What’s Raphael Saadiq’s Golden Rule for Making Music?
The Sam Sanders Show
KCRW & Sam Sanders
4.9 • 709 Ratings
🗓️ 23 January 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Raphael Saadiq has been influential to the music industry since he burst onto the scene with his group Tony! Toni! Toné! — since then he’s produced hits with artists like Beyoncé and scored countless film and TV projects.
He’s now nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for his blues anthem “I Lied To You” from the blockbuster film Sinners. He breaks down what went into creating the song, his connection to director Ryan Coogler and his golden rule for making music for movies.
Plus, Raphael remembers his late friend D’Angelo and shares the story behind their iconic song “Untitled (How Does It Feel).”
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The Sam Sanders Show is a production of KCRW and Sam Sanders Productions.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey y'all, Sam Sanders here. |
| 0:01.7 | This week, some music from one of my favorite musicians, maybe of all time. |
| 0:07.1 | How are you? |
| 0:07.7 | I'm better now. |
| 0:08.8 | Yeah. |
| 0:09.1 | Okay. |
| 0:09.4 | I'm so good. |
| 0:10.0 | I was going to ask you some questions, but I already hear you playing your song from Sinners. |
| 0:15.1 | I want to give you some time to play it for us. |
| 0:17.4 | Oh, really? |
| 0:19.5 | Whole thing. |
| 0:20.6 | I just a little bit. |
| 0:21.4 | This is a little bit. |
| 0:25.4 | I'm talking today with longtime Soul and R&B star, Rafael Sadiq. |
| 0:30.7 | He's performing a song that he wrote, a song a lot of you may have heard in the past year. |
| 0:35.3 | When I was just a boy, about eight years old, |
| 0:41.3 | you threw me a Bible on that Mississippi road. |
| 0:47.3 | Now I love your papa, you did all you can do. |
| 0:52.3 | It's called I Lied to You, and it's a big part of the blockbuster, Sinners. |
| 0:58.0 | This song, I Lied to You, it has now been nominated for Best Original Song at this year's Academy Awards. |
| 1:05.4 | And for good reason, when this song is sung in the movie Sinners, it literally summons spirits. |
| 1:24.3 | It is just the latest accomplishment in Raphael Sadiq's long and distinguished career. |
... |
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