Raphael Saadiq may sign to Aftermmath!

[Kaidy]

he should sign with quik if anyone, quiks the only one that has done the man justice (besides himself)

Yea I'd love to hear those two collaborate on some more shit. Imagine them doing an album together, that'd be pretty damn special

[Murrow]

OMG!  If this happens I will cry.  He is one of my fav singers and producers.  "Instant Vintage" was my third fav album last year.

[SikksTrey]

Whoever he signs with, I hope he'll keep doin most production himself. Instant Vintage was the best soul album to drop last year. Mad slept on... The only person who can make him justice beside himself is Quik, like Smerlus said.

But being with Aftermath might give him some well deserved exposure.

[Wizard Whitebeard]

Truth Hurts, yes.. was slammin IMO, but it failed to live up to hype, in part due to Dres F-Up on not clearing that sample.  But when you really look at it.. Dre hasnt had success with R And B as most would have expected.. Thats all.  Lets just say that he's been moderately successful.  

Axle

I can agree that Dre's success with R&B is moderate (by Dre's standards).  There is no doubt his rap success has far exceeded his R&B success.  And I know Aftermath fucked up not clearing the Addictive sample, but that shouldn't detract from the quality of Truthfully Speaking, which was an average R&B album.  And even though he didn't executive produce Mary or Bilal's albums, you still have to take those tracks into account when you discuss Dre's R&B catalogue, not to mention the innovative Michel'le LP and WCWC work he did.

As far as Saadiq, I wouldn't expect him to hand over full creative control to Dre if he signed to Aftermath.  I think it would be more of a collaborative effort, with the two of them working together on some tracks, and then a bunch of Saadiq tracks probably mixed by Dre and maybe a couple of Dre-produced tracks thrown in for good measure.  I would liken this to the way Eminem's albums are done nowadays.  So really, Raphael won't be sacrificing much except for final approval of the album, which  Dre will handle as is standard policy for Aftermath releases (and has worked quite well).  After all, if it ain't Dre, it's some other label honcho making the call, and I think if I was an urban artist I'd rather have Dre making that decision than some big wig who's not in touch with the streets.

IMO, it all comes down to how bad Raphael wants to blow up.  There is no doubt he has what it takes, but for whatever reason, he doesn't know how to market himself.  Like several people said, Instant Vintage was one of last year's best efforts, but most people don't even know it came out, let alone even know who Saadiq is.  If you throw a couple Dre beats on there, get a couple of guest verses from Rakim and Dre, shoot a couple of videos and let Aftermath/Interscope promotion machine take over, suddenly you've got a record that is on everybody's hit list.  It may not be fair but it's the way things work in the industry unless you have some kind of gimmick that will sell on its own.  I personally would love to see it happen because Saadiq has been a slept-on talent for over a decade and it's time he gets his shine.
 

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Dre needs to lay off that R&B...

[Sir Hambone]

that be a beautiful thing if he joined aftermath......

dre is good, and the best producer in the music he does....but i have been a fan of raphael before he went by raphael, i have videos of toni toni tone from back in the day.....   how many of you heard of Anniversary..that is one of Thee best songs every made...for those that want to sex your lady up and have her melt on your next anniversary..play that cut by toni toni tone......Anniversary...but n e wayz......with dre's production and saadiq on the live instruments......detox could be over the top....