Raphael Saadiq
Saadiq at the2012 Time 100
Background information
Born	Charles Ray Wiggins (1966-05-14)May 14, 1966 (age 59) Oakland, California, U.S.
Genres	R&B[1] soul[2] progressive soul[3] hip hop
Occupations	Singer songwriter multi-instrumentalist record producer
Instruments	Vocals piano keyboards synthesizer guitar bass guitar
Years active	1983–present
Labels	Columbia Pookie Universal
Member of	Tony! Toni! Toné!
Formerly of	Lucy Pearl The Ummah
Website	raphaelsaadiqmusic.com

Raphael Saadiq (/səˈdiːk/; bornCharles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to prominence as a vocalist andbassist for the R&B bandTony! Toni! Toné!, which he formed with his brotherD'Wayne and cousinTimothy Christian Riley in 1986.^[4][5][6][7] Originally, the band went by the name "Tony, Toni, Toné" as a joke, until they realized it "had a nice ring to it".^[8] Along with his groupwork and solo career, he has produced and written songs for otherR&B artists, includingErykah Badu,D'Angelo,Jill Scott,Stevie Wonder,Beyoncé,Total,Earth, Wind & Fire,Joss Stone,TLC,En Vogue,Kelis,Mary J. Blige,Ledisi,Whitney Houston,Solange Knowles andJohn Legend.

After touring withPrince,Sheila E. andSheena Easton as a bassist in the mid-1980s, Saadiq co-founded Tony! Toni! Tone!.^[4][9] He went on to release four albums—Who! (1988),The Revival (1990),Sons of Soul (1993), andHouse of Music (1996)—with the band before their indefinite hiatus.^[5][6][7][4] Prior toHouse of Music, Saadiq released his 1995 debut solo single, "Ask of You", for thesoundtrack to theJohn Singleton filmHigher Learning, and he formed the music production unitthe Ummah (withD'Angelo,Q-Tip,Ali Shaheed Muhammad, andJ Dilla). "Ask of You" peaked within the top 20 of theBillboard Hot 100 and led him to briefly sign with the now-defunctUniversal Records as a solo act. In 1999, he formed the supergroupLucy Pearl with singerDawn Robinson, as well as Ummah cohort Ali Shaheed Muhammad; the group'sself-titled debut album (2000) was supported by the Hot 100-top 40 single "Dance Tonight", and served as their only project before disbanding in 2001.

Saadiq has since released five solo albums, including the critically acclaimedInstant Vintage (2002),Ray Ray (2004), as well as the retro-styledThe Way I See It (2008) andStone Rollin' (2011). The contemporary-soundingJimmy Lee was released in 2019, and earned Saadiq further acclaim.^[10]

Music criticRobert Christgau has called Saadiq the "preeminent R&B artist of the '90s".^[1] Saadiq has won threeGrammy Awards for his songwriting work out of 22 nominations, as well as twoAcademy Award nominations, twoGolden Globe Award nominations and aPrimetime Emmy Award nomination. Outside of music, Saadiq also co-founded theindependent video game developerIllFonic in 2007, which has developedFriday the 13th: The Game (2017),Predator: Hunting Grounds (2020) andGhostbusters: Spirits Unleashed (2022), among other titles.

Saadiq was born inOakland, California, and was the second-youngest of 14 siblings.^[9] He attendedCastlemont High School. He has had four siblings die at early ages.^[11] Saadiq states that he does not want his music to be reflective of the tragedies he experienced, saying that "And through all of that I was makin' records, but it wasn't comin' out in the music. I did it to kinda show people you can have some real tough things happen in your life, but you don't have to wear it on your sleeve."^[9]

He has been playing the bass guitar since the age of six,^[12] and first began singing at age nine in a local gospel group.^[13][14] At the age of 12, he joined a group called "The Gospel Humminbirds". In 1984, shortly before his 18th birthday, Saadiq heard about tryouts in San Francisco forSheila E.'s backing band onPrince'sParade Tour. At the audition, he chose the name "Raphael", and had difficulty remembering to respond to the name when he heard that he got the part to play bass in the band.^[9] He says of the experience, "Next thing I was in Tokyo, in a stadium, singin' Erotic City. We were in huge venues with the biggest sound systems in the world; all these roadies throwin' me basses, and a bunch of models hangin' round Prince to party. For almost two years. That was my university."^[9]

After returning to Oakland from touring with Prince, Saadiq began his professional career as the lead vocalist and bassist in therhythm and blues and dance trioTony! Toni! Toné! He used the name Raphael Wiggins while in Tony! Toni! Toné!, along with his brotherDwayne Wiggins, and his cousin Timothy Christian. In the mid-1990s, headopted the last name Saadiq, which means "man of his word" inArabic.^[9] His change of surname led many to speculate that he had converted toIslam at that point; in reality, Saadiq is not a Muslim, but rather just liked the way "Saadiq" sounded and changed his last name simply to distinguish himself from and avoid potential confusion with his brother, Dwayne Wiggins.^[16] As he confirmed by telling noted R&B writer Pete Lewis ofBlues & Soul magazine in May 2009: "I just wanted to have my own identity!"^[17]

In 1995, Saadiq had his biggest solo hit to date, when "Ask of You", featured on theHigher Learning Soundtrack peaked at #19 on theBillboard Hot 100 and #2 on theR&B chart. In 1995, Saadiq produced and performed onOtis & Shug's debut album,We Can Do Whatever.

Tony! Toni! Toné! would become majorR&B superstars throughout the late 1980s and 1990s. However, after the 1996 album entitledHouse of Music failed to duplicate the group's previous success, Tony! Toni! Toné! went their separate ways in 1997.

In 1999, Saadiq's next big project became the R&B supergroupLucy Pearl. He recorded the self-titled album withDawn Robinson (En Vogue) andAli Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest). The group only lasted for one album.

Also in 1999, he collaborated with rapperQ-Tip on the single "Get Involved", from the animated television seriesThe PJs. It samplesThe Intruders' 1973 song "I'll Always Love My Mama" and charted at number 21 on the USHot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.^[18]

His 2000 song collaboration "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" wonD'Angelo aGrammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance; it was also nominated forGrammy Award for Best R&B Song.^[19] The song was ranked #4 onRolling Stone's "End of Year Critics & Readers Poll" of thetop singles of 2000.^[20] D'Angelo's albumVoodoo won aGrammy Award for Best R&B Album at the2001 Grammy Awards.

In 2002, Saadiq founded his own record label, Pookie Entertainment. Among the artists on the label areJoi andTruth Hurts. In 2002, he released his first solo albumInstant Vintage, which earned him threeGrammy Award nominations in addition to another two Grammy nominations for his writing work on “Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)” the following year. He released a two-disc live albumAll the Hits at the House of Blues in 2003, and his second studio albumRay Ray in 2004, both on Pookie Entertainment.

In 2004, Saadiq produced a remix of the song "Crooked Nigga Too" byTupac Shakur, which is featured on the albumLoyal to the Game. Other artists he has collaborated with includeWhitney Houston,Mary J. Blige,The Isley Brothers,A Tribe Called Quest,Teedra Moses,The Roots,Erykah Badu,Jill Scott,Macy Gray,Angie Stone,Snoop Dogg,Mac Dre,Devin the Dude,DJ Quik,Kelis,Q-Tip,Lil' Skeeter,Ludacris,The Bee Gees,Musiq Soulchild,Jaguar Wright,Chanté Moore,Lionel Richie,Marcus Miller,Noel Gourdin,Nappy Roots,Calvin Richardson,T-Boz fromTLC,Jody Watley,Floetry,Leela James,Amp Fiddler,John Legend,Joss Stone, Young Bellz,Anthony Hamilton,Babyface,Ledisi,Goapele,Ghostface Killah,Ginuwine,The Grouch,Stevie Wonder,Earth, Wind & Fire,Bilal,Chali 2na,Larry Graham,^[12]Luniz as well as many others. In 2007, Saadiq producedIntroducing Joss Stone, the third album of British soul singerJoss Stone. According to J. Gabriel Boylan ofThe New York Observer, "he's produced artists including Macy Gray, the Roots, D'Angelo, John Legend, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, and more. With all of them he's pushed a classic aesthetic, heavy on organic sounds and light on studio magic, deeply indebted to the past and distrustful of easy formulas."^[21]

Saadiq's third solo album,The Way I See It, released on Columbia Records on September 16, 2008, available in a collector's edition box set of 7" 45 rpm singles as well as on traditional CD, was critically well-received, made several critics' 2008 best albums lists, and garnered three Grammy nominations including Best R&B Performance by a Duo Or Group With Vocals (for "Never Give You Up", featuring Stevie Wonder & CJ Hilton); Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance (for "Love That Girl") and Best R&B Album forThe Way I See It. Music fromThe Way I See It was featured in the following motion pictures:Madea Goes To Jail,Bride Wars,Cadillac Records,Secret Life of Bees,In Fighting (Rogue), andIt's Complicated.

Touring with a nine-piece band, Saadiq hit the 2009 summer music festival circuit with performances atBonnaroo,Hollywood Bowl,Outside Lands,Pori Jazz,Stockholm Jazz Festival,North Sea Jazz,Essence Music Festival, Summer Spirit Festival, andNice Jazz Festival,Bumbershoot Music Festival andAustin City Limits. Saadiq has been touring Europe extensively, and held a five-night residency at the House of Blues in Tokyo, Japan, in June 2009. In 2008, Saadiq formed a new label called Velma Records, a place where he promises "people can express themselves like I did withThe Way I See It... where they can dream something up and just go with it".^[22]

He produced songs forLeToya Luckett's forthcoming second albumLady Love, released August 2009. In 2009, Saadiq produced "Please Stay" and "Love Never Changes" forLedisi's August 2009 release "Turn Me Loose". Saadiq also was the executive producer for an emerging group called Tha Boogie. Tha Boogie's first EP was released on iTunes and is titledLove Tha Boogie, Vol. 1 (Steal This Sh*t).

In 2009, Saadiq announced his video game development company calledIllFonic. The first video game in development by IllFonic wasGhetto Golf, with an expected release late in 2010. It was later cancelled. Several other titles have followed.

In 2009, Saadiq teamed up Bentley Kyle Evans, Jeff Franklin, Martin Lawrence, and Trenten Gumbs to create a new sitcom calledLove That Girl! starringTatyana Ali. Raphael is an executive producer and composer forLove That Girl! The show airs on TV One and debuted on January 19, 2010. That same year, Saadiq performedThe Spinners hit "It's A Shame" in a legendaryLevi's commercial and sang as part of the chorus in the2010 remake of "We Are the World" for Haiti.

In 2011, Saadiq was the guitarist/bandleader for the group backingMick Jagger for Jagger's tribute performance of theSolomon Burke R&B classic, "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" at the53rd Grammy Awards in Los Angeles and on CBS. The band that accompanied the performance was Saadiq's touring band called Stone Rollin.^[23] In 2011 he and his band performed as the ESPY's house band for the night, where he performed his latest compositions.

Saadiq's 2011 albumStone Rollin' was released to great critical acclaim.^[24][25] "He's always had a boyish enthusiasm for performing, and a flexible, naturally joyous voice that suggests a youngStevie Wonder," wroteGreg Kot of theChicago Tribune, "but with his latest album, Saadiq finds a new gear. The album and his current tour demonstrate that there's a big difference between retro and classic, and the artist consistently finds himself on the right side of that divide."^[26] Kot ranked the album number seven in his year-end list, in which he dubbed it Saadiq's "finest achievement" and stated, "He's always written songs steeped in soul and R&B, but now he gives them a progressive edge with roaming bass lines and haunted keyboard textures. He's no longer a retro stylist – he's writing new classics."^[27] CriticJim Derogatis called it "a stone cold gas of a party disc."^[28]

In the fall of 2011, he performed on the fourth results show ofDancing with the Starsseason 13. In December 2011, he performed a cover compilation of several Neil Diamond songs at the Kennedy Center Honors award ceremony.

In 2012 he signed a deal withToyota to do a TV commercial for theToyota Prius. In 2013 Raphael partnered with Bay Area/ Atlanta Production company EL Seven Entertainment/ Republic Records and then-new R&B singerAdrian Marcel and released his first promotional mixtapeRaphael Saadiq Presents Adrian Marcel 7 Days of Weak.

Saadiq is a featured bass guitar player onElton John's 2013 album,The Diving Board.

In 2016 he executive producedSolange Knowles' album,A Seat at the Table, which debuted at number one on theBillboard 200 and theTop R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in the United States.^[29][30] He also guest starred inLuke Cage, where he performs his songs "Good Man" and "Angel" at Harlem's Paradise.

In 2017 he appeared in the award-winning documentary filmThe American Epic Sessions, directed byBernard MacMahon, where he recorded theMemphis Jug Band's 1928 song "Stealin' Stealin'".^[31] live on the restored firstelectrical sound recording system from the 1920s.^[32] Of recording on the system he said, "it's amazing to just look at how it's built, you know just look at the machine itself. It just has this like magical sound the way that it's built. It's true. It's just the truest sound you could ever get".^[33]

In 2017, Saadiq collaborated with Mary J. Blige as a songwriter for the movieMudbound (2017), for which they both receivedAcademy Award nominations for Best Original Song.^[34]

In 2018, he produced the John Legend holiday themed album,A Legendary Christmas.

On August 23, 2019, Saadiq released his fifth albumJimmy Lee, to critical acclaim.

During theCOVID-19 pandemic, he released a song on his website called "Rony! Roni! Roné!", as a nod to his group "Tony! Toni! Toné!".^[35]

In 2022, Saadiq collaborated on multiple songs fromBrent Faiyaz's albumWasteland, which debuted at number two on theBillboard 200 chart.^[36][37] Saadiq also collaborated withBeyoncé on her seventh and eighth studio albumsRenaissance, for which he received two Grammy award nominations, and 2024'sCowboy Carter, for which he was nominated for four Grammys, winning Album of the Year as a songwriter.

Through the course of his career, Saadiq has often played Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster electric guitars.^[38]

In 2024, Fender announced a collaboration with Saadiq to produce a signature guitar model he designed to be available for purchase.^[39] The limited edition Raphael Saadiq Telecaster features a Dark Red Metallic finish, black binding, black headstock, custom acrylic pickguard, and custom Raphael Saadiq single-coil pickups. The model was designed with help from fellow musicianEric Gales, and aesthetically inspired by Saadiq's debut album,Instant Vintage.^[40]

• Instant Vintage (2002)
• Ray Ray (2004)
• The Way I See It (2008)
• Stone Rollin' (2011)
• Jimmy Lee (2019)

• Who? (1988)
• The Revival (1990)
• Sons of Soul (1993)
• House of Music (1996)

• Lucy Pearl (2000)

• "Ask of You" (1995)
• "Can't Get Enough" (Duet with Willie Max, 1998)
• "Get Involved" (Duet with Q-Tip, 1999)
• "Be Here" (Duet with D'Angelo, 2002)
• "Still Ray" (2002)
• "Love That Girl" (2008)
• "Never Give You Up" (With Stevie Wonder & CJ Hilton, 2009)
• "100 Yard Dash" (2009)
• "Staying In Love" (2009)
• "Something Keeps Calling" (2019)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toRaphael Saadiq.

• Official website
• Raphael Saadiq atIMDb
• The Stone Rollin' Sessions Interview With Raphael Saadiq, co-producer Chuck Brungardt, Taura Stinson & Ron Fonksa Bacon onSoul Jones (July 2011)
• Interview of Raphael Saadiq onSoulRnB.com (June 2011)

• Raphael Saadiq
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