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Erykah Badu, born as Erica Abi Wright, is a singer and song writer who brings together elements of jazz, soul, hip hop, and R&B music, resulting in a musical flavor that is all her own. The sub-genre she is known for is neo-soul, in which she has been given the title “First Lady of Neo-Soul.”
Born in Texas, Badu spent most of her life being raised by her mother with the help of her grandmother. Her mother was an actress, and at age 4 Badu was dancing and singing on stage, getting her very first taste of the show business. It was during her teen years that she decided to change her name to Erykah instead of Erica. She felt that Erica was her slave name and added the “kah” which speaks of the inner self. She took on the name Badu as well, which is Ashanti for “10th born child” and means “light and truth” in Arabic.
Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts is where she spent her high school years, and then she went on to Grambling State University to study theater. In 1993 she left the university without graduating, working on pursuing music full time. Eventually as a result of a demo, which included 19 songs, she would be signed by Universal Records.
“Baduizm” was the debut album that Erykah Badu released in 1997, which came out at #2 on the charts. The lead single of this album was called “On & On” and sold well. With this album she attracted a lot of notice for her unique style and quickly became seen as the leading lady in the neo soul genre. The album went triple platinum and the hit song “On & On” went on to win Grammy Awards in 1998.
“Live” was the first album that she would ever record live, and when she recorded it, she was pregnant. To raise her baby, she took off some time, but in 2000 she returned better than ever, releasing the album “Mama’s Gun.” This album was considered to be more organic and earthy in the sound, and although it wasn’t as successful as her others, she did receive a nomination for a Grammy with the song, “Bag Lady.”
For some time Erykah Badu dealt with writer’s block, and she was on the road for almost two years, searching for new inspiration that would help her to write something new. Finally, at the end of this tour, she went back into the studio with some good material, which resulted in the released of “Worldwide Underground.” Four Grammy nominations were received for this album alone.
Through the past few years, she has continued to work on albums. In 2008 she released both “Badu” and “New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)” and “New Amerykah part Two (Return of the Ankh)” is to be released at some point in 2009.
It is the personal and emotional lyrics along with the textured sounds that have made Erykah Badu such a well loved song writer and musician throughout the years. Not only is she known for her own music, but for being an eclectic collaborator, performing with various artists as well.
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Source by Melissa Benson