Erykah Badu
Erica Abi Wright, known professionally as Erykah Badu, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Influenced by R&B, soul, and hip-hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut studio album Baduizm, placed her at the forefront of the neo soul movement, earning her the nickname "Queen of Neo Soul" by music critics.
Badu's career began after opening a show for D'Angelo in 1994 in Fort Worth, which led to record label executive Kedar Massenburg signing her to Kedar Entertainment. Badu's first album, Baduizm, was released in February 11, 1997. It spawned four singles: "On & On", "Appletree", "Next Lifetime" and "Otherside of the Game". The album was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Badu's first live album, Live, was released in November 1997, and contained her signature song "Tyrone" and was subsequently certified double platinum by the RIAA.
Badu's second studio album, Mama's Gun, was released in 2000. It spawned three singles: "Bag Lady", which became her first top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at #6, "Didn't Cha Know?" and "Cleva". The album was certified platinum by the RIAA. Badu's third album, Worldwide Underground, was released in 2003. It generated three singles: "Love of My Life ", "Danger" and "Back in the Day ", with the first becoming her second song to reach the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #9. The album was certified gold by the RIAA. Badu's fourth album, New Amerykah Part One, was released in 2008. It spawned two singles: "Honey" and "Soldier". New Amerykah Part Two was released in 2010 and fared well both critically and commercially. It contained the album's lead single "Window Seat", whose music video sparked controversy.
Badu's voice has been compared to jazz singer Billie Holiday. Early in her career, Badu was recognizable for her style, which often included wearing very large and colorful headwraps. She was a core member of the Soulquarians. As an actress, she has played a number of supporting roles in movies including Blues Brothers 2000, The Cider House Rules and House of D. She also has appeared in the documentaries Before the Music Dies and ''The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975.''
Early life
Wright was born in Dallas, Texas. She was raised by her mother, actress Kolleen Wright, along with her younger siblings: brother Eevin and sister Koryan. Her parents separated when Erica was young.Badu began singing and dancing at the age of four alongside her mother. She performed at the Dallas Theater Center and The Black Academy of Arts and Letters under the guidance of her godmother, Gwen Hargrove, and her uncle, TBAAL founder Curtis King.
By the age of 14, Badu was freestyling for a local radio station alongside artists such as Roy Hargrove. In her youth, she had decided to change the spelling of her first name from Erica to Erykah, as she believed her original name was a "slave name". The term "kah" signifies the inner self. She adopted the surname "Badu" because it is her favorite jazz scat sound.
After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Badu went on to study theater at Grambling State University, a historically black university. She left the university in 1993 before graduating, to focus more fully on music.
She formed a band Erykah Free with her cousin, Robert "Free" Bradford, and recorded a 19-song demo, Country Cousins, which attracted the attention of Kedar Massenburg. He set Badu up to record a duet with D'Angelo, "Your Precious Love", and eventually signed her to a record deal with Universal Records.
Career
1997–1999: ''Baduizm'' and ''Live''
Baduizm, Badu's debut album, was released in early 1997. The album met with critical and commercial success, debuting at number two on the Billboard charts and number one on the U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Baduizms commercial and critical success helped establish Badu as one of the emerging neo soul genre's leading artists. Her particular style of singing drew many comparisons to Billie Holiday. Baduizm was certified three times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, Gold by the British Phonographic Industry and the Canadian Recording Industry Association.The album produced four singles; the lead single "On & On" was released in December 1996, and reached number 12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts and the UK Singles Charts, as well as making an appearance on the New Zealand charts. The album and lead single also gave Badu her first nomination and win at the Grammy Awards, where "On & On" won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and the album won Best R&B Album.
Badu recorded her first live album, Live, while pregnant with Seven, and the release of the recording coincided with his birth. The album was released on November 18, 1997 and reached number four on the U.S. Billboard 200
and number one on the U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The album was certified two times platinum by RIAA for shipments of over two million copies. The album's lead single, "Tyrone", was released in October 1997 and became another R&B hit single. "Tyrone", lyrically, is a song chiding a selfish, cheap, and inattentive boyfriend.
Badu also collaborated with the Roots on their breakthrough 1999 release Things Fall Apart. She was featured on the song "You Got Me", by The Roots and American woman rapper Eve. Co-written by Jill Scott, the song peaked at 39 in the U.S. and 31 in the UK. The song went on to win The Roots and Badu a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 1999.
2000–2006: ''Mama's Gun'' and ''Worldwide Underground''
After taking some time off to raise her child, Badu returned in 2000 with Mama's Gun. The album was characterized as more organic in sound than her previous studio album, and primarily produced by the Soulquarians and noted bassist Pino Palladino. A remix of one of the album's songs, "Bag Lady", was issued as the first single and topped the R&B charts for seven weeks. The album was well-received, with the lyrical content winning notices from many publications. Reviewers found some of her lyrics hard to decipher on her initial releases. The album debuted as number three on the U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Despite not charting as high as her first two albums, Mama's Gun was another platinum-selling success, and "Bag Lady" was nominated for a Grammy Award.By 2000, Badu was in a romantic relationship with fellow Soulquarian Common. The two released "Love of My Life " as a collaboration on the Brown Sugar soundtrack. "Love of My Life" hit #9 on the pop charts, topped the R&B listings, and in 2003 Badu was awarded her fourth Grammy Award for it.
In 2001 Badu embarked on the Mama's Gun World Tour. The tour started in North America on February 10 in Cleveland, Ohio at the Allen Theatre.
After the release of Mama's Gun and "Love of My Life", Badu suffered writer's block.
On September 16, 2003, she released her third studio album, Worldwide Underground. The album was more jam-oriented than any of her prior releases, and Badu said that the album was designed to be "one continuous groove." Upon its release Worldwide Underground met with some criticism for its loose, unconventional structure and songwriting, but the album received generally positive reviews from critics.
Commercially the album fared well and debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart in the week of October 4, 2003, selling 143,561 copies in its first week. Ultimately spending 11 weeks on the Billboard 200, it also entered at number two on Billboards Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and spent 30 weeks on the chart. By December 2003, the album had sold 394,000 copies domestically. On October 28, 2003, Worldwide Underground was certified gold in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America, following sales in excess of 500,000 copies in the United States. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the album has sold 609,000 copies in the United States.
Its first single, "Love of My Life ", peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The second single "Danger" reached number 82 on the Hot 100 and number 27 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, while the third single "Back in the Day " peaked at number 62 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Badu received four further Grammy nominations for the album. She also contributed to Zap Mama's album Ancestry in Progress, adding her vocals to the track "Bandy Bandy."
Badu embarked on the "Worldwide Underground Tour" in 2004. The U.S. trek kicked off February 3 in New Orleans and ran through the winter and spring with supporting act Floetry joining the tour February 5 in Houston. The Roots made a special opening act appearance at the February 11 show in Los Angeles. Badu resumed the tour during the fall with additional dates in America and Europe.
In 2005, she was a judge for the 4th Annual Independent Music Awards, to support independent artists' careers. Badu co-founded the Sugar Water Festival with Queen Latifah and Jill Scott. The trek played to amphitheaters and arenas in the United States during the summer of 2005 and 2006. It began in 2005 as an event to bring awareness to health issues to African-American women. British duo Floetry opened shows during the 2005 run. The festival was relaunched briefly in 2006 with Kelis opening the show and comedian Mo'Nique hosting the festival. 2006 was its final year. The festival had plans to expand into Europe and Asia, but this did not come to fruition. The Summer Tour was a concert tour in 2006 by Badu. The tour started on June 10, in Knoxville, TN, with three shows in the U.S., and resumed in July for several shows in Europe. Badu co-headlined on dates in August with Jill Scott and Queen Latifah at the Sugar Water Festival.