Erykah Badu's Poem, Friends, Artists Must Meet

Which one are you? Which one is me? Erykah Badu an American singer-songwriter, activist and actress. She reached number two on Billboard charts and number one on the U.S. Billboard's “Friends, Fans, Artists Must Meet” was one of the spoken words she was known for. She performed this poem at Def Poetry Jam which aired on HBO. In this poem, Badu discusses how success can be a pro and a con whether it is our personal life or our social life. She talked about how her environment and personal experiences. Towards the mid 90’s, music was more complex and artists were lyrically talented. Music was based on positive things in the 90’s. Now music is just focused on sex, drugs and violence. The poem expresses how a fan, friend and artist have different …show more content…
In the poem “Friends, Fans, Artist Must Meet” the author Erykah Badu looks at success to outline Friends, Fans, and Artists. In the poem, Badu has utilized success as a basic form of life. As she speaks about her success throughout the poem. African Americans and showing support in our community is something we lack. If someone was to open a business, we often ask for discounts instead of supporting their business and paying full price. In the article New Yorker Kalefa writes “Baduizm” had its own understated hip-hop swagger. Badu’s willowy voice, softened by vibrato, inspired comparisons to Billie Holiday, but she had a rapper’s sense of rhythm and restraint: she knew how to stack syllables and deploy slang, and she knew when not to smother the beat with extraneous ad-libs” They way she rapped was ironic, she rapped her songs different. Some people who watched her got annoyed from the way she performed. Badu was inspired by different artists to become successful and do what she loved. They are always people who is going to talk bad about your art, but you have to be able to ignore all the negativity. The reason, why Badu was so successful is because she was willing to listen to any beat and make a hit. She could stop her music and play the instruments, hum and rap with no music. In order, for her to make more money she has to take her time and make music. Rushing the process was not going …show more content…
Some people are not happy for their friends during their success. Friends should be able to be their for you and support you during your journey to success. Some friends are waiting for you to fail, once you make it people\friends tend to not support you, because of your success and they want to have your spot. Friends also think once you become famous you become a different person. In the last line of the poem, she said “I only come to the show cause I get in free” it should not be like that, you should come to your friends show for support. Friends can see how much money the artist is making and still expect the artist to share their wealth with them. Not only does this poem show the lack of support of friends but it also shows how fans react during your success. In Line 35 it states “Folk in my face cause I’m a superstar, Niggas hang around cause of who I are, Get a lot of love cause of what I got, Say they happy for me, but they really not” Artists feel like people only come around her because she is famous and she has a lot to offer. They only show her love from what she owns. People claim they are happy for you but it is just a front. Badu was not seen as an artist that had a motive, but she was talked about because of the way they portrayed her to