Prior to striking out on his own, Saadiq achieved multi-platinum success as a co-founder/producer/member of the R&B group Tony! Toni! Tone! and of the urban supergroup Lucy Pearl. His road to success started at the age of six, when he played bass at church, school and community events in his hometown of Oakland, California. At 18, he stepped onto the world stage when he was chosen to play bass for Prince and Sheila E. on their "Parade" world tour. He went on to sing, write and produce for the Tonys and also recorded two songs under his own name: 1995's "Ask of You," from the Higher Learning soundtrack, and "Me & You," from the “Boyz N The Hood” soundtrack. In 2000, Saadiq formed Lucy Pearl with ex-En Vogue singer Dawn Robinson and ex-Tribe Called Quest beatmaster Ali Shaheed Muhammad.

Saadiq has also produced numerous tracks for others, including Angie Stone's "Brotha" and D'Angelo's "Lady" and "Untitled," and Instant Vintage makes the most of his high-profile connections: guests on the album include Angie Stone, T-Boz of TLC, producer/hip-hop artist Hi-Tek and Saadiq's older brother, Randy Wiggins. The album’s title reflects Saadiq’s desire not to rehash, but to re-inform the new school with a sense of the past: "A friend of mine said that people who look for vinyl treat all records like vintage pieces, even if they're new, because vinyl is so not the thing anymore," Saadiq says. "This record has a lot of music on it, a lot of footage [that evokes the past], so we felt that, the minute you get this album on vinyl, it's instant vintage."

Saadiq is increasingly involved in the business side of music as well. He is now the owner of a record label (Pookie Records), a production company (Whiskey Slew), and a new studio (Blakeslee Recording Company in LA, where he recorded much of Instant Vintage). Plus, he recently directed his first music video—his single "Be Here," a duet with D'Angelo, who’s also featured in the clip.

"I have new challenges that I never, ever had in my life," he says. "Like, as an artist, learning how to balance business and art, but not lie to myself. All I'm doing is what I can, what God is letting me do. To me, that way is funky, it's gospeldelic. I love that."

Sound Files (MP3)
Faithful - from the album Instant Vintage