Left & Right (D'Angelo song)

"Left & Right" is a song by American neo soul musician D'Angelo featuring fellow American rappers Method Man & Redman. It was released on October 19, 1999 via Virgin Records as the second single from the singer's second studio album Voodoo. Recording sessions took place at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. Written by D'Angelo, Method Man, Redman and Q-Tip, it was produced by D'Angelo himself. An accompanying music video was directed by Malik Hassan Sayeed.

Background
A part of the musical collective Soulquarians, producer J Dilla served as a frequent collaborator of theirs. Although album tracks such as "Left & Right" and "Devil's Pie" help to bring this claim to light, Dilla himself was not officially credited for production. However, he contributed significantly to Voodoo's overall sound, specifically the rhythm and percussion. Q-Tip was originally intended to contribute a verse to the song "Left & Right", but was replaced by rappers Method Man & Redman during recording due to creative differences. Questlove has stated that "general opinion was that the song was cool but nobody was feeling Tip's verse". According to former A&R representative Gary Harris, D'Angelo's manager Dominique Trenier "thought that Tip’s verse was wack".

Personnel

 * Michael Eugene "D'Angelo" Archer – songwriter, vocals, producer
 * Clifford "Method Man" Smith – songwriter, rap vocals
 * Reginald "Redman" Noble – songwriter, rap vocals
 * Jonathan "Q-Tip" Davis – songwriter
 * Russell Elevado – recording, mixing