Baduizm
Erykah Badu, born Erica Abi Wright, is an American singer-songwriter recognized for her soulful R&B and eccentric style. On April 2, 2010, she was charged with disorderly conduct. What did she do? Well, she was filming her self-directed music video for "Window Seats". The concept of the music video was a social-political, performance art as she walked through downtown Dallas. She was also appeared publically nude.
Erykah Badu
In high school, she changed the spelling of her name from Erica to Erykah. She stated that she wanted to discard her "slave name" and adopt a moniker that was empowering -- the Egyptian word "kah" is defined as one's "inner self" or "inner light". Soon after, she changed her surname Abi Wright to "Badu" -- her favorite jazz scatting sound. She eventually discovered that "badu" also meant "to manifest light and truth" in Arabic. How cool is that!?
All hail the queen of neo-soul!
Baduizm sonically shifted the state of music and the "neo-soul" movement was formed (along with Maxwell's "Urban Hang Suite" and D'Angelo's Brown Sugar). The neo-soul sound is a digital-analog hybrid of contemporary R&B and soul with influences ranging from funk, jazz, hip-hop, fusion, and African music -- it was an organic avant-garde R&B sound that revitalized soul music. It was a sound that was refreshing, opposed to the digitalized era of the '80s. Another highlight was the conscious-driven lyrics that were introspective and empowering.
“I'm free. I just do what I want, say what I want, say how I feel, and I don't try to hurt nobody. I just try to make sure that I don't compromise my art in any kind of way, and I think people respect that.” — Erykah Badu
Her career continued to elevate. In 1999, she won another Grammy for the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group when she featured on "You Got Me" by the Legendary Roots. In 2000, she was awarded her fourth Grammy for Best R&B Song for her song "Love of My Life Worldwide". In total, Badu has received 16 awards from 59 nominations (so far). Since then, she continued to release classic musical projects one after the other. In addition, she won numerous nominations and awards as an actress.
B.L.I.N.D.
An acronym for "Beautiful Love Incorporated Nonprofit Development", B.L.I.N.D. is a charity Badu established that aims to provide inner-city youth with community-driven development through the use of visual arts, dance, theater, and music.
What does André 3000 (of OutKast), Common, and Jay Electronica all have in common?
Besides being recognized as official lyrical giants, all three were in a romantic relationship with Badu. Let's not forget about The D.O.C., who was also in a romantic relationship with Badu. The D.O.C. was responsible for co-writing "Straight Outta Compton" by N.W.A and "Eazy-Duz-It", Eazy-E's solo debut album. Seven Sirius Benjamin is Badu's first child with André 3000, Puma Sabti Curry is her second child with The D.O.C., and Mars Merkaba Thedford is the third child with Jay Electronica.
"Lulululululululu"
During Badu's performance on stage, there's one call she does and it goes, "Lulululululululu" -- which is sampled often in J. Dilla's production -- which is a natural call she "developed". Afterwards, upon tracing her African lineage ancestry to the West African country of Cameroon, she learned that her call happened to be the same identical call from the tribe of her ancestors! Remarkable!
Window's Seat
Off of Badu's 2010 fifth studio album, "New Amerykah Part Two: (Return of the Ankh)", "Window Seat" is written and co-produced by Badu and co-produced by James Poyser (of the Roots). Key musicians involved are Questlove (of The Roots) on the drums and Thundercat on bass.
Badu described the song and music video direction as:
"Liberating yourself from layers and layers of skin or demons that are a hindrance to your growth or freedom, or evolution. I wanted to do something that said just that, so I started to think about shedding, nudity, taking things off in a very artful way."
Alright! Finally the Steemit Record Pool Song of the Day! Without further adieu,
"Window's Seat"
I've included the link to lyrics below for your reference.
Lyrics: https://genius.com/Erykah-badu-window-seat-lyrics
If you enjoyed her performance, feel free to support her by following her social medias and/or buying her albums!
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Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erykah_Badu
- https://www.biography.com/people/erykah-badu-21358393
- http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz--biographies/erykah-badu
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo_soul
- https://genius.com/Erykah-badu-window-seat-lyrics
Image Sources:
- http://hot969boston.com/2017/04/16/world-erykah-badu-wearing-coachella-2017/
- https://genius.com/artists/Erykah-badu
- http://www.etonline.com/music/203506_erykah_badu_on_90s_resurgence_and_baduizm
- https://shop.okayplayer.com/products/erykah-badu-baduizm-lp-vinyl
- http://ascensionmag.com/erykah-badu/
- https://bckonline.com/2016/05/17/erykah-badu-shares-series-of-pictures-in-honor-of-mommymondays/
- http://www.melaninmajority.com/gallery/watch-erykah-badu-michael-k-williams-questlove-connect-african-ancestry/
- https://www.bet.com/news/music/2015/04/06/erykah-badu-joins-tidal-wave-with-film-they-die-by-dawn.html
- https://www.bellanaijastyle.com/charlotte-mensah-lady-behind-erykah-badus-scene-stealing-look/