikayshun , Nappz Bacon

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Number of songs Raphael Saadiq has created by producer

Albums & EPs

2012

Instant Vintage

Tek 1 produced by Hi-Tek
Tek 2 produced by Hi-Tek

Singles