

His change of surname led many to speculate that he had converted to Islam at that point in reality, Saadiq is not a Muslim, but rather just liked the way "Saadiq" sounded and changed his last name simply to distinguish himself from and avoid potential confusion with his brother, Dwayne Wiggins. In the mid-1990s, he adopted the last name Saadiq, which means "man of his word" in Arabic.
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That was my university." Career 1987–1999: Tony! Toni! Toné! and The UmmahĪfter returning to Oakland from touring with Prince, Saadiq began his professional career as the lead vocalist and bassist in the rhythm and blues and dance trio Tony! Toni! Toné! He used the name Raphael Wiggins while in Tony! Toni! Toné!, along with his brother Dwayne Wiggins, and his cousin Timothy Christian. 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. He says of the experience, "Next thing I was in Tokyo, in a stadium, singin' Erotic City. 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.

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 age of 12, he joined a group called "The Gospel Humminbirds". He has been playing the bass guitar since the age of six, and first began singing at age nine in a local gospel group. 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." 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. His sister died as a result of a car crash during a police chase in a residential neighborhood.

One of his brothers overdosed on heroin and another committed suicide because he was unable to deal with his addiction to the drug. When Saadiq was seven years old, his brother was murdered. His early life was marked by tragedy he experienced the deaths of several of his siblings as a young child. Saadiq was born in Oakland, California, the second-youngest of 14 siblings and half-siblings. Music critic Robert Christgau has called Saadiq the "preeminent R&B artist of the '90s". For the album, Saadiq worked with steel guitarist Robert Randolph former Earth, Wind & Fire keyboardist Larry Dunn Swedish-Japanese indie rock singer Yukimi Nagano (of Little Dragon fame) funk artist Larry Graham (on the bonus cut "Perfect Storm") and soul newcomer Taura 'Aura Jackson' Stinson. His fourth studio album, Stone Rollin', was released on March 25, 2011. Saadiq's critically acclaimed album, The Way I See It, released on September 16, 2008, featuring artists Stevie Wonder, Joss Stone, and Jay-Z, received three Grammy Award nominations and was voted Best Album on iTunes of 2008. He is also a co-founder of independent video game developer IllFonic. He and D'Angelo were occasional members of The Ummah, a music production collective, composed of members Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest, and J Dilla of the Detroit-based group Slum Village. Blige, Ledisi, Whitney Houston, Solange Knowles and John Legend. Saadiq has been a standard bearer for "old school" R&B since his early days as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! He has also produced songs for such artists as Joss Stone, D'Angelo, TLC, En Vogue, Kelis, Mary J. Raphael Saadiq / s ə ˈ d iː k/ (born May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer.
