"Michael D'Angelo Archer, now known as hip-hop singer and R&B artist D'Angelo, was born on February 11, 1974. He came from two generations of preachers, and was very talented from the beginning. He taught himself piano when he was still very young, and by the age of 18 he had already won Amateur Night at the Apollo, the place where stars are made, in Harlem. He was discovered when a recording executive listened to the demo tape from a rap act that D'Angelo was a part of, called I.D.U.D'Angelo recorded his first album in 1995 when he was 21, the album was titled Brown Sugar and even though it took some time to get the album going, it eventually became a bit hit. The album is credited with gaining a start for the neo soul revival movement. The album was given highly flattering reviews, resulting in sales reaching more than two million.Following this D'Angelo did something unexpected, splitting with his management, he took a step back and produced no more albums for several years. The label that had produced Brown Sugar, EMI, went under soon after losing D'Angelo. During the next five years D'Angelo did little recording, keeping his songs restricted to movie soundtracks. He re-recorded Eddie Kendricks' ""Girl You Need a Change of Mind"" for the 1996 movie Get On The Bus and recorded ""She's Always In My Hair"" for Scream 2.While the second half of the 90's rolled past, fans waited expectantly for another album to come from D'Angelo. Finally, in 2000, the neo soul star released his second album Voodoo. Neither the singer nor his fans were disappointed, the album rose to number one on the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The sophomore effort had matched, and actually exceeded, the success of the first."