Well, I guess D'Angelo's publicist has put us in our places. Eons ago, we all received an email touting D'Angelo as gearing up for a new album with the claim that a sexy, svelte D'Angelo was going to be unleashed comparable to his "How Does It Feel" days. We collectively snickered and went on with our lives. Since this past weekend's fiasco involving an SUV, $12,000 in cash and an undercover cop being asked to service Mr. Archer in a way that wouldn't involve child support payments, we rolled our eyes even harder and went on even harder with our lives. But we all know that all press is good press, especially when you emerge from a courthouse looking slimmer and clad in black leather. 

Despite my initial reservations that this most recent legal trouble might signal even more of a delay in the release of his new album, it certainly seems like things are looking up in the "taking care of oneself" department. Although if D'Angelo really took that to heart, this whole ill-timed fellatio solicitation thing wouldn't have happened in the first place. Zing! We'll see what happens this Summer when James River is supposedly going to be released. Until then, we'll hope tweets from Erykah Badu indicating that she is in the studio with him have more merit than all the hints of a new album since the dawn of the last decade. [H/T: SR]