Erykah Badu: The Queen of Neo-Soul "What I work hard at doing is staying on a path of being kind and showing and proving that I'm a good person to society. That's hard. The talent, that's a gift. I just came here like that." Erykah Badu was born Erica Abi Wright, on February 26, 1971 in Dallas Texas. Raised by her actress mother Kolleen Maria Wright, Badu was exposed to the arts early on. At a very young age she danced and sang for her mother and eventually began performing in shows at her local Dallas Theater Center. Badu graduated from Dallas' Booker T. Washington High School for Performing and Visual Arts, where she would flourish in the arts magnet school, focusing on dance and singing. Following her graduation from high school, she
…show more content…
She would later choose the moniker Erykah Badu- "kah" is an actress an Egyptian term for one's "inner self" and "badu" after her favorite jazz-riff scat sound. After opening a concert for R&B singer D'Angelo, Badu caught the attention of his manager Kedson Massenberg, who would soon sign her for Universal and begin transforming her debut demo Baduizm. Baduizm exploded onto the music scene in 1997 with soulful hits such as "On & On", "Next Lifetime", and "Appletree". The album marked a shift in the music of its time and began on what was the neo-soul movement. Baduizm won critical acclaim and won Badu two Grammy Awards , for best female R&B vocal performance and best R&B …show more content…
Her smooth unique voice, trademark head wrap, and majestic demeanor manifest sentiments of black pride, self love and female liberations and signifies her strong ties to the new and old schools of black music. "The music that’s in fashion isn't necessarily what's appealing to me," she tells Rolling Stone "As much as I admire the voice of my son's generation, I don’t embody it." Not only did she practically inspire a new style of music, but she also made contributions in the community as well. In 2003 she gave back to her hometown community in Dallas by transforming the dilapidated Black Forest Theater into a space for charity events and theatre. It would double as a host for her nonprofit organization, B.L.I.N.D. ( Beautiful Love Incorporated Nonprofit Development), which she founded in 1997 as a means bringing culture and arts to inner-city areas to cultivate change for generations to
She would later choose the moniker Erykah Badu- "kah" is an actress an Egyptian term for one's "inner self" and "badu" after her favorite jazz-riff scat sound. After opening a concert for R&B singer D'Angelo, Badu caught the attention of his manager Kedson Massenberg, who would soon sign her for Universal and begin transforming her debut demo Baduizm. Baduizm exploded onto the music scene in 1997 with soulful hits such as "On & On", "Next Lifetime", and "Appletree". The album marked a shift in the music of its time and began on what was the neo-soul movement. Baduizm won critical acclaim and won Badu two Grammy Awards , for best female R&B vocal performance and best R&B …show more content…
Her smooth unique voice, trademark head wrap, and majestic demeanor manifest sentiments of black pride, self love and female liberations and signifies her strong ties to the new and old schools of black music. "The music that’s in fashion isn't necessarily what's appealing to me," she tells Rolling Stone "As much as I admire the voice of my son's generation, I don’t embody it." Not only did she practically inspire a new style of music, but she also made contributions in the community as well. In 2003 she gave back to her hometown community in Dallas by transforming the dilapidated Black Forest Theater into a space for charity events and theatre. It would double as a host for her nonprofit organization, B.L.I.N.D. ( Beautiful Love Incorporated Nonprofit Development), which she founded in 1997 as a means bringing culture and arts to inner-city areas to cultivate change for generations to