Creator's Favorite Episode: Questlove, a producer on the record would state that "Africa" was his favourite song on the record, stating:
"D'Angelo didn't see this at first because we had already did a song about his son. But I told him the music here fit the mood better. It's like a bunch of toy boxes playing at once... It gives you that sad feeling that 'Higher' gave you on Brown Sugar; a dope song that you don't want to hear because you know that this is the last song you're gonna hear in some time. I know D wanted to do a song that spoke of history. Not just to his son. but to God, to Africa and the world."
Throw It In!: Because of the freestyling jam-session nature of the sessions at Electric Lady Studios, many of the artists and session musicians working on the Soulquarians albums recorded there (Voodoo, Mama's Gun, Like Water For Chocolate) freely intermingled, and had impromptu collaborations occur during studio sessions, even when it wasn't their specific day in the studio. This ultimately helped shape the overall sounds of their respective albums.
Uncredited Role: It's no secret the late J Dilla did some drum programming and co-production on more than a few tracks, but his name was left off the credits.
"Playa Playa", or an early version of it, was actually originally written for the Space Jam soundtrack, of all things! D'Angelo ultimately replaced it with "I Found My Smile Again", but imagine how it would've sounded on such an already stacked soundtrack.
Q-Tip was the original choice for rapping on "Left & Right", but everyone felt he didn't fit the vibe of the song; thus Method Man and Redman were brought in.
"Chicken Grease" was originally a beat D'Angelo, J Dilla, Questlove and James Poyser made for Common's album Like Water For Chocolate. However, the resulting beat was so hot, D'Angelo actually said to Questlove, "I ain't no Indian giver... but I ain't lettin' Com walk off with this song." Eventually, after much begging from D'Angelo, he and Common negotiated a trade, where D'Angelo got to keep "Chicken Grease", while Common received the beat that would eventually become "Geto Heaven Part Two".
D'Angelo had intended for Lauryn Hill to be on at least two tracks, including a minimalist cover of Fela Kuti's "Water No Get Enemy", but things broke down between them due to both Executive Meddling and Creative Differences. A reworked version of the "Water No Get Enemy" cover eventually appeared on the Fela Kuti tribute/charity album Red Hot + Riot in 2002.
