Taking an interest in music from the age of 6, joining gospel groups and attending Young Musicians Program at Berklee during middle school, Saadiq got the chance phone call of a lifetime, when Sheila E. called one day looking for touring musicians to join Prince on his Parade tour. Saadiq spent two years on the road, a time he called "My University".
Saadiq made a name for himself as the lead vocalist in the rhythm and blues and dance trio Tony! Toni! Toné!. He went by his birth name during the beginning of Tony! Toni! Toné!, where he was joined by his brother Dwayne Wiggins, and his cousin Timothy Christian. He adopted the name of Raphael Saadiq in the mid-1990s.
After the 1996 Tony! Toni! Toné! album, House of Music, (when he performed under his current name) Saadiq started his solo career. He produced a few solo tracks, but Saadiq's next big project became the R&B supergroup Lucy Pearl. He recorded the self-titled album with Dawn Robinson (En Vogue) and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest). This group only lasted for one album. His solo album Instant Vintage, released in 2002, also earned 5 Grammy nominations.
Saadiq released his third solo album, The Way I See It, on September 16 2008, featuring collaborations with Stevie Wonder and Joss Stone. Saadiq acknowledges the album's old school soul sound, which he says includes nods to Gladys Knight & The Pips, Al Green, The Four Tops, The Delfonics and The Stylistics.
Various artists have tapped Saadiq to produce their work through the years. Some of Saadiq's most notable work has been with D'Angelo. The 2000 collaboration "Untitled" won D'Angelo a Grammy award for Best R&B Album. In 2007, Saadiq was called on to produce the whole third album from UK Soul singer Joss Stone. Other artists he has collaborated with include The Roots, Macy Gray, Snoop Dogg, Kelis, Q-Tip and Young Bellz.
In 2002, Saadiq founded his own record label, Pookie Entertainment. Among the artists on the label are Joi and Truth Hurts.
http://vimeo.com/3020000
Charlie Ray
Raphael Saadiq Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
How serious can this be?
I see you and you see me
How serious can this be?
I met you at the age of 4
I was crawling on the kitchen floor
When I made it to the carpet, I saw my father
Here’s what I did…so I crawled a little bit closer
And he stepped on my hand
That’s when I met my soul
That’s when I met my soul
That’s when I met my soul
I see you and you see me
How serious can this be?
I see you and you see me
How serious can this be?
The lyrics of Raphael Saadiq’s song “Charlie Ray” opens with a question that sets the mood of the song: “I see you and you see me, how serious can this be?” The answer to this question becomes clearer as we learn that the singer met his soul at the young age of 4, when his father inadvertently stepped on his hand as he crawled towards him on the carpet. The incident may have been painful physically, but it was also a transformative experience for the singer. It was at that moment that he met his soul, and the experience seems to have shaped the course of his life.
The repetition of the line “I see you and you see me” throughout the song attests to the intense gaze that the singer and his soul share. It is a shared knowingness in the way that only one's soul can know. The soul becomes a silent witness, a confidante that accompanies the singer through life. Yet, the question of how serious this relationship can be remains, indicative of the elusive nature of the soul, its intangibility, and the difficulty of fully comprehending its significance.
Line by Line Meaning
I see you and you see me
We are both aware of each other's presence
How serious can this be?
What kind of significance can this hold?
I met you at the age of 4
We first encountered each other when I was very young
I was crawling on the kitchen floor
I was moving around on my hands and knees
When I made it to the carpet, I saw my father
As I moved onto the carpet, I saw my dad
My father…sitting on the couch, nodding his head
My dad was seated on the sofa, nodding affirmatively
Here’s what I did…so I crawled a little bit closer
I inched towards him slowly
And he stepped on my hand
Then, he accidentally stepped on my hand with his foot
That’s when I met my soul
That's when I discovered my inner self
That’s when I met my soul
That's when I found my true essence
That’s when I met my soul
That's when I uncovered my spiritual being
Writer(s): Robert Ozuna, Raphael Saadiq, Glenn Don Standridge Copyright: Ugmoe Music, Music Of Windswept, Jake And The Phatman Music
Contributed by Sarah E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.