Erykah Badu: C /D, S&D

What I've heard by her I'm indifferent to. Indifferent, note: not excited, but not repulsed as I am by Macy Gray and her acolytes. I can't help thinking that Badu was the (unwitting?) catalyst for the whole odious u-soul thing in that she appeared before any of its perpetrators (and before Lauryn Hill had gone solo) and her influence seems to have run through those who have followed.

So: Erykah Badu - not dud / subsequent nu-soul - ultimate dud.

Macy Gray needs to go far, far away. Jill Scott rocks the house like nobody's business.

i was just expressing to josh how much i like jill scott better than erykah. i need to think about this for a while.

"On and On" was great. Subsequently releases have been progressively mediocre (funny how D'Angelo and Erykah have both nosedived considerably as the genre they helped create has risen in profile). Jill Scott is much better, 'cos she has actual tunes, delightful voice and relatively nice production. Angie Stone should be a house diva, not an R&B diva. Musiq Soulchild is forgettable. India.Arie = too far pleased with herself.

If Miles actually said that about Louis Armstrong, he's an even bigger idiot than I thought he was, and you're an even bigger idiot than him for going along with that nonsense.

BTW, unlike TimF I think that Erykah Badu and D'Angelo have improved a lot since their debuts.

Ooh, two top lies in one small sentence. a. Miles hated Satchmo = rubbish, because he workshipped him and never stopped saying so. b. Satchmo as Uncle Tom = typical latecome look-at-me advertorial by young soon-to-be-sellouts manipulatively presenting THEIR industry-friendliness as some species of Radical Cultural Politics. Armstrong = most revolutionary American artist of 20th century in all art-forms (by some way).

Destiny's Child = second. (OK, I'm joking. Fourth.)

But this bullshit about you-chumps-are-in-denial-blah-blah is still bullshit.

I agree! The music industry does it all time! To say they don't and i'm crazy for thinking so is seriously pathetic. When Ms. Badu first came out she was critically acclaimed and recieved lots of airplay. As she progressed as an artist her views and music became more radical. The american press and radio pretty much pushed her aside. The record company didn't publisize her last record in the states at all. Now that her head is shaved and she's talking hardcore black power, she is a complete nobosy as far as the buisness is concerned. Fortunatly she can still pack an arena so she can still make hers. Bling Bling. Oh and Miles did say that about Satchmo.

Using me to go off on a misdirected rant = DUD.

saw her on wednesday at manchester apollo -she asked the crowd "y'all wanna throw y' hands in the air and scream y' own name?" and then everybody (everybody!) did just that.

you didn't get that on radiohead's tent tour i'll tells y' that.

"Love of My Life" has the honour of being the first track that I regret not hearing in time for a best of 2002 list. It's not the first hip-hop nostalgia song, but it's the first one I've heard that really gives a feeling of what it's like to grow up with hip-hop ("I met him when I was a lttle girl...") And then Common genderfucks the personification, and even gives the gangstas their due (aside: is Electric Circus any good?) If the track lacks harsh words to say about its subject, that's not the purpose of odes.

Nice orchestral/kitchen appliance/something sound FX too. Anyone know who produced this - Erykah, or someone else?

I dont know where to start, this is crass racial paternalism at it's most disgusting.

.....or perhaps it's simply a difference of opinion.

one of the best artists of the last ten years.

Finally:

Erykah Badu revealed the new title of her fourth album, "Nu AmErykah," to a small room of fans in New York's Electric Lady studios last Thursday (Dec. 6). The set is due Feb. 26 via Universal Motown.

In reference to the prior provisional title, "Kabbah," Badu says that that name was never final and that she prefers to wait and title her albums once they're finished.

"I named this album 'Nu AmErykah' because I'm dealing with whatever is to come instead of what was," said Badu, decked out in jeans, a red kimono and her trademark afro. "In taking on a project like this, I'm taking the responsibility to talk for my race and my planet. I'm sure the record company will make their money and they've given me the blessing of time."

Badu's last EP, "Worldwide Underground," arrived in 2003 without much fanfare, but it still sold 609,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. "I didn't feel like doing the whole promotional circuit for that record," she admitted. "I'd just had a baby."

Making up for lost time, "Nu AmErykah" includes 18 songs that will be spread over two separately sold discs. The first single, "Honey," was produced by 9th Wonder and the '70s soul-tinged "Soldier 7" may be the follow-up track.

"We've waited almost 10 years for this album to come," said Universal executive vice president and Motown president Sylvia Rhone. "She inspires, sets trends and does music that no one's done before. Male, female, black white can listen to her and come away with something."

Here is the track list for "Nu AmErykah":

"American Promise"
"The Healer"
"Me"
"My People"
"Speech"
"Soldier 7"
"The Cell"
"Twinkle"
"Love Me"
"Honey"
"Emotions"
"Don't Be Long"
"YPOM"
"Hot Slow Jam"
"Jump Up in the Air"
"Loretta Brown"
"Dirty Dirty"
"The Healer Outro"

release date?

Feb. 26th

awes

i love her.

...and I still haven't fucking heard Mama's Gun. WTF?

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/9453/ebadnewamerykahokpthumbrc8.jpg

that is so awesome

I have to say, I still think she's quite high on herself and quite possibly nuts, but her music has grown on me -- and most of my favorite artists are damn high on themselves and entirely nuts anyway.

'Otherside of the Game' is a very pretty song.

Worldwide Underground has really grown on me, I love that shit.

'The Healer' on YouTube.

That's good.

Yeah. I was worried that there wouldn't be any weird/playful shit on this album, just boring "soulful" beats.

Badu caters to the record geeks in her video for "Honey":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNJt5ADHzIY

Can YOU name all the albums?

the only ones i didnt know were the diana ross one and the rufus+chaka one.

nice video. she looks pretty hot doing the ohio players sleeve.

I still think she's quite high on herself and quite possibly nuts

This album will remove any doubt on the latter proposition. Whoa!

yeah this shit is crazy. "The Cell"!!! WOW.

"Soldier" & "Telephone" are wicked as well... can't wait to buy this on tuesday.

this is hotness

"The Cell" and "Master Teachers" are both !!!!!!!!!!!

Honestly, "Honey" at the end of the album after all this can't help but sound a little meh.

dang youze guys are good at finding this stuff, I feel so old-fashioned for having to wait

havent heard any of this new stuff aside from honey. is it in the vein of WWU aka sounds like moodymann producing it?

It seems the total flip of WU. Both are diffuse, but that one felt relaxed and smooth and this one is some cracked avant nuttiness.

I love that "Honey" video, though. When the beat gets all militant as the "support your local record store" title flashes up and then the freaky Planet of the Apes ending?!

there were some (relatively) hard beats on WWU! "diffuse" is a pretty good description, though.

hmm, i cant wait to hear this shit.

That's true (I forgot how some of the songs on WU/WWU approach near-technoid quality), but the new one has hard beats and even harder melodies/harmonies/hooks/synth lines.

"Honey" is one of the best songs out

(xpost) I love that the opening track is sort of a fake out that way.

I was bored by most of WU, this sounds like a big return to Mama's Gun stuff, which is pretty much the apex of avant-soul to me. Yay times 20000. /raggett

i would call WWU "atmospheric" for lack of better term. the songs all kind of flowed together, the songs seemed less "written" and more improvised. i was kind of hoping for her to go further down that route, but really with the way the recent jill scott albums have sucked and the fact that maxwell and d'angelo are nowhere to be found, it will just be good to have someone making some good soul in the limelight again.

The irony is that this one sounds a lot MORE like a collective jam session than WWU, at first listen.

There's a lot of skippable experimental shit on WWU, but there are some pretty tight tunes on there too (the track w/Dead Prez, Danger, the Funk You Up remake, Back in the Day).

I loved it when I first bought it, but I can only stand one (1) song about the glory of marijuana on an album and that one had like seven it seemed like.

I should add that there are a couple other, um, traditional neo-soul tracks mixed in here. "Soldier" for sure, and "Me" is pretty straight up Mama's Gun stuff.

WWU had "Bump It" then "Back in the Day" then "I Want You" = stone cold classic.

Lyric from "Me": "I salute you Farrakhan, 'cause you are me."

UH OH

lol

The change in "That Hump" ... wau!

It's at this point that I disclose I'm not to be trusted on matters Badu. I am as blinded by fandom as Badu and I are both w.r.t Chaka Khan.

what the hell is the point of being all objective about E.Badu -- or Chaka Khan really either? they fine, they weird, rara aves, let 'em fly

"Got love for my folks/ Baptized when the levee broke."

Oh man "Soldier" is so righteous.

...and I still haven't fucking heard Mama's Gun. WTF?

-- The Reverend, Tuesday, December 11, 2007 4:53 AM (2 months ago)

you should definitely do this now if you haven't already.

The change in "That Hump" ... wau!

-- Eric H., Friday, February 22, 2008 8:06 PM (3 days ago)

Yes! this song is incredible.

I'm so in love with this album OMG.

I don't see how New Amerykah Pt. 2: Return of The Ahnk (out in July) can top this.

this album is so great

this album is kind of bleak though, it's like a post-crack blaxploitation soundtrack or something.. "that hump" is brutal

wowowowowow loving this

you should definitely do this now if you haven't already.

-- The Brainwasher, Sunday, February 24, 2008 11:15 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

i know, right?

Yeah, this album's second half is intense and terrifying.

And then comes "Honey."

DAMN YOU GUYS WHERE DO YOU FIND THSI STUFF

glad everyone likes this so much. cant wait to hear it.

wow "The Cell."

I cannot wait to hear this tomorrow.

D5, it's as simple as a well-timed Google blog search.

man this album is good

this album is like the ultimate sum-is-more-than-the-parts and i think she deserves the credit for that

haha eric h. what do you think i've been doing for the last few days? well other than being sick as fuc and taking a shitload of ibuprofen and trying not to scream that is.

Hmm, maybe it's down already. I found it pretty quick.

yeah, search "amerykah"

does no one feel guilty that they have got this for free?

this album is like the ultimate sum-is-more-than-the-parts and i think she deserves the credit for that

yeah definitely, when I heard "Badu over Sa-Ra, Madlib,, & 9th Wonder beatz" I was like "eh....." but this is amazing.

I'm buying it tomorrow so I don't feel guilty at all. Those that aren't buying it SHOULD feel guilty and BURN IN HELL tho.

yeah definitely, when I heard "Badu over Sa-Ra, Madlib,, & 9th Wonder beatz" I was like "eh....." but this is am

ok, this makes me excited.

Yeah I'm-a hit up Target at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow.

im very excited. im gonna wait til it comes out properly though.

i havent felt a single sa-ra track thus far. hopefully this will change when i get this one tomorrow.

not even this one?

I don't feel guilty to the extent that I didn't get the review copy I was supposed to be sent.

Not that I write reviews anywhere, but ...

I'm buying it tomorrow so I don't feel guilty at all. Those that aren't buying it SHOULD feel guilty and BURN IN HELL tho.

-- The Brainwasher, Monday, February 25, 2008 11:08 AM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

b-b-b-but I am broke. Why are you condemning all us broke folk to eternal fire?

hay I'm a poor college student! I saved my lunch money for this. NO EXCUSES!!

you need to work harder. hahahaha.

and yeah, not that track either. i just dont understand sa-ra. they were one of those "i heard the hype long before i heard any of their music" types, and nothing has even been remarkable to me in any way. in fact, i kind of hate them. but if they bring the goods for ms badu, that's whats up.

To be clear, I will buy this one.

i love the living daylights out of this. the sleeve artwork and lyric sheet artwork is killer too.

I'm a poorer college student who doesn't have any lunch money! Prick.

no lunch money? wow :(

poor thing

literally LOLOLOLZ

wow "The Cell."

-- Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, February 25, 2008 3:28 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

The breakbeat on this is suspiciously similar to the one on As One's "Planetary Folklore" (or some other late '90s Degiorgio track).

Reposting 'cause I'm more likely to get an answer in this thread:

Anyone know who's responsible for the crazy synth shit on some of those late '70s Nancy Wilson albums (one of the tracks off Music on My Mind is the root of "Honey")? Guessing it's either Larry Farrow or Clarence McDonald. Probably need to get whatever other albums this person is on -- I have "Sunshine," off another Wilson album from the same era, on a comp and love that too.

-- Andy K, Sunday, February 24, 2008 4:38 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Link

yeah I have no idea.. but I heard the original track for 'honey' 'i'm in love' and it doesn't have any of that awesome sythy-ness, so i'm guess 9th wonder got a live band to play over the sample or something

I know people who still refuse to listen to Badu for her plagarism of the Mizells on the last couple albums.

well, maybe not "refuse to listen," but bring it up every time they do

They might not make it past the first track of this one if they have the RAMP album.

yeah, there is that too, but i just thought of that track as a call-to-arms-cum-fakeout ... wonder if part two will open with it as well.

yeah yeah, wave of hand.

This is great.

Eric H it sounds like you need some new friends.

Clearly I made those friends up.

what do u dudes think this album will sell

Well, Clive Davis will not hear a single, that's for damn sure.

I haven't checked to see how well "Honey" is doing.

I'm awful fond of the reading of the Peter Finch "mad as hell" speech from Network.

I'm buying two tomorrow! Just kidding, but I am buying one. Erykah is one of those that I actually feel the old fashioned need to support so she stays around.

"They might not make it past the first track of this one if they have the RAMP album.

-- Andy K"

what did they jack from that one for this album?

"american promise"

xpost - "Honey" did pretty good on Urban Adult-Contemporary radio, but outside of that it underperformed.. I don't think this will sell huge numbers but, much like Jill Scott, Erykah has a pretty solid fanbase so I think she'll do around 150K first week and go at least gold.

plus, they're really promoting this - i've seen a few commercials, they have a starbucks tie-in, etc. it'll do respectably.

how much of the mizell's did she "plagiarize"? besides johnny hammond smith. and she covered Think Twice, right? did these fake friends never listen to tribe, black moon, main source?

I think both "Booty" and "Time's A Wastin," right?

Personally, I don't find it altogether problematic, and my imaginary friends and I aren't really on speaking terms anymore.

can't wait to hear this!

xpost - i kind of hate sa ra too. never added up to much apart from one or two songs and great interview quotes.

The Cell is so amazing.

See...this record is the bizness. The slurry almost-Theo Parrish production on "Twinkle" is killing me. And Badu is still on another brain plane lyrically. This is great.

It sounds like Pino Palladino playing on "The Cell." The bass is what makes the song....

Yeah serious album of the decade potential.

MOVE OVER BIG & RICH

i came home a little drunk from a show last night and apparently i itunes'd this.

is that roy hargrove on 'me'?

hell yeah that's roy hargrove

also the bass player all over this thing is my new favorite bass player, with an appropriately awesome name: Stephen "Thunder Cat" Bruner!

is the opening track an old roy ayers track, or a new roy ayers production? it sounds antique, in the best way.

Bruner even plays on "The Cell"? Sounds so much like Pino....

"is the opening track an old roy ayers track, or a new roy ayers production?"

its a sample from a roy ayers produced group called RAMP.

is that one of the sa-ra guys on amerykahn promise pretending to be dr funkenstein?

xpost - "Honey" did pretty good on Urban Adult-Contemporary radio, but outside of that it underperformed

It's still climbing, albeit very slowly (#29 now, #30 last week, #32 the week before that), on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart.

which tracks did sa-ra produce, anyway?

3 - Shafiq Husayn
6 - Shafiq Husayn, Erykah Badu
7 - Taz Arnold, Shafiq Husayn, Erykah Badu, Mike Chavarria
8 - Shafiq Husayn
9 - Erykah Badu, Om'Mas Keith, Shafiq Husayn

(Husayn, Arnold, Keith = Sa-Ra)

"is the opening track an old roy ayers track, or a new roy ayers production?"

its a sample from a roy ayers produced group called RAMP.

-- titchyschneiderMk2, Tuesday, February 26, 2008 5:08 PM (40 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Hehe -- yeah, basically some voices over the WHOLE of "The American Promise." The RAMP album (which is so much more than "Daylight," "Everybody Loves the Sunshine") was reissued in the States last year by Verve and is very cheap.

Apparently I like Sa-Ra alot, since I think the album's B-side is the stronger one.

But, man, is it all good.

Oh, and Roy Ayers, Edwin Birdsong and William Allen are all credited as producers/writers on track one.

sa-ra just have the worst vocals ever on their own material. which is why it sucks so bad a lot of the time. they should stick to producing for other people, like erykah or bilal or whoever and STFU or just make instrumentals. then again i find a lot of their own stuff derivative or just too 'soft' anyway.

im sure roy doesnt mind - he was on mamas gun anyway.

the sa-ra hate is retarded. vocals are so rad. unfortunately the album the eventually released sucked. singles and weird shit that was passed around on cdr for years before album is mindblowing.

Telephone is a eulogy to dillah. especially apparent w/the sirens he used all over donuts. also love the fact that she redid one of my favorite songs - eddie kendricks "my people" also used on donuts.

Cover reminds me of The O'Jays' SURVIVAL.

I would really like to hear Erykah Badu cover Siouxsie & the Banshees, particularly Tinderbox-era songs.

have to agree w jaxon on sa ra. i obtained said cd-r of sa-ra instrumentals/bsides in 2002, and they were fucking brilliant pieces of synthy/damaged soul hip-hop. at the time everyone was jocking; kanye, common, all wanted a piece of sa-ra production.since then, they've done alot of work, but somehow kind of fizzled in many peoples eyes. some of the remix work is great, some of it's not so great. that album they released later on ubiquity is aight but nothing near the expectations people had after all those tracks that were passed around. the work they did on this badu record i have to say though is pretty amazing.

I rather like Dan's idea.

I love Karriem Riggins (even though his track here isn't one of the flashier ones).

sick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55Lf1wMylIE

couple tracks in so far, feeling it.

Telephone is a eulogy to dillah. especially apparent w/the sirens he used all over donuts. also love the fact that she redid one of my favorite songs - eddie kendricks "my people" also used on donuts.

OTM, that kendricks track is mind-blowing. would love to hear the whole LP it came from. telephone kills me, i loved common's dilla tribute on finding forever too. thanks titchy and andy for RAMP info.

jaw drops around 1:30 (xpost)

Look for Michael Jackson’s little sister Janet to enter next week’s chart at #1, with her new IDJ album Discipline headed for 180k in sales, give or take. Universal Motown’s neo-soul stalwart Erykah Badu is a lock for #2 (hey, that rhymes) with between 125-135k.

kinda low :-/

actually that's pretty good! considering "honey"wasn't that big... I expected about 150K and it can still probably do that.

Janet, however... those numbers are sad.

x-post -- Yeah, but given the business climate and all, not surprising.

stevie, that Kendricks album is unfortunately nothing like the title track. the rest is nice sweet soul. i remember one other good track on it.

OTM, that kendricks track is mind-blowing. would love to hear the whole LP it came from.

The album of which you speak, People...Hold On, does blow much, much mind from beginning to end. Now I gotta put on "Eddie's Love."

i am listening to the ramp track now. hahahaha, awesome!

haha, the singer on the ramp stuff sounds kinda badu-ish.

my favorite ramp song is that disco-ish one that got reissued on 12" recently ... i cant remember what its called but i bought a copy and like it more than anything (yes anything!!) on the lp

: D : D : D : D

People... Hold On has five classics at the least: My People Hold On, Date With the Rain, Girl You Need a Change of Mind, If You Let Me, Eddie's Love. A couple others are hardly filler.

Most solo Kendricks tracks are worth listening to because of that sweet sweet voice of his.

this is good but nowhere near as good as mama's gun. needs more rhodes!

i agree w/chaki

so far (i've only listened to the whole thing once and have listened to the first half like 4 or 5 times), The Healer, My People and The Cell are standouts.

anyone know what the sample/break is on the Cell or if that's live drumming looped?

Badu on SoulStage:

http://www.vh1.com/video/play.jhtml?id=1582333&vid=212498

I need to see her live.

i agree w/chaki & jaxon. there aren't a lot of hooks here, and the healer is my favorite.

pretty sure the drums on the cell are not live.

Hooks? You're worried about HOOKS, and comparisons to earlier records, and trying to trainspot drum sounds, when there is all this twisted shit on display? Seriously? Wow. That's...admirable, I guess. I'm just trying to imagine looking at music that way anymore.

plus, there are lots of hooks on this album.

Actually I'm a little surprised that, until now, the ILX reaction was as uniformly positive as it was. This is a pretty uncompromising album on the whole.

"to all my girls in therapy
see i'm a tell you this for free"

wooo!

only heard it once, but so far my favorite thing is that the album ends with "honey".

Hooks? You're worried about HOOKS

yes, because they make songs sound good.

and comparisons to earlier records

yes, because she made one much better than this.

Wow. That's...admirable, I guess. I'm just trying to imagine looking at music that way anymore.

wow. whatta douche.

this a very good, interesting album. i like it in its own right. mamas gun is way better, songwise, but this is still good in its own way. theres some things i wish were a bit diff about it and its not the masterpiece you guys have all made it out to be but my interest is piqued for part 2 this year.

i wish they replayed the RAMP song rather than just loop it up like they have done.

"Hooks? You're worried about HOOKS

yes, because they make songs sound good."

they are not the only thing that makes songs good.

"and comparisons to earlier records

yes, because she made one much better than this."

i mean, i love her older stuff very much, but i am definitely way into the route she is going.

"Wow. That's...admirable, I guess. I'm just trying to imagine looking at music that way anymore.

wow. whatta douche.

-- chaki"

personally, i'm all about artists just doing their thing. i get the vibe from her last 2 joints that she no longer feels like she has to compromise her sound in any way, and i think her music is all the better for it. hiphop and soul are not separate in her world, and i like that. it's not about songs, but about pure feeling and mood which i also really like. someone somewhere mentioned this album being like "Voodoo", and i kind of agree with that in general, but it is not like they sound alike in any way really. it's the way they achieve what they do, it's like "ambient soul" or something, and it is far more interesting to me than just another "hook" or whatever.

i'm not saying this album is an instant classic, it seems too difficult of a record to say something like that about without hearing it more times than i have so far. but i really like it, and i will be playing it enough that if it is a classic, it will shine through.

except for that last line, i kinda agree w/ pcock

honestly, i'm more excited about discovering this RAMP album! it's great.

I've already listened to this one about 15 times.

It's probably a classic.

in the last complex, there's a blurb claiming erykah produced the whole thing in GarageBand.

sounds like it

does that mean on top of what all the other producers gave her?

you should email her and ask.

i heard she answers all her emails in Outlook

hey would an ex-fan who saw her live on the MAMA'S GUN tour and became pretty disenchanted soon after be advised to get this? i listened to the first album obsessively, thought ...GUN had it's moments, didn't bother with the third album.

nah you'd hate it.

????

hey chaki why are you trolling this thread

oh yeah I'm a douche, never mind

bye everyone!

as much of a troll chaki is, i don't think he's trolling on this thread at all. it's not a perfect album. it's good and i'm warming up to it, but it's not her best work

=/= 'youd hate it'

i love the new album, but i could see why someone who loved baduizm but hated mama's gun might hate this - its another (awesome) step away from the first album's (awesome) relative orthodoxy.

im not trolling you just said something completely douchey.

"Wow. That's...admirable, I guess. I'm just trying to imagine looking at music that way anymore."

way to be completely fucking condescending.

Erykah Badu: New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War (Motown) I know when I make my albums, I like to give 'em titles that roll off the tongue like this one! Let's be frankish: Ms. Badu is one classy lady, a warm and very convincing singer who garnered boatloads of attention a few years back not just for her voice but for intriguing headgear ensembles--and she'll never release a Pt. 2 of this thing for all eternity! Featuring the late J. Dilla , Bilal, Madlib, and a bunch of other well known guys who appear on albums like this, NAP14WW--not a postal code but an acronym!--continues her distinguished and singular tradition of fine albums by Erykah Badu! Buy it and keep her favorite millinery supply house in business!

from some Yahoo! dude's music blog

This record is so fucking good.

I just had to say that again.

I'm done waffling. Total masterpiece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF4H4ebFVWE

^^ that's kinda what this album sounds like to me

from some Yahoo! dude's music blog

i swear it's not me!

"the first album's (awesome) relative orthodoxy."

what? there wasnt much orthodoxy on the first album, not compared to mamas gun anyway. that was a much more (brilliantly) traditional sounding record. stuff like apple tree and on and on though sounded very modern.

Big interview/feature article on her in the Sunday New York Times by writer Melana Ryzik excerpt:

She took time off to care for her two children — she also has a daughter, Puma, 3, with the rapper D.O.C. (Her kids’ beds, mattresses on the floor, are feet away from hers in her Brooklyn living room. The family mostly lives in a house in Dallas.) Meanwhile the music industry entered the digital age, and Ms. Badu, a self-described “analog girl in a digital world,” was in danger of being left behind.

But in 2004 ?uestlove gave her a computer — her first — for Christmas. She chatted online with producer friends like him, Q-Tip and J Dilla, and they began to bombard her with music. “Everybody sending me these things, saying, ‘Erykah, come on, we want you back, we need you to do this,’ ” Ms. Badu said.

Her son introduced her to GarageBand, the music-making program for Macs, and she was off. With the laptop, “I could be here, in my own space, with headphones on, and the kids could be doing what they doing, and I’m cooking dinner still, I’m making juices still, and it’s so easy just to sing,” she said. “You got an idea — boom! Idea, boom!”

In about a year she wrote more than 75 songs, many of which she split among the three albums

Here's the link

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/arts/music/02ryzi.html?ref=music

Ms. Badu also plans to start a lifestyle magazine, The Freaq, this summer; the first issue will come with a copy of “New AmErykah: Part Two.” Both records will also be available on a U.S.B. stick for fans to plug into their computers; for added value Ms. Badu wants to record a U.S.B. commentary track to explain her references and inspiration. A tour will start in May.

“I swear to God, this must be my artistic peak,” Ms. Badu said in an earlier interview at Electric Lady

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/images/a_baldwin.jpg

SYNERGY

Finally heard Amerykah in its entirety. Just retrieved my jaw from the empty lot across the street.

this is fucking awesome btw did i say that

I'm still trying to make heads or tails of this. I am sure that I like it, I'm just not sure if it's as branemelting as everyone says it is.

nah some tracks are hella boring

Seriously. I'm a bit of a Badu fan, and I thought Worldwide Underground was the jam, and I do think this new one is pretty cool, but I just don't understand all the hyperbole in this thread. It's really not breaking any new ground, in my opinion.

i think its great but 'mindblowing' does feel a little strong
i dont really like 'master teachers'

why can't you people just let other people enjoy things.

ha deej was just coming here to say i really like master teachers

lolz @ lounge breakdown

I actually think "Master Teachers" might be my favorite song on the album. I'm loving whoever the other singer on it is.

it's georgia anne muldrow (and bilal)

why can't you people just let other people enjoy things.

-- The Brainwasher, Tuesday, March 4, 2008 12:33 AM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

ive been unreserved in my the-dream praise!! anyway whatever i still think this album rules

its funny how the ilx-consensus on erykah has changed so much from the beginning of this thread to now (and just cos a lot of neo soul sucked/sucks, doesnt mean the first wave of artists werent good - dangelo, erykahs first album, maxwell, groove theory - all classic IMO).

i still think the highpoints on baduzim and mamas gun definitely are better/more rewarding than those on the new album but its a different, denser, more difficult sort of album.

i dont like master teachers either. i hate georgia anne as a vocalist.

i'm still not freaking on it, but some stuff is growing on me. it seems like every song is about two minutes longer than i think it's going to be, and at that point either it switches up into something different or just keeps going and i get bored.

btw that whole quote about garage band sounds like she just used it to write/demo songs, not actually produce the record?

Yea, because she was then going into Electric Lady Studios.

And working with Madlib, 9th Wonder, and Sa-Ra

Chaki, why do you not like this album again?

i like it but its no mama's gun. tracks 9 and 10 are the best. alot of it has that dilla feel that is just plain tired to these ears.

honestly guys, she sounds terrible on that vocalese that she puts down on top of roy hargrove's solo.

ok, I am totally sold on this now

"The Cell" is in my head always

I saw whatever her new video is the other day and rofld. yay vinyl fetishism

that vocalese is only an interlude, tho. one that goes on too long, maybe, but not something i'll get in a fit over.

the album's biggest weakness imo is the call-to-ceremony RAMP ripoff, really.

amerykah promise is good i think, but it would be more effective if it was replayed rather than just looped up. its a bit lazy.

can't stop listening to Master Teachers

Ms. Badu-Badu-Badu's touring (and ridiculously good live if you have not yet had the opportunity...).

Touring with The Roots (in Boston and D.C. anyway), that is.

05/08/2008 Orpheum Theatre, Boston, MA
05/10/2008 Pier Six Concert Pavilion, Baltimore, MD
05/14/2008 Dar Constitution Hall, Washington, DC
05/15/2008 Dar Constitution Hall, Washington, DC
05/28/2008 Orpheum Theatre Memphis, Memphis, TN

oh snap

all you jerks need to do is have one listen to 'mamas gun.' track one alone is better than anything in the world.

this applies to 'amerykahn promise' right now

http://www.soulbounce.com/soul/assets_c/2008/02/badu_nigeria-thumb-200x305.jpg

http://www.soulbounce.com/soul/blog_images/erykah_moscowposter-thumb-200x313.jpg

http://www.soulbounce.com/soul/blog_images/e_badu_poster.jpg

Дyo!

hahaha

btw DO WANT moscow poster

still loving this

surprised there's no pitchfork review

i too have love for this

Still loving the 4th World War, not to mention this:

http://www.newyorker.com/images/2008/03/31/p233/080331_r17243b_p233.jpg

way better than i expected (the record, not her legs)

her legs, too

I get the impression that I'll never in a million years wrap my head completely around this record. Too many multitudes and shit.

Дyo!

-- The Reverend, Friday, April 11, 2008 10:49 AM (4 weeks ago) Bookmark Link

amerykah promise... would be more effective if it was replayed rather than just looped up. its a bit lazy.

-- titchyschneiderMk2, Monday, March 10, 2008 12:12 PM (Monday, March 10, 2008 12:12 PM) Bookmark Link

This is completely wrong. It's totally Pretty Toney-style songjack awesomeness.

songjack it is. i just dont think its awesomeness. id prefer it if they did what they did on didnt cha know on mamas gun.

Well, you're entitled to your own rong opinion.

it's just a neat looped sample with all this cool intro stuff going on over it. doesn't need anything else.

"THAT'S NOT SCIENCE"

as are you. despite being rongER.

her legs look nice up there. but her butt is even better.

"my ass and legs have gotten thick" indeed

Still on heavy rotation, and maybe always will be.

keep us informed.

This is the definitive album of my young adulthood.

stfo

Still on heavy rotation, and maybe always will be.

I'm still kinda weirdly ambivalent about this album, hoping Part Two grabs me more. I guess that's still due out in July?

haven't listened to this in weeks

thx 4 update (< playful snark)

havent listened to this in awhile since it came out but i have fond memories and im afraid they're rong so i'll wait a lil bit longer

'honey' is definitely a classic single tho

haven't listened to anything else in weeks*

* except kerri chandler

i still haven't listened to mama's gun (hangs head)

:(

thanx 4 the pic back n 15

Get ready to be happy or sad.

xpost?

i still haven't listened to mama's gun (hangs head)

-- blueski, Thursday, May 15, 2008 7:37 AM (Thursday, May 15, 2008 7:37 AM) Bookmark Link

I did end up picking up a used copy of Mama's Gun when I copped the new one. It's damn good, especially "Penitentiary Philosophy and "Didn't Cha Know" and "A.D. 2000", but I'm not nearly as fucking floored with it as New Amerykah, which I've listened to at least 30, maybe as many as 50 times. A few days ago, after listening to it three times in a row, I kind of had to remind myself that there's other music out there to be heard.

you lot are weird i swear.

you must not like old jazz-soul.

wtf sense does that make

I'm through the looking glass. Normally I'm the one telling people to calm the fuck down.

But yeah not sure what the jazz-soul bit means. This album is all Funkadelic like.

titchy wtf?

"that hump" is one of my fave songs ever

i am listening to the new album more now than i did when it came out. i have to say i liked it alot then, i love it now. it is definitely a more warm weather record IMO. "honey" especially sounds better with the windows down driving on the freeway when its like 80 degrees out, but the whole album really benefits. i love love love the intro track "30 thousand megawatts radiating your soul!". that shit kills me, totally P-Funk.

this one and "voodoo" are the landmark soul albums from my lifetime so far. i am really looking forward to the next parts!

just saying that saying 'this is better in every way than mamas gun' seems weird. sort of like people saying the roots' game theory or even the new one are better than things fall apart.

i know, right?

i really hope the other two albums shes made get to come out though - im dying to hear them.

I'm not going to say this is better in every way than Mama's Gun, but it's better in some ways than that album. Her first two albums were very much on a singular wavelength throughout most of the running time, which makes them GREAT albums for when you're in the mood for them, but a little impenetrable outside of that (Gun probably moreso than Baduizm). The new one is varied enough in texture that it's easy to slip into. Hence someone mentioning listening to it in top-down weather despite the album having really menacing stuff on it like "The Cell."

"The Cell" is one of the most top-down songs on the record! I figured out exactly which Stevie Wonder song it reminds me most of: "Too High".

Good analogy! Like "Too High," it's really dense musically but quite accessible.

Yes!

just saying that saying 'this is better in every way than mamas gun' seems weird. sort of like people saying the roots' game theory or even the new one are better than things fall apart.

-- titchyschneiderMk2, Friday, May 16, 2008 11:13 AM (Friday, May 16, 2008 11:13 AM) Bookmark Link

The "Their earlier stuff was better" fallacy is a classic. All I know is, hearing both albums for the first time concurrently, one strikes me as a pretty good, if slightly inconsistent, record (much like Baduizm, in fact), and the other strikes me as one of the best albums I've ever heard.

hay guyz, all three of her main albums are classic. no need to pick just one kthxbye.

I wasn't picking just one, I like all three of them.

Just by varying degrees, y'know.

"just saying that saying 'this is better in every way than mamas gun' seems weird. sort of like people saying the roots' game theory or even the new one are better than things fall apart.

-- titchyschneiderMk2"

except that the Roots earlier material is clearly far superior to their more recent, while Erykah has maintained a pretty high level across all of her records. i think that this one is the most interesting, daring, and quality of all of them though!

"the other strikes me as one of the best albums I've ever heard."

i am going to assume/hope you were referring to mamas gun. ;)

the whole album is quite righteous
now, Mama's Gun is an entire different ballpark for me

also: I want to know where she buys her wigs

xp: no

http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/2008/05/qa_with_erykah_badu.php

So excited.

My favorite album, Dark Side of the Moon, was meant to be a whole piece, just like mine.

o_O

I gotta say that ain't surprising!

i am seeing her show tomorrow! so excited you guys!!!

Tags: Erykah Badu, Joni Mitchell, Mos Def, Pink Floyd, The Roots, White Stripes

ooh, chris "the best drummer" dave is playing with erykah now?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d9eydCfTdw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFYl3Ho41P0

i wish that band was on the record.

people, this show. omg omg omg. if erykah badu had an army i'd enlist.

ahhhhhhhhhh
two of my friends were at that show, i almost got the 2nd ticket but it didnt work out :( must have been amaaaaazing

I wanted to go see her, but she was playing with the roots who totally suck and tickets were like $60. I'll catch her next time she comes, which should be soon

the roots did kind of suck. :( i mean, i don't think they suck in general, but their live show is a mess. but badu alone was worth the price, seriously. i keep trying to describe the show, but can't. i feel like i'm 13.

she sang "green eyes" off mama's gun while performing some crazy rhythmic gymnastics routine.

the roots were terrible when i saw them about a month ago, but i just NEED to see Erykah at this point, i would have paid anything. what happened to the Roots BTW, they are really maybe 1/50th of what they were 10 years ago.

the roots' show is almost always a mess. FFS would it hurt to come up with a setlist for once?

im seeing erykah end of june. i cant wait. if i was a woman i think id want to be erykah.

"the roots' show is almost always a mess. FFS would it hurt to come up with a setlist for once?

im seeing erykah end of june. i cant wait. if i was a woman i think id want to be erykah.

-- titchyschneiderMk2"

when i saw the roots in 99 and 01, they were outstanding. of course they only had good material to work with at that point, plus their guests (black moon, jill scott, jaguar wright, etc) were all extremely exceptional as well which helped them out.

i wonder what Pittsburgh's energy field is like that she can't play anywhere even within driving distance of us? she could hit baltimore, cleveland, DC, detroit, toronto all within a 4 hour drive from me, but she isnt not playing any of those places. how weak. even philly could be doable maybe, but i dont see anything about her playing there either.

roots were great when i saw them around '02 i think

last time i saw them was when the phrenology album was out. saw them twice that year. once in NY and next in london. good shows. but they do ramble on a bit. their shows never have much form.

Damn, I really want to see her this Thurs. but no car + venue in Redmond is : |

I feel for you there, the Rev. :-/

great review of the record from nabisco in pfork btw!!!

i think you nailed the nuance needed for the parts (politix, history-of-post-civil-rights-black-music, etc) that seemed likely to end up sinking it but that she managed to pull off

ok I think this album finally clicked for me.

the only part of nab's review that i didn't like was the part about the duet with the trumpet player (ie roy hargrove). a) the vocals seem pretty obviously overdubbed, and b) roy sounds great, but she sounds kinda terrible here?

roy hargrove's tone always sounds so weeded, which is appropriate

tru

that dude's niche is really adding those awesome blazed lines to r&b albums, not being a jazz trumpet hero or heading a record (the tracks w/d'angelo, badu, common, etc. on his own records are so terrible compared to the reverse).

man i love this album tho:

http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/images/local/250/79bf43d14163425496a6e34037ab8fca.jpg

"O My Seh Yeh"!!!

i was listening to this yesterday and was thinking that a lot of her 'conscious' rhetoric seems a bit too 'familiar'. like ive heard it a million times before ten years ago. its all that NWO-paranoia again but reworked.

http://www.soulstrut.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/NO.gif

im not saying its a corny rehash, just saying im not sure shes really changed her stance on anything since then. shes probably just been relistening to a lot of hip hop from back then - the healer lyrics really remind of me old essays people used to write about hip hop in say, rap-pages (lol) back in 1998/99.

i haven't heard that roy album. and i am actually interested in his new quintet album. actually.

So new album next month, no? Details are still pretty sketchy. Has me worried.

and she promised, at the end of 'honey'

holy fuck erykah live. mind. blown. coming on stage to 'a milli' ("where is erykah badu at?" an hour late is where erykah badu was at), 'the healer' was incredible, that version of 'appletree' which sounded like some sort of insane cybotron remix, and just how triumphant was 'soldier'...the woman is a fucking genius.

i got to meet her afterwards <3 <3 <3

sounds good. she's playing the blue balls festival in lucerne later this month - if only it had been happening when i'd been there, would've been extra surreal seeing her play somewhere like that

did you interview her?

show was brilliant. she is amazing.

no, about 15 journos/fans just got to sit with her for a while, ask questions and so on. she's really serene in person. um yeah, one of the most powerful shows i've been to i think. always astonished at how much she belts it out on stage - she's so understated on record, to hear a song like 'the healer' sung like that was mind-blowing.

ooh im jealous. i love erykah. wish she did more from mamas gun but i want you, danger and otherside of the game were amazing. i liked how amerykah promise sounded so fierce. also liked when she was tapping out beats on her drum machine!

'danger' - YES. one of my favourite erykah tracks, never heard it live before.

i was actually surprised she didn't do more from new amerykah - four tracks in it looked like she was going to play the whole thing in order. 'the cell' would have been incredible but i got no complaints really.

i didnt want her to do that much more from the new album. i think i enjoyed the last time i saw her a bit more just cos i love MG more than the new album, but she is still a really brilliant performer. even when she was talking about the occupation of countries etc, it was inspiring/interesting rather than soapbox-corny/preaching to the converted.

they should have had her at glasto.

ah well, i love NA more than MG (though obv huge love for both). agree about her political talk - also love that she brought that out right after a sequence of long-standing crowd favourites, just when the crowd was putty in her hands. she said some interesting stuff backstage - she was asked whether the obama campaign had got in touch with her or whether she'd accept an offer if they did, and she replied in the negative - she says she "doesn't know much about the system" (ie she distrusts everything about it) but obama's importance was in how he'd catalysed people as individuals to believe in whatever change they needed to effect in their own lives, personal and political.

o yeah brixton acad was a tad hot, don't you think!

its always too fucking hot. saw NERD the other week and felt quite disgusting.

i dont think obamas people get in touch with everyone thats donated a song - i doubt taz from sa-ra was asked personally! but he still did a song for it. i *almost8 did an eye roll when she talked about the system itself needing an overhaul but something about how she put it across was nicely cliche-free.

i really hope her other two albums come out this year. did anyone ask about those? is she trying to leave motown/universal?

her point was more about how the most significant impact of obama's presence and rhetoric of change has been to catalyse people as individuals, which will stand even if he doesn't become president or his presidency doesn't succeed politically.

word is that the next two albums are definitely on their way. don't think she's trying to leave anything.

"her point was more about how the most significant impact of obama's presence and rhetoric of change has been to catalyse people as individuals, which will stand even if he doesn't become president or his presidency doesn't succeed politically."

yeah i liked that part.

just remembered she didnt do next lifetime. :(

no The Cell, no Next Lifetime....WORST GIG EVER

erykah live from vh1 soulstage:

http://www.zshare.net/download/13987260bc0e496e/

http://www.imeem.com/okayplayer/video/JlZISmeE/okayplayer_erykah_badu_interview_on_okayplayertv_music_video/

check it around the 2.20 mark for amerykahn promise. so much better live. bit dissapointed shes got the same producers on part 2. i thought it was going to be less hip-hop sounding.

i'm pretty glad. part one got me into karriem riggins, and it sounded like there's gonna be enough guests on part two. her tentatively talking about andre 3000 makes it sound as if it isn't quite ready, though.

my brother's SLEEPing on my FLOOR bitch i could USE a little MORE is the line that is currently keeping on giving from that hump on new amerykah.

i'm just warning everyone, when i get my hands on some of her albums in the next month or two, i'm gonna be blabbering up a storm about it. just so you're prepared.

bit dissapointed shes got the same producers on part 2.

Not OTM at all. I've most definitely settled on NAP1 being her best album yet.

"I've most definitely settled on NAP1 being her best album yet."

the ilx consensus on erykah has always seemed a bit weird to me.

This board goes through goofy "female artist empowering" phases. First it was Missy Elliott, then it was M.I.A. and now it's Erykah Badu. All three are extremely overrated, even if Elliott and Badu are not entirely untalented.

yeah right

wherever there's a lot of praise, there's bound to be a certain level of annoyed doubt

mhmm

lol @ titchy and Vision

Surmounter, ok, but with these three, particularly w/ Erykah Badu, it became some kind of almost unchallenged superstitious belief in ILM. This kind of hyperbolic overpraising does not match their overall reputation outside this board.

okay i know what you mean, but i do think they are kind of aggrandized elsewhere as well.

yeah music critics love erykah not sure what vision is on abt?

HIS VISION MAN

Sure they are praised by others etc, but certainly not on the same level we see here, where their limitations usually go unmentioned. So it's about not being, for instance, a mere chorus of fawning Badu fanboys. In other words: giving her records the dignity of a sober assessment and *critical* praise, and having her music evaluated in the context of other/previous/better artists. The pro-Badu league here seems to be more socially than musically oriented sometimes.

but to some extent there's always going to be a glow surrounding any talented musician currently recording, no matter how evaluative it may or may not be.

badu has never been as praised as the other two, not on ilx or in the wider world. i can only explain the love the latest erykah album gets here as a result of this, like people werent really paying attention when MG came out.

You guys, it's not very hard; ILM tends to be about pop and indie. Badu hasn't been very pop since her debut and, arguably up until this last album, she's the wrong type of indie for most posters here to really lose their minds over her.

Surmounter, ok, but with these three, particularly w/ Erykah Badu, it became some kind of almost unchallenged superstitious belief in ILM. This kind of hyperbolic overpraising does not match their overall reputation outside this board

This is the kind of sensible nonsense easily cleared up by checking the Pazz & Jopp poll results and Metacritic ratings in the last six years for M.I.A. and Elliott.

vision's posts are perplexing in many ways, all of them dumb

Alfred Sotosyn, you make no sense. That exchange was not about whether Badu or Missy Elliott are talented (they are) or whether the critics have given them enough praise (they have), but how the fans of these two artists here in ILM, instead of being objective and balanced whey they talk about both, usually just repeat a certain obsequious, shallow party line about how great they are etc etc. Next time, trying paying attention to what's being said.

o_0

Next time, dip into the (voluminous) M.I.A. threads and pay attention to the level of discourse.

so you're annoyed by the fandom.

let me tell ya, fans have been annoying for decades, it's nothin new.

There won't be a next time about M.I.A. because 1) I think she's a fraud and 2)this is not really about her.

i mean look i cringe whenever i talk about kate bush but generally people grant me a little patience in my rapture

It's official: Vision is not a fan of M.I.A.

Surmounter, I'm not annoyed. I am attentive to a certain kind of slant within this board, and I think it is worth pointing out because it has happened before.

I have no intention to make hardcore baduizts behave coolly about an artist they admire, it's ok, go ahead, be emotional, enthusiastic etc, but what the critical mass of ILM opinion about her suggests is that there is too much superficial praise given her and her latest album.

I do think she, like the others before her, was made into some kind of political figure, and I do think some people here simply bought into that, they're not really fans, they're just gullible. Artificial consensus always dumbs things down, and it certainly is a disservice to Badu's career.

BTW, I don't think I have to tell you how ILM is teeming with music critics and musicians from all parts of the world, so it's not just a common fan-oriented message board, it's a place with certain idiosyncrasies. Some of them, like this "let's uncritically praise and lionize a female non-white artist" pattern, seem to me a little contrived.

let's uncritically praise and lionize a female non-white artist" pattern, seem to me a little
contrived.

If you've read any thread about Badu, MIA, and Elliott, you'd never write this twaddle.

Well, guess what, we are in one such thread, going back some seven years, and the overall perception when reading about these three artists in ILM is consistently the same: uncritical, sheepish praise for the pc muse du jour-- until, of course, the next one arrives to take her place.

You are gay.

After the Hurricane, no I'm not. BTW, these three singers do have a certain fag-hag following, don't they? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I really don't get the point of your rants... we're fans of these artists, so why wouldn't the threads be filled with praise? There has been criticism in this thread - I believe chaki said he's not feeling New Amerykah as much as her earlier albums - so... really whats your point? The idea that Erykah is some kind of critical "it girl" du jour is flawed because she's been getting critical praise for going on 12 years now since her debut album came out....

the overall perception when reading about these three artists in ILM is consistently the same: uncritical, sheepish praise for the pc muse du jour

Try the search function and/or step up your reading comprehension. If you don't think there's appropriately critical discourse happening in these threads (which seems crazy to me), contribute by elevating the discourse or shut the fuck up. Nobody likes a condescending whiner.

A.Hurricane and Big Hoos, my point was made higher up in the thread. RE: chaki's comments, they're part of that tiny amount of exceptions that simply confirm the rule.

EB deserves both the critical recognition and her true fans. She's certainly more than an "it girl". What happened is that she seems to have been elected "ILMate of the year", like others before her, for the sake of a certain political stance rather than just the music, and that's manipulative and patronizing.

patronizing? that's rich.

Don't you know white (or black or hispanic or asian) dudes should only like music by white dudes (no just white) or else they are being patronizing?

People who like Missy Elliott only like her because her work is highly political.

Fremme neppa vanette.

Enough.

i think when people feel the need to dismiss popular opinion in this way, it can come across as arrogant. like you know better than everyone else. it seems easy enough to let others be taken with the music in question, and offer your own critiques in contrast to the majority, if you can articulate them. this seems more constructive than criticizing the audience who, however hard it may be to stomach, may just find certain talents worthy of all the buzz.

this is maybe kind of a shut-up-you-music-journalists response, but if there's disproportionate acclaim in regards to how good the record is, it's in recognition of how exciting a record it is; i remember people on one thread talking about how they'd never be able to get their heads around it, because it's such a sprawling, ambitious thing. if she's feted beyond the achievements of new amerykah (in particular, i don't know if this addresses a long history of badu-as-ilm-darling), it's for being this vivacious, current force, for the personality of the record as well as its delivery.

exactly, i mean not everything can be compared to everything else. sometimes it's enough that it's now, and it's great, and exciting.

vision's blurred

^ on that other level

^way beyond that cloud nine

vision = diabolical sockpuppet

the beginning of this thread is classic

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/77/203554-174902-vision_super.jpg

It's official: Vision is not a fan of M.I.A. a complete idiot.

New Amerykah Part 2: Return of the Ankh was originally slated for release in July:

Return of the Ankh is set for an July 2008 released and is to be accompanied by a USB stick which Badu says will include extras ranging from footage of concerts, to commentary on the recording process and “me in the bathtub with Flavour Flav” [praying that's a joke!] - “I wanted to give away my materials…It’s about sharing, and that’s why I like this system”

I'm guessing the record company wanted to hold off 'til '09 so as to not confuse people who are now used to 2-3 years passing in between album releases.

We should've just made this the Sa-Ra thread and disposed of all this...

i read about sa-ra and get super ridic excited

i listen to sa-ra and am like 'why was i so excited'

you haven't heard the right things

what should i hear?

New York City and Beautiful Thangs are astounding.

My point, however, was they either as a unit, or as individuals, have done a fair amount of work for Badu in recent times, no?

Well, these two at least.

That Hump is produced by Om'Mas Keith and basically sounds like a Sa-Ra track:

Master Teacher is produced by Shafiq Husayn and Georgia Anne Muldrow of Sa-Ra:

Erykah Badu on Sa-Ra

yall have no idea how much this record speaks to me... I might even say it feels like its ABOUT me

im sober btw

I feel like, amazing new developments aside, this record perfectly encaptures how it feels to be black in america in 2008

and I got "My President" to hold down the other side of that, so I'm good

'Me' is definitely about me

This is the definitive album of my young adulthood.

Suggest Ban Permalink
― The Reverend, Thursday, May 15, 2008 2:04 AM Bookmark

^^^I stand by this

It's certainly the best album of a great year, no doubt.

The album it reminds me most of is Curtis. While the makers of both records are quick to detail our social ills, neither sounds, for even a second, like they don't believe we can overcome them.

ok that was a much more interesting comparison when I thought you were talking about Fiddy.

hahaha I never got around to checking that one out

i'm surprised that for all the love badu gets here, i can't find a thread on joi

I had a bit of a slow uptake, too, but at this point I can't identify an album released this decade that means as much to me. I just posted this in the other thread last night.

yall have no idea how much this record speaks to me... I might even say it feels like its ABOUT me

― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, November 13, 2008 2:53 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I feel like, amazing new developments aside, this record perfectly encaptures how it feels to be black in america in 2008

― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, November 13, 2008 2:55 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

The album it reminds me most of is Curtis. While the makers of both records are quick to detail our social ills, neither sounds, for even a second, like they don't believe we can overcome them.

― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, November 13, 2008 3:35 AM Bookmark

Another thing is, despite all the social commentary, it's never didactic (not that there's anything wrong with that, I mean Public Enemy were didactic), the whole thing feels so personal at every level.

damn, wrong thread

Yeah -- she can't be didactic because she's still sorting out politics and her own artistic growth (which is what the album chronicles). The record's more mixed up in a thrilling way than anything I've heard in recent memory.

i can imagine someone maybe not being totally taken by the album, because they're not into her particular methods of expression or her take on soul just isn't their thing, but even in that case, surely the sheer depth and breadth of what she's trying to do (and succeeding at) would be impressive? the scope of this thing is immense.

alfred otm

so 4th World War is a lock for #1 in the upcoming 2008 albums poll, right????

Madvillainy is my album of the decade, and this is second...I like the former a little more, but this last month has done a lot to close the gap between the two...I just recently how astoninshing that three-song sequence (Soldier-The Cell-Twinkle) really is, and then The Healer is even better....

I just recently how astoninshing that three-song sequence (Soldier-The Cell-Twinkle) really is, and then The Healer is even better....

yeah i think i really started to feel this album hardcore when that run you're referring to hit me for the first time. then, of course, i fell in love with every other song too

I know that tardiness is all part of the Badu mystique, but damn I wish she'd stop even pretending with these release dates. It should just show up in stores one day.

her twitter feed is as entertaining as you might imagine, i highly recommend it.

I know that tardiness is all part of the Badu mystique, but damn I wish she'd stop even pretending with these release dates. It should just show up in stores one day.

― Nurse Detrius (Eric H.), Sunday, February 8, 2009 11:03 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

this is like 90% of the hip-hop/r&b industry fwiw

that new album isnt coming out for a long while. shes just had a baby.

I love her Twitter feed. It's reorganizing my understanding of communication.

she's playing some festival in a few months. just saying, it might not be the whole year or whatever that people expect.

http://www.houstonpress.com/2009-03-05/music/r-amp-b-queen-erykah-badu-s-egyptian-mystique/

YAMASUKI SINGERS SAMPLE!!!!

guess i'm gonna see erykah at jazzfest this year, should be fun.

fatbellybella
sylvia called yesterday... gave me an album release date. i always cringe at the thought.
about 4 hours ago from web

fatbellybella
... i love pt 2 . feels good . but not sure its what i want to say right now .
about 4 hours ago from web

guess we won't be seeing pt 2 any time soon

;_____;

kudos to matt c for getting an erykah retweet though

I'd rather she got off the Tweet and back on the spliff.

i heard pt 2 was december. but getting a release date might be more like july/august?

also this thread/board way undervalues WORLDWIDE UNDERGROUND, particularly as a stepping stone between mama's gun and the last one.

eh. WWU isn't that bearable as a whole, but I gotta make caveat that "I Want You" just might be the best jam she's done

yea i don't remember liking WWU that much. i worked in a record store in college and a co-worker played it all the time. part of the reason why i barely noticed when NA pt 1 came out and didn't get around to hearing it until a couple months ago. but i should give it another listen

Everything up through "I Want You" is great.

'danger' is def one of my favourite erykah trax ever. and yeah 'i want you' is great too.

i've been on a WWU kick lately, i love it

my post was meant to liberate you all from your hazy recollection that it isn't that good: it turns out that it is instead pretty good. i want you's something else completely.

she sounded good at jazzfest btw, band is tight. she had them breaking every four bars more or less.

is it her and the laptop guys?

no, full band, chris dave on drums.

playing a bunch of shows in august

link?

this is the only thing i've seen http://www.okayplayer.com/news/Photos-Erykah-Badus-4th-World-War-Tour.html

and this says release date of aug 18th??? http://www.rap-up.com/2009/05/08/erykah-badus-part-2-gets-release-date/

believe it when it happens

that's also from a month and a half ago. thx for the tour info tho

Not interested in seeing her tour, really. I saw her at SXSW in March and she was over an hour late to her set, then played two half-assed songs and left.

Possibly the worst live show I've ever seen.

She's doing NYC on Governors Island in August.

:(

I understand when she's on, tho, she's really on.

She remains one of the few artists I'd travel out of my way (say, to Chicago) to see in concert.

xxpost

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvwuVdffvO0

it probably won't be like that though? i don't know. (also hadn't she just got like stalked at her home) i am doing that thing of transferring quiet solitary communion with records -> live acoustical experience but i am gonna spend money i don't have on going.

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2009/06/concerts_on_the.html#more
is the link - i'm sure there was more before, like uhh atlantic city a coupla days after ny

a ws for the ages

^^^^^
this

oh my

her live set on paladia was pretty awesome, had a great band behind her.

aah i only see one badu date on that link and a bunch of b-52s dates

New York!!!! Automatic Slim ( also known as e. Badu ) is back in your area! In the Badudio on a stormy night ...
about 7 hours ago from Tweetie

automatic slim!

she's been a+++++ mindblowing both times i've seen her live btw

I saw her at SXSW in March and she was over an hour late to her set, then played two half-assed songs and left.

isn't this a problem w/ festival shows in general tho? haven't been to one in a while but imo they're kind of the worst place to get excited about seeing a specific artist. lots of sets tend to be short and half-assed and u can never tell when the band u really want to see is going to bring it or not

Yeah, you're right and I'd probably go see her again...

agree with lex, she is mind-blowing live

we just dropped complete gov island beach lineup: Mos Def, B-52, Buckethead, Erykah, DSO, one or two others still in progress and a lot of midrange stuff

Total Building Facility Charge(s) US $5.00 x 1
Total Convenience Charge(s) US $11.30 x 1
Order Processing Charge(s) US $5.40

not my department but yeah its kinda crazy
get tix in person at Nokia

Whoa, anybody going to this at the Merriweather Post Pavilion?

"WPGC Welcomes the Summer Spirit Festival With Erykah Badu, Chrisette Michelle
Raphael Saadiq, Mike Epps, Chuck Brown, The Foreign Exchange and more!"

3 of my favorite R&B acts from 2008 on one bill. Could be great.

Janelle Monae is opening for Erykah at Gov I.

i might go to the MPP show

she ruled at sasquatch.

http://www.prefixmag.com/media/erykah-badu/i-wanna-be-where-you-are-ft-the-roots-michael-jack/30074/

A+++++++++++++++

Yes, plus more pluses.

hottt

Yes, plus more ts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jgl-vL-l33E

okay, what's that from.

hahahahahaaahaa omg

XDXD

bitch go back to africa and let me finish looking for my sardines

OK - is the rant at the end of "twinkle" a keith david monologue? (the dude in men at work, the thing, they live, etc.)

http://www.smokingtree.net/images/menatwork3.jpg

i'm guessing not but it really sounds like him and this album IS pretty bonkers.

it's from the movie Network...

Whoa, anybody going to this at the Merriweather Post Pavilion?

"WPGC Welcomes the Summer Spirit Festival With Erykah Badu, Chrisette Michelle
Raphael Saadiq, Mike Epps, Chuck Brown, The Foreign Exchange and more!"

3 of my favorite R&B acts from 2008 on one bill. Could be great.

― Moreno, Tuesday, 30 June 2009

I want to go but I think I might be out-of-town for work that day in August.

xpost - thanx brainwasher.

shes on that new sa-ra album, on one song (not fantastic vampyre sadly).

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3559/3790976601_5688393e36.jpg

via flickr

This show was fucking great and she is hot as two bakers.

i need this 2nd album. wtf. how long has it been since the last one? (ok only a year i think but even so)

year and a half!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKaWTmW5eyc

Erykah! Go on tour again! I'll travel as far as Dallas or DC to see you!

Indeed. And still no sight of Return of the Ankh *sigh*. Not that I should have expected her to follow through on it any time soon, but a boy can hope, right?

Latest word is it will be released next February, but I know better than to hope now. Lucky for me, the first volume has replay value unto eternity.

It does exist...
http://www.showingout.com/index.php/2009/12/11/album-preview-new-amerykah-pt-2/