Miguel Jontel Pimentel, known mostly by his first name, released his first big single in 2006—but it went nowhere. The video received some play on BET, but it took the singer four more years to become a success. His debut album All I Want is You was a mishmash of R&B styles with one of the best run of singles (“All I Want Is You,” “Sure Thing”, “Quickie”) for any R&B record of the year. While that run of hits was sweet, the rest of the record didn’t hold up and the singer himself has disowned the album, much like he did an about-face on his first single.

In the past two years R&B became more critically acclaimed thanks to the rise of The Weeknd and Frank Ocean. Miguel, after being part of the major label system of making records for so long, finally got his freedom. Then, like his peers, he released three EPs titled Art Dealer Chic. All three of the EPs were released for free, and were recorded by Miguel in his home studio, proving that the singer doesn’t just have songwriting chops, but can arrange and produce with the best of them.

The first Art Dealer Chic opened with the best track of all three EPs, “Adorn” which subsequently became the first single from one of the best albums of the year, Kaleidoscope Dream. Again the record was mostly recorded in Miguel’s home studio, but unlike his first album, which got him some good sales and radio play, this one brought indie-cred and five 2013 Grammy nominations.

Today’s Song of the Day is one of the best tracks from the record, “Do You…” The track poses a simple question, “Do you like drugs?”, before launching into one of the most impeccably written verses of the year. When the drums kick in the track becomes even more special, as it is sonically miles away from any of the major label posing Miguel did on his first album, and has a sound that translates well with mainstream radio as well as the blog friendly hype machine.

Miguel plays tonight with Trey Songz and Ellie Varner at DAR Constitution Hall. Tickets are $75-$85.