About

A TAV Essential Listening Album.

Blending hip-hop with traditional soul and jazz vocal stylings, Erykah Badu took the music world by storm with her first album "Baduizm" in 1997. Politically and socially engaged, Badu drew comparisons to Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. "Baduizm" rose all the way to #2 on the Billboard 200 album chart, also scoring a big hit with the song "On & On." Badu won the Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance on that song. Better yet, "Baduizm" won the Grammy for Best R&B Album.  The Roots served as co-writers and co-producers on "Sometimes (Mix #9)" and "Sometimes..." – Press Release

“When Baduizm debuted on February 11, 1997, it was … jam-packed with concepts that spoke to a higher consciousness. Lead single “On & On,” the song that first brought her to wider public attention, makes several references to the teachings of the Five Percent Nation, a cultural movement grounded in the belief that all black people are divine. A core part of the Five-Percenter doctrine revolves around the idea of the black man as God. But Baduizm was more concerned with the empowered black woman, putting her work, relationships, family values, and quest for knowledge under the lens.

The album’s melodies and instrumentation reflected a range of influences, most notably jazz, soul, hip-hop, and R&B. Blended as they were on Baduizm, the result was branded as neo-soul, a concept attributed to record exec and D’Angelo manager William “Kedar” Massenburg. He signed Badu to her first label deal and released Baduizm on Kedar Entertainment, his imprint via Universal Records. Massenburg was already marketing D’Angelo as an alternative R&B artist when an early Badu demo landed in his lap, and “Erykah [was] a natural for me to follow that blueprint,” he boasted to Billboard.

Erykah Badu’s role in neo-soul made her a visionary of the modern soul revival, and it’s an influence that reverberates still through Janelle Monàe, Solange, D.R.A.M., and many more. But more than just representing a moment in time, Badu emerged from the neo-soul haze unscathed, with a classic debut firmly in her pocket and an unwavering drive to inspire and create. That’s what she’s here for. And she’s still fly.” – Pitchfork

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