Erykah Badu
Erykah Badu
Erykah Abi Wright, better known by her stage name Erykah Badu, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, activist, and actress. Badu's career began after opening a show for D'Angelo in 1994 in her hometown; record label executive Kedar Massenburg was highly impressed with her performance and signed her to Kedar Entertainment. Her first album, Baduizm, was released on February 11, 1997. It spawned three singles: "On & On", "Next Lifetime" and "Otherside of the Game". The album was certified triple...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionR&B Singer
Date of Birth26 February 1971
CityDallas, TX
CountryUnited States of America
I've had two children. I've had three boyfriends. I've had a lot of things happen that can change your opinions and values and philosophies.
Oh, yeah, I see the world differently now. Actually, when I first had the baby, I was breast-feeding him for two years straight. So we were together for two years of his life, every single day, all hours of the day. So I was two people, and I eventually morphed back into one
I started performing at two or three on a tape recorder, one of those little flat recorders where you just push play and record.
Music and the music business are two different things.
I lived in Brooklyn for a couple of years. The community is very close-knit already. I remember it was raining that day, so it was a weird kind of funk on the crowd. It was so endearing to feel everybody coming together. It was almost like a cleansing. It felt super-new, renewing.
It was a really good experience for all of us. We each used our platforms to make other statements besides entertainment. We're artists who are often unheard. And Dave has chosen to define himself. I'm with that and I love him for that.
Erykah Badu projects don't even sound like Erykah Badu projects. I don't even have one album that sounds like another one of my albums.
When you're performing, you're creating a moment.
I don't have any particular thing I do ritualistically. I do the same thing every day. I get up. Drink a lot of water. Have a wheatgrass shot. Drink some green juice. Eat as healthy as I can.
I've been a vegetarian since I was 19.
During childbirth and hospice I'll sing gospel songs that my grandma taught me when I was younger, or something I've made up, or I'll hum. I just play things that I think the audience will like.
I have so much music that I do. Just like how a visual artist is always sketching something but they might not share it, I'm always writing songs or coming up with melodic lines on piano or guitar. It's therapy. It's always happening.
If you want to relate to a certain audience or generation, you have to speak their language. I truly believe that.
Anything that had to do with art I been doing all my life. It was a gift. It's nothing I work real hard at doing.