“Lady” by D’Angelo

D’Angelo’s “Lady” is a song of admiration for a particular woman he is seriously involved with. The singer shows his level of commitment to this lady as he makes her aware that other people are jealous of them as a couple.

It appears the singer wants to consciously drum down the fact that he is the only lover of this woman. His continuous mention of other guys having eyes for his woman is an indication that he fears losing her to them. For him, these people are a threat because they want to have what he has. The only way to deal with them in his perspective is to let everyone know that they are a couple.

D’Angelo is also concerned about the fact that though people may have seen them together, they may not be fully aware that they are in a relationship. He therefore wants them to be publicly clear about their status since they both love each other.

Furthermore, his esteem of his woman’s beauty is evident throughout the song, as he showers praises on her. This is also to boost the confidence of his lover so she does not get tempted to look at his rivals.

Facts about “Lady”

• “Lady” was composed by the joint efforts of Raphael Saadiq and D’Angelo. The duo also collaborated to produce the song.
• “Lady” came out as the third single from the album, Brown Sugar, which was released as D’Angelo’s maiden album. As for the song itself, it was officially released in March 1996.
• A remix version of the single was released in 1996. D’Angelo featured veteran rapper, AZ on this version.
• The song has two video clips, with famous video director – Hype Williams directed the original version of the video. The remix version’s video was directed by renowned American director Brett Ratner. This version features cameos from American singers Faith Evans and Erykah Badu.
• “Lady” did well on the charts in the United States and in the UK as well. It peaked at No.10 and No.21 respectively in those regions.
• Rapper, The Game, sampled the song in his 2013 track, “All That (Lady)”. Samples of the song were also featured in “Black is Gold” by Wale in 2016 and “What A Year”, released by Dave East in 2017.

Did “Lady” win D’Angelo a Grammy?

Being one of D’Angelo’s most successful singles, “Lady” earned D’Angelo a nomination at the 1997 Grammy Awards in the category of Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. However, he was beaten to the award by Luther Vandross’ “Your Secret Love”.