“If we were made in his image then call us by our name’s. Most intellects do not believe in God but they fear us just the same.”
– “On & On”
On February 11, 1997, Dallas singer and songwriter, Erica Abi Wright, better known as Erykah Badu, aka Sara Bellum, aka @fatbellybella, aka Medulla Oblongata, aka DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown, aka Analogue Girl in a Digital World, (I promise I’m done), blessed the world with her Grammy Award-winning album, Baduizm. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of her debut album, Badu and her work will be honored on Thursday at the eighth annual Black Women in Music Gala in Los Angeles, California.
Badu was first recognized in 1994 after opening a show for well-known R&B and soul singer, D’Angelo, in her hometown. A label executive signed her soon after. During a time when R&B was at its peak, her 1996 debut single, “On & On” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B/ Hip-Hop Airplay chart, where it remained for four weeks. Baduizm, released by Kedar Entertainment and Universal went on to sell 190,000 copies in its first week of release, cementing her as one of the most innovative artists of the neo-soul movement and the female face of the genre. According to Nielsen Music, Baduizm has 2.8 million total in sales to date.
It makes sense to believe that Badu’s impact on the music industry contributed to bringing R&B back to its roots. Around the late 90’s and early 2000’s, Badu and other artists, including the likes of Jill Scott, Maxwell, India Arie, Raphael Saadiq, Lauryn Hill, Musiq Soulchild, Floetry, etc. allowed fans to fall back in love with the basics of R&B and jazz by combining them both, and somewhere in the midst, neo-soul was born.
Baduizm combines Badu’s smooth, melodic voice, and bass-heavy, jazzy production, with her spirtual mindset. She puts her songwriting to great use in each song, our favorite being, “Otherside of The Game”, which tells the story of a complicated love she has for a man deeply affiliated with the gangsta/drug life. In the video, her love interest was played by legendary Atlanta Hip-Hop artist, Andre 3000, whom she dated in real life and had a son with.
At 20 years old, I’ve seen Erykah Badu a total of 4 times. At one of her shows that I attended, there was minimum singing involved. She performed as DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown, showcasing her DJ’ing skills, and even then, I enjoyed every last minute. I’ve been to a number of concerts headlined by many different artists, but no experience has ever topped an evening with the phenominal Erykah Badu. Although it was 20 years ago that she stepped in and changed the game, it is 20 years later and Mama Badu still doesn’t seem to be letting up from her throne.