ERYKAH - THE VIKING WARRIOR SISTER SOUL QUEEN…BADU TO THE BONE
Erykah Badu’s one off London show, BRIXTON ACADEMY 30/6/08, on the back of her New Amerykah album of the year, was immense, intense: beautiful beyond reason.
What a spirit singer and dancer!
And extraordinarily - she was just one of 4 such freak flag flying soul sharing ladies onstage.
In cahoots with her 3 brilliant backing singers BADU has this way of breaking down her show, inviting listeners in and talking to the audience, her dialogue of sweet deep southern American meets south London logic and real wisdom , she’s totally on it - spiritually, culturally,politically.
In cahoots with her 3 brilliant backing singers BADU has this way of breaking down her show, inviting listeners in and talking to the audience, her dialogue of sweet deep southern American meets south London logic and real wisdom , she’s totally on it - spiritually, culturally,politically.
Seeing her in full flow I had to laugh at categorisations, at the idea that Coldplay’s much ballyhoo’d show here a few weeks ago was anymore connected to the spirit of rock, or indeed rap, n roll than Erykah’s passion play.
Badu is a different type of star, inviting folk into her dressing room afterwards
“Leave the door open…this is my favourite part of the show, where we get to meet and talk about what’s really going on”.
Not that she doesn’t or hadn’t done that onstage too - particularly introducing Soldier, she got right to the heart of the inequity of war, colonial occupation setting people against people and how music can provide the common bond to help the people see through the lies.
When she’s asked to sign sleeves at the end of the backstage meet n greet she says, sweetlly
“I don’t want to - but I will.”
That figured because there’s a wonderfully democratising principle that runs through her show - encouraging involvement - off mic shout outs, testifying, singing from the crowd are all part of the set, the show is about making something together, bigger and more wonderful than any starry one off icon worship.
It was principle there in the great T Pain dance tune dropt by DJ - really loud -
when Erykah left stage for final time - an open invitation to boogie
and shake your booty to keep the party, the spirit going after Erykah, not so much a star of the show as a conduit to the better part of ourselves, had gone.
She has that open and fluid, Mama Moses stopping the red sea style
ability, to invite people into her songs.
Moving round the crowd looking for a vantage point at one juncture
I found myself in front of a girl who was following
those tricky jazz stabs of wordless vocalising Erykah hollers .
when Erykah left stage for final time - an open invitation to boogie
and shake your booty to keep the party, the spirit going after Erykah, not so much a star of the show as a conduit to the better part of ourselves, had gone.
She has that open and fluid, Mama Moses stopping the red sea style
ability, to invite people into her songs.
Moving round the crowd looking for a vantage point at one juncture
I found myself in front of a girl who was following
those tricky jazz stabs of wordless vocalising Erykah hollers .
The girl was not singing half bad either.
She laughed, I smiled, gave her the thumbs up as her vocal met i my ear. Erykah had helped us share the
moment but I had to laugh at categorisation again.
moment but I had to laugh at categorisation again.
Because what the incident reminded me of was visiting the home of British folk music, Cecil Sharpe House, for the first time and finding myself alongside audience memeber Martin Carthy as Helen Woods sung an old seafaring ballad onstage. Carthy naturlaly joined in with the sound onstage and that simple shared experience, that lifting of the spirit it flowed through the community of folk at Brixton as surely as it did when Bob Dylan hosted 5 hostoric nights there in 2005…
Erykah is soul and folk and rap and rock and aren’t - at the end of the day - all these categories pure hooey?
Isnt music meant to bring us together?
In her dressing room after a crowd of 40 or so fanzine writers, fans and journos gathered for a press conference/meet and greet .
Once, that is, her representative had prevailed upon the typical brit security just following orders operative - Erykah may have invited them in, but if there was no pass they weren’t getting through was his a stance , a position that changed only when EB’s rep explained, calmly, that if necessary she’d come down and take us all in, personally.
It was not just any old meet n greet either, Erykah gave as generously of her
time and spirit there as she did onstage - she was open and free ranging as a gorgeous liquid soul queen outtabe.
It was not just any old meet n greet either, Erykah gave as generously of her
time and spirit there as she did onstage - she was open and free ranging as a gorgeous liquid soul queen outtabe.
Talk ranged from motherhood, parenting her two kids - “we don’t have any rules, we just do what I
say, not in a minute NOW” - the food she eats and , of course, politics .
say, not in a minute NOW” - the food she eats and , of course, politics .
She wouldnt have owt to do in representing or stumping up for Barack Obama if he called, declaring herself unable to understand the political system or American ’democracy’ (“the Republican Party own the voting system”).
But of course Erykah’s whole thing is about the wonder within, the power and beauty of humanity , of human touch, voice , community so she has an optimisitic spin on Barack too - says the man is
interesting because he is allowing people to think.
interesting because he is allowing people to think.
At the same time she doesn’t find it at all, as one young questioner put it, “funny” that a
black man and woman should fight out that same time for Presidential nomination at the same time.
“If I was one of the people in power getting scared that people were finding them out, thats what I would do too , make it SEEM like you are giving the people a choice, when in reality the system has to be changed”.
black man and woman should fight out that same time for Presidential nomination at the same time.
“If I was one of the people in power getting scared that people were finding them out, thats what I would do too , make it SEEM like you are giving the people a choice, when in reality the system has to be changed”.
With performers like this spread ing vibes as good and as strong as this, you can believe that that’s possible, too.
