Word: badu
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This summer female pop stars are clearing out space for themselves, and the season's usual sea of masculinity is parting. The debut CD by Alaskan pop-folkie Jewel, Pieces of You (Atlantic), has sold more than 5 million copies and is still riding high on the charts. Erykah Badu, with her poetry-slam soulfulness, has sold more than 1 million copies of her brilliant new CD Baduizm (Kedar Entertainment/Universal) and is a headliner on this summer's neo-soul Smokin' Grooves Tour. And Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan has masterminded the summer's most talked-about musical event: Lilith...
...that I bring to this is the voice of free black women," she says. "Black women who are confident, sure of themselves in their sexuality, confident in their spirituality." Yet more black artists deserve to be on Lilith's bill. Lilith organizers say they tried to reach out; Erykah Badu was offered a slot on the tour but turned it down. On the other hand, Laura Love, a black, folk-tinged, Seattle-based singer-songwriter with a fine new album, Octoroon, asked to be part of Lilith and was passed over (the organizers say that with 584 submissions, they couldn...
...second, the spottily brilliant My Life, sold 3 million; both spawned countless sound-alikes. The bold but ultimately mercenary ghetto-sex-bomb posturing of rappers Foxy Brown and Lil' Kim, the emotionally blunt crooning of talented teen singer Aaliyah and even the admirably artsy neo-soul stylings of Erykah Badu all have roots in Blige's success. But Blige was the original round-the-way diva; her hard, up-from-the-projects exterior made her raw vocals that much more affecting. Says producer Jimmy Jam, who worked with Blige on World: "People can copy her, but no one can match...
...Badu's voice isn't cuddly or cozy; it's sharp and metallic at points, wounded and sad at others. Most of the songs on Baduizm are slow, supple and subtle. Certainly, with its naked gurgling bass, feels like a wee-hours jazz improv and sounds like a love ballad; it's actually a look at the dysfunctional "love affair" America has with its black citizens. Drama, despite its title, starts placidly but later crests as Badu laments symptoms of modern life: "race relations/ segregation/ no occupation/ world inflation...
...video should also give the singer a boost. The lush clip, inspired by the movie The Color Purple (one scene takes place in a jook joint), is receiving heavy play on Black Entertainment Television, and Badu, in her distinctive head wrap, cuts a sleek, striking figure. Badu hopes that she can help change what she calls the "monotonous" nature of contemporary R. and B. "I want to be the midwife to a new sound," she says. Baduizm is a gentle but firm slap that may bring neo-soul to robust life...