Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq (/səˈdiːk/; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to fame as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! In addition to his solo and group career, he has also produced songs for such artists as Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Total, Joss Stone, D'Angelo, TLC, En Vogue, Kelis, Mary J. Blige, Ledisi, Whitney Houston, Solange Knowles and John Legend. Music critic Robert Christgau has called Saadiq the "preeminent R&B artist of the '90s".[1]
Raphael Saadiq
Charles Ray Wiggins
May 14, 1966
Oakland, California, U.S.
- Singer
- songwriter
- multi-instrumentalist
- record producer
- Vocals
- bass guitar
- guitar
- keyboards
1983–present
Saadiq was also a member of The Ummah, a music production collective, alongside D'Angelo, Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and J Dilla; and was a member of the supergroup Lucy Pearl with Dawn Robinson. He has released five solo albums, including the critically acclaimed retro-styled The Way I See It (2008) and Stone Rollin' (2011). The more contemporary-sounding Jimmy Lee was released in 2019, and earned Saadiq further acclaim.[4]
He is also co-founder of the independent video game developer IllFonic, which developed Friday the 13th: The Game. As a songwriter Saadiq has received two Grammy Awards, two Golden Globe Award nominations and an Academy Award nomination.
Early life[edit]
Saadiq was born in Oakland, California, and was the second-youngest of 14 siblings.[5] He attended Castlemont High School. He has had four siblings die at early ages.[6] 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."[5]
He has been playing the bass guitar since the age of six,[7] and first began singing at age nine in a local gospel group.[8][9] 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 for Sheila E.'s backing band on Prince's Parade 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.[5] 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."[5]