In what might be karmic punishment for making so many of us feel bad about our unsightly guts, Michael Archer–formerly known as R&B hardbody genius D’angelo and now best known as a cautionary example for how fame and audience expectations can force you to become a lumpy shut-in–was fined a combined total of $1,250, given a six month and nine day suspended jail sentence, and had his license revoked thanks to a 2005 accident and a DUI charge. If you’ve never taken a look at this Believer interview with Ahmir “?questlove” Thompson, it’s required reading for any number of reasons, but especially for the brief glimpse it gives of how someone who was once trying to wrestle the crown from Prince turned into a recluse getting busted for cocaine and crashing his own car. Someone have a sitdown with dude before the only reason we’re reading about him is run-ins with the law.
D’Angelo Pleads Guilty [Yahoo via AP]
@ Cos: I totally feel you on what you are saying. It is kind of unfortunate–because of the “Untitled” video, if you were caught listening to D in college, you got relentless shit for it. But it is still, I would argue, one of the five best albums released in my lifetime. It absolutely was genius.
Get straight, D, and get back in the damn game!