I've been listening to Erykah Badu since I got my hands on her album, Erykah Badu Live. Everyone knows about her first album, Baduizm, and I highly recommend it if you haven't listened to it, but I like this album more because of the live performance aspect. Almost every song on that album grooves hard and each song brings something different musically to the table. In all of her music, you can hear influences of Chaka Khan, Roberta Flack, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye in the different inflections she uses when she sings. Her music also takes influences from Disco, Funk, R&B, Jazz, Hip-Hop. Even though you would think there would be too much going on for the music to sound good, she mixes all of this together in such a tasty, smooth way that is both musically coherent and really pleasing to the ear. She has a wide vocal range, being able to belt out uncomfortable high notes one minute and bounce down to a mellow, simmering low note to match the groove underneath the next. I've always been very impressed with the versatility of her voice and the different sounds she is able to produce almost effortlessly--nasal, raspy and breathy tones or full, deep mellow notes while scatting or improvising.
One of my favorite songs by Erykah, is of course, "On & On". Erykah Badu is one of the few, in my opinion whose live performances are just as good, if not, sometimes better than her recorded music and sometimes the live performances are completely different from the original as well. This version of "On & On" isn't on the Erykah Badu Live album, but it has a particularly funky breakdown section and is definitely one to keep watching over and over.
Another song that I really like is "Apple Tree." It's such a provocative song and weaves well-known sayings into her lyrics, catching the attention of the listener. The main hook "If you don't wanna be down with me, then you don't wanna be from my apple tree." is catchy and rolls off the tongue, making it more likely for the song to get stuck in your head weeks later. She also quotes her own song "On & On" throughout the song, bringing the listener back to a familiar lyric within the song.
I also have to bring up a cover that Erykah does on this live album is "Boogie Nights/Jamaica Funk (Live)". Not only is it for nostalgic reasons that I recommend this medley--I grew up listening to the Mary Jane Girls and Tom Browne--but also because her versions of these two songs just groove so hard. Her voice has the versatility to cover the range of these two songs and the at-times, almost nasal-like quality of her voice fits the genre so well.
There are many other songs that I could mention--"Certainly", "Tyrone", "Ye Yo"--but I feel like these three from this album really demonstrate why this album has and continues to stay on repeat for me. Erykah Badu is incomparable, musically and artistically.
If anyone has any suggestions for albums and/or artists to listen to, please feel free to leave them in the comments below!
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