Listening to Raphael, with his blend of old school 60s and 70s soul, you can imagine his songs being recorded 30 years ago.

Influenced by a range of musical greats such as Sam Cooke, The Temptations, The Four Tops and Al Green, Raphael’s new album, ‘The Way I See It’ is a masterful collection of new material that speaks to his love for rhythm and blues.

Listening to Raphael, with his blend of old school 60s and 70s soul, you can imagine his songs being recorded 30 years ago with tracks that are as musically cohesive as soul music was, recorded back in the day. Raphael brings with him real emotion, real feeling and production values that are simply, right on.

Born and raised in Oakland, California, Raphael learned to play guitar, drums and bass at the age of six. Singing with a professional gospel group by the time he was nine, his musical education encompassed classical music, 40’s spirituals, hymns, jazz and, of course, R&B.

As the lead vocalist and bass player with Tony! Toni! Toné!, Raphael experienced his first taste of mega-success. After leaving the group he went on to create the supergroup Lucy Pearl (with En Vogue’s Dawn Robinson and A Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Muhammed) and following that gained production credits for artists such as Macy Gray, TLC and The Roots along with a prestigious Grammy for the song ‘Untitled’ from D’Angelo’s ‘Voodoo’.

In demand as a producer, songwriter and musician, Raphael’s impressive list of credits include Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, Anthony Hamilton, Kelis, Q-Tip and The Bee Gees to name a few.