Raphael Saadiq

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Raphael Saadiq
Saadiq at the 2012 Time 100
Background information
Birth name	Charles Ray Wiggins
Born	(1966-05-14) May 14, 1966 (age 58) Oakland, California, U.S.
Genres	R&B[1] soul[2] progressive soul[3] hip hop
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter multi-instrumentalist record producer
Instrument(s)	Vocals bass guitar guitar keyboards
Years active	1983–present
Labels	Columbia Pookie Universal
Member of	Tony! Toni! Toné!
Formerly of	Lucy Pearl The Ummah
Website	raphaelsaadiqmusic.com

Raphael Saadiq (/səˈdiːk/; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to fame as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! In addition to his solo and group career, he has also produced songs for such artists as Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Total, Joss Stone, D'Angelo, TLC, En Vogue, Kelis, Mary J. Blige, Ledisi, Whitney Houston, Solange Knowles and John Legend. Music critic Robert Christgau has called Saadiq the "preeminent R&B artist of the '90s".^[1]

Saadiq was also a member of The Ummah, a music production collective, alongside D'Angelo, Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and J Dilla; and was a member of the supergroup Lucy Pearl with Dawn Robinson. He has released five solo albums, including the critically acclaimed retro-styled The Way I See It (2008) and Stone Rollin' (2011). The more contemporary-sounding Jimmy Lee was released in 2019, and earned Saadiq further acclaim.^[4]

He is also co-founder of the independent video game developer IllFonic, which developed Friday the 13th: The Game. As a songwriter Saadiq has received two Grammy Awards, two Golden Globe Award nominations and an Academy Award nomination.