Lauryn Hill Goes Deep on D’Angelo in Moving Tribute Message: ‘Your Undeniable Beauty and Talent Were Not of This World’

Lauryn Hill and D’Angelo were like twin stars birthing a new R&B universe in the late 1990s. The pair released just one collaboration, 1998’s sensual, seductive “Nothing Even Matters” from Hill’s Grammy-winning debut solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, but the song, and their friendship, clearly made a huge impression on the former Fugees rapper/singer.

In an emotional post paying homage to D’Angelo in the wake of the singer’s death at 51 on Tuesday (Oct. 14) due to pancreatic cancer, Hill lavished praise on D’Angelo for being a beacon of light for music, and fellow Black men, while lamenting that she didn’t have more precious moments with the enigmatic “Brown Sugar” star.

“People need reflection. I regret not having more time with you. Your undeniable beauty and talent were not of this world, and a presence not of this world needs protection in a world that covets light and the anointing of God,” Hill wrote. “You sir, moved us, stirred us, inspired and even intimidated others to action with your genius.”

She added, “Thank you for being a beacon of light to a generation and beyond who had no remembrance of the legacy that preceded us. Thank you for charting the course and for making space during a time when no similar space really existed.”

Though D’Angelo only released three albums in his lifetime, his beloved 1995 debut, Brown Sugar, followed by 2000’s Voodoo and 2014’s Black Messiah, Hill wrote that the singer’s aching vulnerability and incomparable passion moved, and inspired, the culture. “You imaged a unity of strength and sensitivity in Black manhood to a generation that only saw itself as having to be one or the other,” Hill wrote.

“It is my earnest prayer that you are in peace, far away from selfishness, fear and/or controlling interests,” she added. “Far from possessiveness, far from greed, far from manipulation, far from exploitation, far from intentionally designed chaos and that you Brother are in peace, in bliss and in eternal light and fulfillment with our Father in heaven. I Love you and I miss you. May God grant peace and shelter to your family, true friends and genuine appreciators, Brother, King.”

The post included a series of pictures of D’Angelo in the studio, as well as a snap of the two musicians in which D is giving one of his classic pensive, knowing looks and Hill is smiling as the pair lean their heads together. In a 2008 interview with Rolling Stone, D’Angelo reflected on his studio time with Hill, calling her “warm and sweet” and revealing that the original plan was to show up on each other’s projects.

“Originally, we were going to swap tunes for each other’s projects because I was working on Voodoo at the same time and my keyboardist James Poyser was also working with her,” he said at the time of the producer/songwriter who has been a member of the Roots since 2009 and who has produced and written songs for a constellation of neo soul giants including Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Common and others. “I went to her house in New Jersey, she played a lot of songs for me and gave me a rough copy to listen to. When Lauryn and I went into in the studio together, I laid down my vocals in the course of an hour.

Hill joined an emotional chorus of friends, fans and fellow musicians who paid tribute to D’Angelo on Tuesday, a roster that included Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Tyler, the Creator, Missy Elliott, Doja Cat, DJ Premiere and many more.