The DNA Orchestra isn't merely a musical outlet for a performer who was forced to deal with severe illness. The ensemble, and the music itself, is integrally linked to the entire medical event. It was conceived as a response to D'Angelo's cancer, and it ultimately played a role in the cancer's annihilation. The band is a community that supported D'Angelo during his healing. The weaving, angular lines of the music are as tenacious as the tendrils of the disease itself. The effusion of emotion carries a weight and energy as effective as any cure. "After understanding why cancer had come into my life, I learned how to use my art and music as healing."
The power of this music may be brute, but it is anything but wild. It is contained withing the boundaries of narrative. "I designed this set of music to tell a story," he says. "There is healing, love, darkness, anger.. and even more in between the lines." D'Angelo's composition "Meg Nem Sa," one of the pieces written post "brain", traces his path through wild pre-healed times, bitterly overwhelming confusion, darkness, and the tireless fight for survival.