Word: badue
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Dates: during 1997-1997
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CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY, our pop-music critic, knows the angst of passing judgment on artists like his subject this week, singer Erykah Badu. So he was much relieved when his own debut novel, My Favorite War, won favorable reviews last year. "Fast, funny and furious," is how the Boston Globe described his satirical yarn of a young African-American journalist (not unlike Farley) laboring for a national publication (not unlike USA Today, his previous employer) in Washington during the Gulf War. Now HBO has optioned My Favorite War for a made-for-cable movie, a prospect that can make even...
When singer-songwriter Erykah Badu goes before an audience, she observes a ritual to clear away any preperformance anxiety. "I light my candle onstage," says Badu. "I create my calm where I am. I close my eyes, open them again, and I'm O.K." Badu's music is a lot like that. Her debut CD, Baduizm (Kedar Entertainment/Universal), draws from soul, jazz, blues and hip-hop--but instead of a chaotic swirl of sound, the result is a slow-burning, serene, meditative work. It will open some eyes...
...Badu, 25, is part of a promising trend in pop music. Along with other neo-soul performers like Maxwell, Groove Theory and Me'Shell NdegeOcello, she is creating music that expands the boundaries of conventional R. and B., with lyrics that explore social issues (as Marvin Gaye's used to do), melodies that draw readily from jazz and blues, and wandering song structures that go beyond the standard verse-chorus-verse format. Hollywood has taken note. The sound track to the upcoming movie Love Jones (starring Larenz Tate) has a neo-soul theme. So far neo-soul hasn't demonstrated...
...Badu, whose original name was Erykah Wright (she gave herself the surname in homage to scat music), was born and raised in Dallas (she now lives in Brooklyn, New York). She studied theater at Louisiana's Grambling State University but, after deciding that "a degree is a piece of paper," left to pursue a music career. Kedar Massenburg, a 32-year-old record-company executive, heard Badu's demo tape and offered to sign her to his fledgling label, Kedar Entertainment. Says Badu: "I had several offers, but I went with him because he was young, black, very smart...