Grammy-nominated R&B singer Angie Stone was killed early Saturday in a car crash. She was 63. About 4 a.m., the vehicle she was riding in back to Atlanta from Alabama “flipped over and was subsequently hit by a big rig,” music producer and Stone’s longtime manager Walter Millsap III told The Associated Press in an email.
The Alabama Highway Patrol said in a news release that the 2021 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van turned over on Interstate 65 about 4:25 a.m. Saturday before being hit by a 2021 Freightliner Cascadia truck driven by a 33-year-old man from Texas. Angie Stone was pronounced dead at the scene, the highway patrol said. The crash was about 5 miles (8 kilometers) south of the Montgomery city limits.
Kicking off Women’s History Month, Black Westchester would like to celebrate the life and legacy of our late sistah, Angie Stone. To be honest, the passing of R&B goddess Angie Stone hit me way harder than I expected. So I wanted to make sure to celebrate her.
Angie Stone, widely recognized for her sultry vocals, actually has deep roots in Hip-Hop. She was a member of The Sequence, an all-female rap trio from Columbia, South Carolina, consisting of Cheryl Cook, known as “Cheryl The Pearl”, Gwendolyn Chisolm, known as “Blondy”, and lead singer and rapper Angie Stone, known as Angie B. The High school friends were originally singers and cheerleaders, the group was inspired to incorporate rapping into their act after hearing King Tim III by the Fatback Band in 1979.
Their big break came when they snuck backstage at Township Auditorium in South Carolina for a SugarHill Gang concert and auditioned for Sylvia Robinson, the founder of SugarHill Records. Impressed by their talent, Robinson, who was the first woman to own a major rap record label, invited them to New Jersey to record, leading to the release of their debut single, Funk You Up (see video below), later that year. The Sequence made history as the first female rap group and the first Southern rap act to release a record. Angie later married labelmate Lil Rodney C of Funky Four + 1, whose real name is Rodney Stone.
Elements of “Funk You Up” were later used by Dr. Dre for his 1995 single “Keep Their Heads Ringin’.”
Sequence backed Spoonie Gee on the single “Monster Jam” (1980). Their single “Funky Sound (Tear the Roof Off)” (1981) was a remake of the single “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)” (1976) by Parliament. The group’s other charting single was “I Don’t Need Your Love (Part One)” (1982). Angie Stone subsequently became a member of Vertical Hold and later a solo artist.
She also backed up Yonkers native Styles P of The Lox on his A Gangster and a Gentleman album for “Black Magic,” bar none, one of my favorite Rap/R&B collabos. Black Magic is a deep look inside the soul of a man full of contradictions – he sees the pain of his community and realizes he’s contributing to that pain, but knows he has to get that cash somehow. A depiction of the highs and lows of the Black experience and negotiating suffering in search of happiness.
In the early 1990s, she became a member of the R&B trio Vertical Hold. Stone then signed with Arista Records to release her debut solo album Black Diamond (1999), which received a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and spawned the single “No More Rain (In This Cloud)” (see video below). Stone told me in an early interview for the release of her inaugural disc that the phrase ‘no more rain in this cloud was something her father would say to her when she would ask him for money.’
After transitioning to J Records, she released her second album, Mahogany Soul (2001), which spawned the hit single “Wish I Didn’t Miss You”. It was followed by Stone Love (2004) and The Art of Love & War (2007), her first number-one album on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Stone ventured into acting in the 2000s, making her film debut in the 2002 comedy film The Hot Chick, and her stage debut in 2003, in the role of Big Mama Morton in the Broadway musical Chicago. She then went on to appear in supporting roles in films and television series as well as several musical productions, including VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club and TV One’s R&B Divas, and movies such as The Fighting Temptations (2003), Pastor Brown (2009), and School Gyrls (2010).
She is remembered for hits like “Baby” with legendary soul singer Betty Wright, another No. 1 hit, and “Wish I Didn’t Miss You” and “Brotha.” One of my personal favorites will always be “Brotha,” (see video below), the second track on Angie Stone’s second album, “Mahogany Soul.”This song expresses how Angie feels about her Black Brothers.
Black brotha, I love ya and I will never try to hurt ya
I want ya to know that I’m here for you, forever true
‘Cause you’re my black brotha
Strong brotha and there is no one above ya
I want ya to know that I’m here for you, forever true
It was written by Stone along with Raphael Saadiq (who also makes a cameo appearance in the music video). The music video for “Brotha”, directed by Chris Robinson, features cameos by Will Smith, Calvin Richardson, Luther Vandross, Sinbad, Avant and Larenz Tate, and it honors male leaders such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Marvin Gaye, Muhammad Ali and Colin Powell.
Brotha was followed by a dope remix featuring Alicia Keys and Eve (see video below). Produced by Stone, Keys, and musician Kerry “Krucial” Brothers, J Records liked the remix so much that it was rushed to include the track on Stone’s album. “Brotha (part 2)” contains a sample of Albert King’s “I’ll Play the Blues for You.”
When Angie received credits on D’Angelo’s debut album Brown Sugar, a ground-breaking landmark in the neo-soul movement—a genre she would soon dominate—she infiltrated many people’s music collections before they even realized who she was.
She is survived by her daughter, Diamond Stone, and son, Michael Archer. Her daughter, Diamond Stone, was born in 1984 from Angie’s marriage to Rodney Stone (also known as Lil’ Rodney C! of the hip-hop group ‘Funky Four Plus One’). Diamond contributed background vocals to Angie’s 2007 song ‘Baby.’ She has two children, making Angie a grandmother in 2008 and again in July 2012. Her son, Michael D’Angelo Archer II, was born in 1998 during Angie’s relationship with neo-soul singer D’Angelo. Michael, also known by his stage name ‘Swayvo Twain,’ has pursued a career in music.
Angie Stone possessed much more than just vocal ability; she is a Hip-Hop pioneer, and she reminded everyone in the video below of a live performance in Amsterdam. She contributed to writing some of the most well-known R&B albums ever. Her ability to make her music feel so intimate was her strength. She may be gone, but thanks to a lengthy catalog, she will forever live on through her music.
The music industry has lost a great one. From a hip hop pioneer to a neo-soul giant, Angie Stone has left her musical print since 1979. The way she smoothly transitioned from hip hop, R&B, to the 90’s neo-soul movement showed her musical genius. One of my favorite songs is actually a collaboration between the late hip hop great Guru featuring Angie Stone “Keep Your Worries”. Angie B. revisited her hip hop roots on Guru’s Jazzmatazz III album. I often sometimes hum Angie’s lyrics in my head.
Angie Stone will most definitely be missed.
Thank you for your comment my brother as we celebrate the life and legacy of our Soul Sistah