Erykah Badu

Erykah Badu
Erica Abi Wright, popularly known as Erykah Badu is a Grammy-winning American singer and songwriter, involving the elements of jazz in her work. She was born in the year of 1971. She is generally famous for her role in the rise of the neo soul sub-genre, and for her different musical styles and for her sense of fashion.

Badu used to wear very large and colorful head wraps, at the start of her career. She has at times been compared to jazz great Billie Holiday in relation to her musical sensibilities. She was a core member of the Soulquarians, and works as a full time actress. She has appeared in a number of films playing a variety of supporting roles in movies such as Blues Brothers 2000, The Cider House Rules, and House of D.Early life

Erykah Badu was born South Dallas- Texas, in the year of 1971. She was raised by her mother, along with her brother and sister as a single parent, as their father had left them at an early age. Theei grandmother also helped them in number of ways and their mother, Kollen Maria Gipson (Wright), performed as an actress in various theatrical productions. Due to her mother, she had an inspiration for the showbiz and started to work at the age the age of 4. She used to sing and dance with her mother at the Dallas Theatre Centre. By the age of 14, Erykah was free-styling for a local radio station alongside such talent as Roy Hargrove, who, incidentally, was a talented beat-boxer in the 80's and who is now a very successful jazz musician in his own right. In her early youth, she had decided to change the spelling of her name from Erica to Erykah, as a belief that her name was an expression of slavery in the past.

Badu had gone to the traditional Black college Grambling State University, after her graduation from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Badu decided to leave the university in 1993 before graduating and took on several minimum wage jobs to support herself. She taught drama and dance to children at the South Dallas Cultural Center. She had working and toured with her cousinand recorded a 19-song demo, Country Cousins, which attracted the attention of Kedar Massenburg, who had a contribution to set Badu up to record a duet with D'Angelo, Your Precious Love, which later turned out to a record deal with Universal Records.

Badu's had received a really great critical acclaim for her debut album, Baduizm, which was released in early 1999.The album had been ranked at #2 on the Billboard charts., Lead single On & On reached #12 on the singles charts in both the U.S. and UK. She had been greatly admired for her deep rooted lyrics and jazzy, bass-heavy sound, and was hailed as one of the leading lights of the burgeoning neo soul genre. Baduizm had recieved triple platinum and, along with On & On, won Grammy Awards at the 1998 ceremonies.

After the release of Mama's Gun and Love of My Life, Badu went through a period of writer's block.She hit the road throughout 2002 and much of 2003 on what she dubbed the Frustrated Artist Tour, in search of inspiration to write and perform new material. After almost four years and the birth of a daughter, Puma, it was revealed in 2007 that Badu had three albums in the works over the course of 2007 and 2008. Badu's lyrics are highly personal philosophies which throw emotional challenges in the face of the listener. She weaves unusual musical influences together creating a rich texture of sound. In many instances she references old school rappers and songs in her songs, adding a general Hip hop sensibility to her music.