Raphael Saadiq has always admired the boldness of stand-up icons like Dave Chappelle and Eddie Murphy who commanded the stage alone with only their stories.
Now, the three-time Grammy winner is taking a similar leap, stepping into the spotlight solo for his own one-man show tour, announced Tuesday. The intimate No Bandwidth tour will pull back the curtain on Saadiq’s life and music, weaving never-before-told stories with performances spanning Tony! Toni! Toné!, Lucy Pearl and his solo catalog.
The tour kicks off in Sacramento on Sept. 7 that’s expected to run into mid-October. It’ll mark a return to the stage that began with a recent limited four-city sneak peek in New York, Los Angeles and his hometown of Oakland.
It’s been a high note kind of year for Saadiq, who won a Grammy for his work on Beyoncé’s”Cowboy Carter,” wrote “I Lied to You” for Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners ” and is preparing the rerelease of his 2004 solo album “Ray Ray” through his Vinyl Club, a membership that reissues his catalog.
In a recent interview, Saadiq reflected on it all, including who he thinks should headline the Super Bowl halftime show and how he’s honoring the legacy of his late brother, D’Wayne Wiggins, who died in March.
Q: Is doing the one-man show feel like your taking a risk or more of a spiritual enlightenment?
SAADIQ: I felt like it was more of a spiritual type of quest, and I thought it was a risk. But I like taking risks. I’m totally confident about being on the stage, but I definitely got to give props to people who do one-man shows. Comedians have a glass of water and a stool. I’ve always wanted to do that.
Q: What inspired you?
SAADIQ: I was really inspired by Mike Tyson’s “Undisputed Truth.” I watched Mike’s show. It wasn’t like I looked at it and said “I could do it if Mike Tyson did it.” Mike Tyson’s one-man show made it look difficult, but it was so good. It pulled me into Mike’s life. Then that’s when I said “I want to do a one-man show.” It took this long, so it was therapy to do it.
Q: You was recruited by Ludwig Göransson — who scored “Sinners” — to write the film’s pivotal track “I Lied to You.” What did you pull away from that experience?
SAADIQ: Being that I score film already, what you learn is when you work with people like Ludwig and Ryan is the art of storytelling through music and visuals. You got to love the process. Working with Ryan and Ludwig, you’re listening to two perspectives. One person scores, one person writes and shoots. It’s like having a super team with those two guys. Adding me to the equation, it should only get better.
Ludwig is an amazing composer, guitar player, producer. Ryan’s from my hometown. He’s a good dude. Solid, great storyteller and you want to show up for a movie that’s deeply rooted in blues and gospel and tradition because this is going to go for generations for other people to see what this music was about. I was honored that I could contribute.
Q: You worked on “Cowboy Carter” tracks like “Texas Hold ‘Em,” “Bodyguard” and “16 Carriages.” How was being apart of the album’s process and seeing Beyoncé in full work mode?
SAADIQ: It was amazing, lucky, fun. Besides the whole country thing, just being a part of Beyoncé’s critical thinking, it was great for me. I never meet too many people that can work harder than me. That’s somebody who can. I was excited about the energy of her whole team. It would be like playing football for the Jacksonville Jaguars as a receiver and you get traded to the Kansas City Chiefs and got Patrick Mahomes throwing to you. That’s how I felt. You just knew you was in a new camp and everybody on the team is like “Let’s get ready to go.”
Q: What stood out to you about Beyoncé being such a hard worker?
SAADIQ: I watched her organize the storyboard. The vision board is nuts. Her vision board is crazy. When I saw her vision board, it blew me back. Then I saw the show before doing my one-man show too.
You need a challenge. You need to go be courageous. You need to like, you need to make some new challenges for yourself. That’s what I always wanted to do.
Q: You curated and performed a Bay Area tribute melody with a 14-piece band for the NBA All-Star Game in February. Next year’s Super Bowl will be played there in Santa Clara. Who do you think should be the halftime performer?
SAADIQ: As far as power, it’s got to be some Metallica things happening. In a stadium, you’re supposed to be a power band, and they got the biggest records that would resonate all over TV. I would say Metallica to be honest. I wouldn’t even say myself in that. But I could definitely be a part of somethings for the Super Bowl. But if you want to bring the urban side, I would say Too Short. Those are biggest in the Bay for me.
Q: How did the death of your brother D’Wayne shift the focus of your music?
SAADIQ: It didn’t really shift anything when I think about music. But the blessing in the music is we got a chance to tour all together before one of us was gone. We got together to talk and have some camaraderie … and got the chance for all the fans to see us all together the way the group was really meant to be, because we spent a lot of years where we weren’t together.
Q: What did you learn from your brother personally and professionally that you are carrying forward?
SAADIQ: One thing I took from my brother was the music. Period. He was the person who played guitar. Wake up with the guitar. Walking outside calling and trying to put bands together. I took that from him. Growing up in school, he left every school on fire for me. He blazed a trail for me, then I started blazing it for him. His two kids are like that with me. I’m blazing it for them.
But now they blazing it for me. My nephew (Dylan Wiggins) is working with Frank Ocean, The Weeknd. So many people I can’t keep up with them. Everything that’s instilled in me and Dwayne is now instilled in Jaden (Wiggins). He’s a beast. He plays bass and guitar. He’s producing and playing with bands. I’m trying to keep everyone going forward, not backwards.
