Erykah Badu

Erykah Badu first drew notice in 1997 with the arrival of Baduizm, her debut album, which prompted frequent parallels to Billie Holiday even though her own early listening had centered on 1970s soul and 1980s hip-hop. The record’s deep, bass-driven R&B arrangements stood in contrast to Badu’s unhurried, sometimes anguished delivery and subtle phrasing, which quickly set her apart from the uniform ranks of contemporary female R&B vocalists. Writing or co-writing every track except one, she scored a number-12 pop single with the opening release “On & On,” an achievement that carried Baduizm to number two on the Billboard 200.

Born Erica Wright in Dallas in 1971, Badu studied at a performing-arts high school and was employed as a teacher while performing part-time when she supported D’Angelo at a 1994 concert. Impressed, D’Angelo’s manager Kedar Massenburg arranged a studio collaboration that yielded a cover of the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell duet “Precious Love.” Massenburg subsequently placed Badu on his newly established Kedar Entertainment roster and produced Baduizm, recruiting bassist Ron Carter and several members of hip-hop avatars the Roots for key sessions. “On & On” reached the top of the R&B chart in early 1997, and by March Baduizm had claimed the summit of the R&B album tally. Touring alongside both established R&B acts and rap’s Wu-Tang Clan, Erykah Badu climbed to number two on the pop album chart in April; her Live album appeared before the year ended.

She resurfaced in 2000 with the long-awaited follow-up Mama’s Gun, co-produced by Badu alongside James Poyser, Bilal, and Jay Dee and anchored by the hit single “Bag Lady.” Two years later came Worldwide Underground, an informal project issued as an EP even though its duration exceeded that of many conventional albums. New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War arrived in 2008, a dense and experimental statement that included contributions from the members of Sa-Ra and Georgia Anne Muldrow and peaked at number two on both the Billboard 200 and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Its 2010 sequel, New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh, adopted a freer, more buoyant tone. Guest spots on Flying Lotus’ Until the Quiet Comes (2011), Robert Glasper’s Black Radio (2012), Tyler, the Creator’s Wolf (2013), and Bonobo’s The North Borders (2013) preceded the 2015 release of the official mixtape But You Caint Use My Phone on the Motown label.