D'Angelo saw Charlie performing on the Black Entertainment channel. It wasn't long before he tracked down Charlie to perform on his next record. The two wound up writing a couple of songs together; "The Root" and "Greatdayndamornin'". The record was recorded at the legendary Electric Lady Studios, the late Jimi Hendrix’s studio that he named his 1968 album after. D’Angelo used some of Hendrix’s old amplifiers, as well as some of Stevie Wonder’s keyboards from the sessions for his 1972 album, 'Talking Book'. Hendrix’s voice appears during the album’s intro, and an interlude features the voice of Marvin Gaye. D'Angelo is playing more instruments on this release than on his debut, Brown Sugar. Charlie said of the experience "This was the most challenging session I have worked on."