The name

Raphael adopted surname Saadiq in the mid-1990’s. Saadiq in Arabic means “man of his word”. This transition had rumors going that Raphael converted to Islam, but that wasn’t true. Raphael simply like the way this Arabic word sounds and adopted it as his surname to avoid mixing him with his brother Dwayne.

Career

Young Saadiq started playing the bass guitar when he was six years old, and he began to sing in a local gospel choir when he was nine. When he was twelve, he joined “The Gospel Humminbirds” group. Shortly before his 18th birthday (in 1984), Saadiq heard of tryouts in San Francisco for Sheila E.’s backing band. The band was about to go to with Prince on the Parade Tour. At the audition, Saadiq chose the name “Raphael”. He got into the band as a bass player. This was the turning point of his life. Being on tour with Prince for almost two years taught him more than enough for his upcoming career in music industry.

Tony! Toni! Toné!

This trio was Saadiq’s first thing after the big tour with Prince. The trio was Raphael Wiggins (Saadiq), his brother Dwayne Wiggins and his cousin Timothy Christian. Raphael was the lead vocalist and the bassist in this R'n'B and dance trio.

Ask of you

Ask of you was Raphael’s biggest solo hit to date. In 1995, this song peaked at #2 on the R&B chart and #19 on the Billboard Hot 100.

From 1999 to 2004 Saadiq had the big project – R&B supergroup Lucy Pearl. Working together with Ali Shaheed Muhammad (from A Tribe called quest) and Dawn Robinson (En Vogue), Raphael recorded the self-titled album, which was the first and only with this group.

Raphael collaborated on the song “Untitled (How does it feel” in 2000. D'Angelo won Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for this song.

In 2002, Raphael started a new project: he founded his record label called Pookie Entertainment. Some of the artists releasing under his label are Truth Hurts and Joi.

Albums

Raphael Saadiq released first solo album “Instant Vintage” in 2002. This album got five Grammy Award nominations.

“All the Hits at the House of Blues” was a two-disc album released in 2003 and was followed by his second studio album Ray Ray (2004).

“The way I see it” was released in 2008 on Columbia Records.

“Stone Rollin” album earned great critics and was released in 2011. Critics said he found a perfect spot between retro and classic and that he has a lot of potential; some even called him “a  young Stevie Wonder.”

“Good man” is a song found on this album, co-written and sung by Taura Stinson. This song got great reviews and music writer Andy Kellman says it’s “the most compelling song on the album”.

Saadiq collaborated with Whitney Houston, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, The Bee Gees, Lionel Richie and many, many more. His record label, collaboration and solo albums earned him $16 million net worth.