Soul Sister, Street Soldier, Groove Goddess, Funk Empress, Esoteric Thespian- all these tags and many more apply when you’re referring to the always regal, Ms. Erykah Badu. All through her career, from the amazing soul swirl of “On & On” featured on Baduizm – her stunning debut LP- to, her triumphant resurgence with last year’s New Amerykah Part One, she continues to stand alone in a field filled with endless numbers of musical clones. She effortlessly channels the spirit of greats like Nina Simone and Billie Holiday and siphons it so soulfully through funk, hip-hop, jazz and rock to create a sound that’s uniquely hers. On a fine afternoon in late June, ChinaShop was granted some special one-on-one time with Ms. Badu where she fielded questions about her life, music, community outreach and the songs currently in heavy rotation on her I-pod.
Badu’s Soulful Alchemy:
The first topic of discussion is her new album that drops later this year. This is her second album in two years, and that’s a rarity in itself.
EB: It’s a continuation of [last year’s] record. I recorded it all at the same time – and just split it into two projects. This new one, Amerykah Part 2, is the right brain counterpart to the first one whereas last year’s was the left brain expression of where I am right now. This new project is for the emotional man and Part 1 was for the thinking man.
She goes on to explain the meaning behind the phrase, “Return of the Ankh” added into the title of the upcoming project –[the Ankh being the ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic character that symbolizes eternal life.]
EB: It’s a rebirth of consciousness for us all,” she intones, “for the slaves and for the slave masters alike. It’s the beginning of a new thought process, a healing for our planet. That’s what I see in my mind right now. I’ve felt it for a while now, and as I grew more into adulthood I felt it more. I feel people are moving towards a state of more physical, mental and spiritual health.
One would think Erika would be feeling immense amounts of pressure dropping a fresh project after last year’s critically-lauded opus. Perhaps all the adulation for Amerykah Part 1 was because the fans hadn’t heard from her in so long, or maybe it was the buzz generated by interest in her personal life (even in her musical absence, the rumor mills were going strong about her May-December romance with rapper Jay Electronica). Regardless of what the underlying factors were, it’s a fact that damn near everyone loved her new stuff. Amerykah’s first single “Honey,” produced by 9th Wonder , was lovingly embraced, and music reviewers and journalists from both high and low brow publications sang the praises of Erykah’s return. When it came time to rank the top releases of 2008, influential DJs and radio personalities (including the UK’s well-revered Gilles Peterson) placed it at the very top of their lists. So yeah, there must have been some anxiety on her end …
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The RE:GENERATION MUSIC PROJECT produced in association with The GRAMMYs® and presented by Hyundai Veloster examines the history of different music through the eyes of five of the most influential electronic producer/DJ’s in music today. For the project, Mark Ronson, DJ Premier, The Crystal Method, Pretty Lights and Skrillex each take a specific musical style and explore it by writing and recording a brand new track with a grouping of influential collaborators in that genre. The entire experience comes to life in the RE:GENERATION feature documentary directed by award-winning documentarian Amir Bar-Lev (“My Kid Could Paint That,” “The Tillman Story”) and due in theaters nationwide this February.
