“Prince picked up my bass – but it was tuned to Eb, so he just found one note that worked and he stayed on it the entire song”: Raphael Saadiq on playing with Prince, D’Angelo and the “dead” 1962 Fender that put the vintage in Instant Vintage

As hip-hop continues to influence styles ranging from R&B to heavy metal and beyond, the musician-meets-machine concept is being played out in various ways. Few of these approaches are more cutting-edge than that of Raphael Saadiq, who merged hip-hop’s programmed approach with his old-school R&B roots to create a whole new rhythm section style.

Offers Glenn Standridge, one half of Saadiq’s production team: “When we’re creating tracks, everyone sort of plays to their own beat, with everything revolving around Raphael’s bass guitar – so it has that loose, hip-hop quality of samples layered together. The result is a best-of-both-worlds scenario that creates a feel all its own.”

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