After being accepted at Dallas' arts magnet high school, she gained notoriety as half of a female rap crew under the name MC Apples. It was a Christmas play, and I sang 'Somebody Snitched On Me.' That's when I knew I could command the stage."Īt age 14, she tried her hand at freestyle-rapping for a local radio station, KNON. "I remember the first time I was in a show," she told the New York Times. They both encouraged Erica to develop her artistic leanings, which included painting, dancing and acting as well as music. Born Erica Wright in Dallas, Texas, she was raised by her mother Kolleen Wright and grandmother, both actresses involved in local theater. I can't stand for someone to tell me, 'Well, we can't do that'."īadu benefitted from growing up in a home that nurtured her creativity.
Later in the same interview, she stated, "I don't know the rules what you're supposed to sing or what category you're supposed to be in so I don't have any. "Everything on the album is a mixture of all those things I heard growing up as a black youth," she told New York Times writer Natasha Stovall. "Habitually attired in a long dress, silver bracelets, necklaces and rings, and a head wrap that juts up like a crown, Badu works the stage lighted by candles and surrounded by incense like a woman on a mission," wrote Kevin Powell in Rolling Stone.įrom Badu's own perspective, her music synthesized a wide range of influences, from jazz artists like Holliday through such R&B figures of the 1960s and 1970s as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan.
Writing for the online All-Media Guide, John Bush noted that her "languruous, occationally tortured vocals" and "delicate phrasing immediately removed her from the legion of cookie-cutter female R&B singers." In concert, she cultivated a mystical persona that drew upon African and New Age sources for inspiration. Badu's voice drew comparisons with that of Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and, in particular, Billie Holliday. Her fluent, highly individual vocalizing and spiritually-tinged songwriting were welcomed as something fresh and compelling. The Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter was hailed as an exceptionally gifted talent who effortlessly fused jazz singing styles of the past with 1990s-style R&B and hip-hop. Addresses: Record Company Universal Records, 1755 Broadway, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10019.Įrykah Badu released her first album, Baduizm, in 1997 to a rare degree of popular and critical acclaim. Born Erica Wright, Febru( some sources say, 1971) in Dallas, TX.
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