Raphael SaadiqThe Return ofFOR HIS FIRST ALBUM IN EIGHT
YEARS, THE LEGENDARY R&B
SINGER AND PRODUCER DECIDED
TO EXPLORE ADDICTION IN ALL ITS
FORMS. THE RESULT IS JIMMY LEE,
HIS MOST PERSONAL PROJECT
TO DATE. BY MARCUS J. MOORE
RAPHAEL SAADIQ’S LIFE HAS BEEN
marked by addiction. The second
youngest of 12 children, he’s seen
a sister struggle with substance
abuse and a brother so tormented
by a drug habit that it drove him
to suicide. But it was another of
Saadiq’s siblings, Jimmy Lee,
who’s had the biggest impact on
him. Jimmy Lee was also an
addict—he died from a heroin
overdose at the age of 42—but
Saadiq says that his brother, whoAARON RAPOPORT
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