Erykah Badu: C /D, S&D

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.

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― 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/