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

Window Seat -- Erykah Badu

http://universalmotown.com/videos/playlist.aspx?plid=1457712391&v=76010451001&aid=0

I am so excited! I have not seen a music video or heard a (current) song that inspires so much thought! I have always been a fan of Erykah Badu. She bares her soul in every song! And that's what I love. She takes everyday issues and just puts them in words on a beat we can all relate to. REAL MUSIC !!

I know I'm super late seeing this video and hearing this song, but I just saw it tonight and I had to get my 2 cents out there. I've been hearing alot of people say what they do and don't like about the video, but personally I don't see anything NOT to like!

The video definitely represents the process of groupthink and how it's destroyed us as a people, collectively. Alot of people claim to be individual thinkers, but if we all say the same thing, then we too are participating in a form of groupthink! As much as we all want to believe we are truly individual thinkers, I just don't think it happens as often as we'd like. The force of media alone kind of herds us to believe what "they" want us to. Badu shows this in the end of her video in 2 ways that I thought about it: 1) Assassination of group think can only get us to see the greater good. 2) Assassination of the individual thinker/the mind/the soul is where we are now. The fact that this happens in the same spot where JFK was assassinated...I bet the majority of people who saw this video didn't even pick up on that!!

Another thing that I noticed in this video as Badu sheds her clothing, is the concept that we must shed the preconceived notions that people have of us. At the end of the dare you can only be you. People's thoughts of who and what they think I am, majority of the time are wrong. Although she's literally taking off her clothes, it's the thought that people need to stop hiding behind what others want for them. I am not who you think I am or who you think you want me to be. I don't want what you want for me and your expectations for me are not the same expectations I hold myself to. I don't hide behind those false thoughts. I can only be me. Until people realize that, they shouldn't let what others think of them affect them. If not, then we'll all be fooled by the ravening wolves disguised as sheep!

I like that she's not afraid to get naked even though they have to censor it. It shows that through her music (one of the things I'm sure she's the most passionate about) and anything else she does, she's not afraid to be herself and bare her soul, essentially showing who she really is at the end of the day. You either love it or you don't!

[[I'll post what I think of the lyrics later]]

~LaDai