Erykah Badu’s mother was also a performing artist who and encouraged her in show business when she was only four years old. She performed with her as a singer and dancer at the Dallas Theatre Centre. As an early teenager, she gained valuable experience by working in a local radio station.
Erykah Badu attended the Booker Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and furthered her formal education in the field be studying theater at the Grambling State University. However she dropped out of the college to become a full time musician and in order to support herself started teaching drama and dance at South Dallas Cultural Center for young children.
Erykah Badu got her first big break when she opened for D'Angelo (the master of the neo-soul movement) in 1994. She won over Massenburg, D'Angelo's manager with her skills and talent; and arranged here to record a cover of the famous song
Precious Love. This lead to a record deal for Badu with label Kedar Entertainment. The result of this deal was the 1997 album
Baduizm, on which Badu collaborated with Ron Carter on the bass. The album soon hit the number one position on the R&B charts and went triple platinum in the US. She also and won her very first Grammy for this effort. The single
On & On would soon become the top R&B hit single of 1997 and Badu would release he first live album later in the year that too became a mega success.
Erykah Badu had a varied and interesting set of musical influences when she was young. She listened to a lot of classic soul music of the seventies and hip-hop. However music critics have often labeled her own music to appear to be rooted in the more traditional Jazz and blues traditions. Other critics find
Erykah Badu’s music to be a deep reflection of the strains of soul music of seventies, while fusing it with jazz and contemporary hip hop. This unique blend of styles made
Erykah Badu stand out when most of the other acts in the genre sounded like cheap clones of one another. Such was the originality of the music and the robustness of her vocals that she won countless comparisons to the legendary jazz and blues maestro Billie Holiday.
Erykah Badu next effort was much anticipated and she released her second album in 2000. Badu was one of the producers of the album
Mama's Gun, which gained much critical acclaim with the hit single
Bag Lady. Ironically the next few years were not very productive for Badu as she suffered from a writers’ block. She finally broke through the writer's block as she went on the Frustrated Artist Tour. Soon afterwards she released an EP called
Worldwide Underground (2003). Badu did not halt a bit and right after embarked on a creative adventure with her next project.
Erykah Badu went on to experiment with abstract themes and heavy style. The studio effort in this regard was not designed to be an outright commercial success. However,
New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War was still able to reach top positions on both the Billboard 200 and the R&B/Hip-Hop charts. The success of this release was followed by
New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh. In sharp contrast to the strong social themes of the preceding album the second is seasoned heavily with theme. It mainly containrd groovy personal and romantic themed songs. The album started its life on the US charts at number four and sold more than a hundred thousand copies in the first week after its release along with the singles
Window Seat,
Turn Me Away and
Gone Baby, Don't Be Long.
Erykah Badu tickets invite all R&B, Soul and hip-hop lovers to treat themselves with an unforgettable musical experience. So grab your
Erykah Badu tickets to experience her exuding the brilliance of the shining star that she is.
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