Nearly a decade since he released his last album, enigmatic R&B genius D’Angelo is set to make a return to music on Friday. His collaborative song with Jay-Z, the reportedly nine-minute “I Want You Forever,” will be released as part of the soundtrack to The Book of Clarence on Friday, Jan. 12.
Directed by British multihyphenate Jeymes Samuel (The Harder They Fall), The Book of Clarence stars Lakeith Stanfield as a fictional contemporary of Jesus Christ in ancient Jerusalem. Described by critics as a “Biblical stoner comedy,” it was well-received at its world premiere at the London Film Festival last October. Jay-Z is among the film’s executive producers.
Jay-Z and Jeymes Samuel attend the premiere for 'The Book of Clarence' on Jan. 6.
Discussing the film at a Q&A over the weekend, Samuel revealed: “We’ve got D’Angelo and Jay-Z on the same track. Nine minutes and thirty three seconds of absolute soulful, beautiful bliss.”
In addition to writing and directing The Book of Clarence, Samuel also made multiple contributions to the soundtrack as a musician. He released his debut album as the Bullitts, They Die By the Dawn and Other Short Stories…, in 2013. He won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for The Harder They Fall in 2021.
D'Angelo has not released an album since 2014's critically-acclaimed 'Black Messiah.'
Earlier this week, another song from the soundtrack, “Hallelujah Heaven,” featuring Lil Wayne with reggae legends Buju Banton and Shabba Ranks, got its own video release. Other artists on the soundtrack’s just-released tracklisting include Doja Cat, Kid Cudi, and Jorja Smith.
D’Angelo has not released new music since his one-off single “Unshaken,” written for the soundtrack to video game Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2019.
While D’Angelo is well known for his long periods of gestation between projects — he went silent for nearly a decade and a half between 2001’s Voodoo and his most recent album, the critically-acclaimed Black Messiah — Jay-Z has been unusually scarce in the recording booth in recent years as well, with his last major musical contributions coming via a handful of songs on the soundtrack to Samuel’s last film in 2021. Though he featured on multiple tracks on Jay Electronica’s 2020 album A Written Testimony, as well as releasing a collaborative album with wife Beyonce, Everything Is Love, in 2018, he has not released a proper solo album since 2017’s Grammy-nominated 4:44.
