Jimmy Lee is the new album from Raphael Saadiq, the Grammy Award- winning musician, songwriter and go-to collaborator/producer Raphael Saadiq. This collection is Raphael’s first new album in eight years, and is the follow-up to 2011’s Stone Rollin'. The album was announced in June, 2019 with the release of the single “Something Keeps Calling.”
Jimmy Lee is a deeply personal journey of discovery and a rumination on contemporary life. Raphael Saadiq takes us on a walk through his elements, from Oakland to Rikers Island, with some of the most captivating music he has ever recorded. Inspired in part by his brother’s addiction, Saadiq explores universal themes of craving that which feels good but is also destructive. Some resist, some relent. There’s pain, there’s pleasure, and of course consequences — all of which inform the songs and stories this brilliant work so richly reveals.
Jimmy Lee was self-produced by Raphael Saadiq and recorded at Blakeslee Recording Co. in North Hollywood, California.
Raphael Saadiq came up in the 80s and 90s with the multi-platinum R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné! before embarking on a critically acclaimed solo career. He also has been active as a producer, co-writing career-defining hits for D’Angelo (“Untitled (How Does It Feel)”) and Solange (“Cranes in the Sky”) and working with artists like John Legend, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Erykah Badu, Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder.