Eric Bellinger is remembering D’Angelo … he says the voice, swag, vibe, way of life and music embodied the definition of “avenue soul.”

We obtained Eric at LAX on Tuesday and our photog requested him about D’Angelo’s tragic dying, which shook the music world earlier within the day.

Eric says D’Angelo was a pioneer in music and he actually appeared as much as the man … Eric even sampled D’Angelo’s “Girl” on his tune “Curious” with Fabolous and Cordae.

As we reported … D’Angelo died from pancreatic most cancers.

Eric tells us how D’Angelo remains to be influencing musicians lengthy after his heyday and he even sings us a bit little bit of “Nothing Even Issues.”