December 12, 2025
Home » “It was just like ‘Oh my God, this is everything I want an album to be,’ and it was unlike anything I’d ever heard before”: When Rick Rubin and Eric Clapton got to hear D’Angelo’s Voodoo album before it was released, they were completely blown away

“It was just like ‘Oh my God, this is everything I want an album to be,’ and it was unlike anything I’d ever heard before”: When Rick Rubin and Eric Clapton got to hear D’Angelo’s Voodoo album before it was released, they were completely blown away

A lot has been written about the genius of D’Angelo’s Voodoo album since the star’s death earlier this week, but just in case you were starting to think that it’s only being considered a classic with the benefit of hindsight, resurfaced footage of Eric Clapton and Rick Rubin being treated to a preview of the record prior to its release in 2000 should set you straight.

One clip that’s been widely shared shows Clapton’s reaction at the end of Spanish Joint, Track 9 on Voodoo. With his jaw literally dropping, he turns to D’Angelo, shakes his hand and says: “I can’t take much more. Is it all like this?”, before laughing at the almost ridiculously high quality level of the music he’s listening to.

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We also see a similarly awestruck Rick Rubin (sitting alongside Chris Rock) listening to One Mo’Gin. “That’s the shit!” he says, after bobbing his head in appreciation and looking like he’s feeling the song through his entire body.

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