I'm a Badu-ist !

Let me begin by saying that I listen to alot of music! Different people in my life have opened me up to different kinds of music, so I think it's safe to say that I listen to a little bit of everything; from Taylor Swift to Plies, everything! One of the main genres that I really enjoy to my core is Soul and Neo-Soul music. My love for Soul music comes from my mom, one of the most influential people in my life. I think that's why I'm so in love with it. Living away from home, when I miss her, that music is there and it takes me back to certain memories that I have of her. It's just comforting.

My mom got me into Erykah Badu. I was about 7 years old when Baduizm, her 1st album, debuted. But, I can vividly remember hearing these songs. Then, Live came out not too long after that (within the same year I believe), followed by Mama's Gun in 2000. That's when my love for Erykah Badu really became real (lol)!

I remember my mom playing these albums almost everyday for a long time. I heard Erykah Badu's voice when I was getting ready for school, after school in the evening, relaxing on the weekends, just all the time! I can remember singing the songs, just knowing the words. As I got older, hearing the same songs, I began to understand what she was saying in my own ways. When she was talking about love and relationships in general, I understood it for what it meant to me years later as a 13 year old and even now as a 20 year old. Even now, having heard all of these songs for years, I pick up on things that I heard her say, but didn't understand. Recently, her song Didn't Cha Know from Mama's Gun took on a new meaning for me as I was really trying to figure out my purpose and what I wanted to do in school and life in general: "Ooh, heyy...I'm trying to decide, which way to go. I think I made a wrong turn back there somewhere." The first verse is exactly what I was feeling at the time.

The majority of her songs take me to a different place. Her songs about dealing with feeling insecure, self-discovery,social issues, and just being independent as a woman have left a lasting impression on me that I carry even to this day. I think it's safe to say that these three albums have really been influential and comforting. So comforting that when I miss my mother I can close my eyes and listen to Badu's voice and in an instant, I'm back at home!

Erykah Badu has had 3 albums since: Worldwide Underground, New Amerkah Parts 1 and 2 (4th World War and Return of the Ankh), which suprisingly, I haven't really gotten into, but I still plan to. It's just something about the 1st 3!

Now, Badu isn't the only artist my mother has introduced me to. We both enjoy artists like Jill Scott, India.Arie, Kem, Anthony Hamilton, and Chrisette Michelle. My personal favorite, of course, is Erykah Badu!

I think that's it for now...I may have to return later and add something I may have forgotten.

~LaDai


Picture Credit: http://blogs.pitch.com/wayward/2010/05/erykah_badu_at_the_midland_can.php

Baby Mom -- Baby Dad

...As in a mother/father who is basically still a baby, too young for a baby. I'm watching TV right now and I feel compelled to blog about the issue.

With teen pregnancy on the rise and no longer such a taboo issue as it has been in the past, it's kind of hard to ignore; especially with it plastered all over the media with shows like Teen Mom on MTV and we all know about Jamie Lynn Spears and Bristol Palin. It's hard to imagine anyone who doesn't have an opinion on the issue.

I can applaud teens for owning up to their actions and taking complete responsibility, but when they don't, where does it stop? You have some girls and guys out there who aren't 20 yet and have 3 or 4 kids already. Who takes the blame? Who's responsibility is it? Is it society's fault or are we going to pin it on the parents? Why aren't we faulting these kids, these baby moms and dads? I know one thing, we can't blame the media for this problem, or any other problem in our society.

What completely blows me away is the fact that people want to place blame in the media. I've heard people say that watching Teen Mom makes teens want to go out there and have babies. Stop depending on the TV to raise your kids! Frankly, watching this show makes me gag. This shows does not inspire me to want to go have a baby or be anything related to the nature of a mother. Anyone who says they do after watching, is clearly missing out on reality. I think this show does a good job of depicting how hard it is to be a parent at such a young age. Some of these girls in the beginning have the idea that they're still going to hang out and party or have anything resembling a social life. LIE. These girls figure out pretty quick that everything they do or associate with has to revolve around their baby. Anything that isn''t going to help them be a good mother has to be let go. Seeing the difference in these girls between Season 1 and Season 2, it's pretty obvious the lessons they've learned. It's unbelievable how much they've been forced to grow up in such a short amount of time as a consequence of their actions. But that's what happens when you don't use condoms,kids.

Yes, of course, we can have better sex education courses in schools or less sex depicted in the media, and blah, blah, blah. SURE. The most important thing is that parents need to do the parenting; not the media, not school, not their peers. anything kids learn, parents need to be the first teacher.

Please watch Teen Mom with adult supervision and use condoms when necessary.

~LaDai

Soon To Be Happily Nappy

So I'm finally back to do my next post. Umm I don't really know what I want to write about in specific, but I'm just gonna type away...

So I think it started when I was 12 or 13 when I noticed my hair was "different". I was the little girl in 6th grade still getting my hair washed and straightened with a hotcomb weekly. It was then that I was made to feel bad about not having a perm. The other girls in class teased me because my hair was nappy. I thought the hotcomb was something every girl went through and was still going through at that stage in life. I finally gave in to the pressure. Not just the peer pressure, but the societal pressures that say straight hair is "good" hair. I was made to feel that my nappy hair was a bad thing. I would go home crying from the hurt I felt from the other girls. I remember BEGGING my mother for a perm. It was then that I became a victim to the "creamy crack". But I was "happy" because I finally fit in. The teasing stopped because my hair was finally less than what it was meant to be. I never thought twice about my hair being nappy. I was happy.

Ever since then, I haven't been able to get off the perm. I've always felt like I would just feel better, feel free, if my hair was natural. I've tried many times to transition to natural, but part of me can't let go of this relaxed mess I call hair. My mom has been natural multiple times so I know it's in me to do the same without being scared. I don't know what it is that can't let it go. I feel like going natural would definitely be a process of not only transitioning, but of self rediscovery. I'm definitely ready to discover new things about myself and my hair.

Right now I'm rocking a short haircut. I would say it's a bit 90's-Halle-ish, but I've worked it for my style and it works for me. Everytime I get it cut, I go shorter and shorter, and feel better about going natural. One day I'm just gonna cut it all off and be done with it!

I know that so many other women can relate. So here's to beginning anew and discovering who we are! (Someday) I'll be Happily Nappy!

~LaDai