Raphael Saadiq

Artist bio

Raphael Saadiq was born Charlie Ray Wiggins on 14 May 1966 in Oakland, California. He's an American singer, bassist, songwriter and record producer in the R&B/soul traditions.

Having played music since age six, during the 1970's and 1980's, he played bass both at school and in church.

Forming [a=Tony! Toni! Toné!] with his brother [a=Dwayne Wiggins] in the mid-1980's, going on to enjoy a successful solo career in the 1990's. He was also a member of R&B 'supergroup' [a=Lucy Pearl] during their brief time.

He has also collaborated with the artist [a=D'Angelo] to great Grammy critical success --winning the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, for track "[r=1347285]"-- and many other major label artists including [a=Q-Tip], [a=Kelis], [a=Erykah Badu], [a=Jill Scott], [a=Macy Gray], and [a=Bilal] amoungst others.

In 2002, Saadiq founded his own record label, [l=Pookie Entertainment], featuring artists on the label [url=http://www.discogs.com/artist/Joi+(3)]Joi[/url], ex-[a=Lucy Pearl] member Rashon Graves, and [a=Truth Hurts].

In 2007, Saadiq was called on to produce the whole of the third album from UK soul singer [a=Joss Stone]. She also returned the favour by featuring on his fourth solo album, "[r=1536409]", along with [a=Stevie Wonder].