Raphael Saadiq is a man reborn so many times, his career is old enough to have kids.

38 years ago, 17-year-old Charles Ray Wiggins walked into bass auditions for Sheila E.’s band, and nearly walked out without realizing he’d gotten the job. The fake named he’d blurted out at sign-ups—”Raphael”— almost completely slipped his mind.

2 years later, “Raphael” became one of “the Tonys” when he, his brother, and his cousin—none of whom are actually named Tony—joined R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné. With multiple #1 hits like “Feels Good” and “It Never Rains In Southern California” under their belts, and soundtrack appearances like Boyz II Men and Poetic Justice on their extensive discography, the band eventually split in 1996. The year before, each member had explored solo musicianship, and Raphael felt primed to pursue his.

John Singleton’s 1995 “Higher Learning” soundtrack is the first time Raphael SAADIQ emerged in music. “Who wants to hear Raphael WIGGINS?” a label exec had asked. (He had a point.) Today, that rose by another name is one of the most prolific creatives of my generation. His list of collaborators range from Lionel Ritchie to Mick Jagger, and Ludacris to the Bee Gees. His musical scores in HBO’s “Insecure,” Netflix’s “Luke Cage,” and 2017 film “Mudbound.” He produced D’Angelo and Solange’s biggest albums, culture-shaping artists and records in their own right.

And in between, this tireless creator even dropped a few records of his own. 2011’s “Stone Rollin” is, in my opinion, the best of them. Soul, R&B, and hip-hop all come together in brilliantly varying degrees of classic, modern and progressive sounds, especially on “Good Man.” It’s a tale of a man who’s left heartbroken despite checking all the boxes of a “good man.” But of course, that’s not always the whole story, and the video fills in the blanks with intense, star-studded scenes. Chad Coleman (The Wire, The Walking Dead) and Yaya DeCosta (Chicago Med, Our Kind of People) play the tormented couple in this 5-minute Oscar-worthy performance alongside Raphael and his backing singers’ silky vocals. “Everything around the man might be bad, his job, friends, lifestyle but underneath it all, he is a good man,” Raphael explains. But the video tells another side: one where the woman in the relationship is willing to do almost anything to escape the lifestyle of a “good man.”

Raphael’s sound and visuals bring a depth to music that feels like an oasis: everything you didn’t know you were thirsting for is right here. Meaningful subject matter, soulful sounds, beautifully shot visuals, and an irresistible hook will land this track on repeat in your playlist, as its creator intended. “I’ve always wanted my music to be like great furniture,” Raphael says, “something you can go back to and reuse all the time.”

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