Erykah, Erykah, Erykah, you done lost your mind.
It's been a long strange journey for Ms. Badu, having come out in 1996 at the forefront of a wave of music dubbed "neo-soul." Back then she was that somewhat strange, pseudo-spiritual siren who wore big head-wraps, and her debut album "Baduizm" garnered all kinds of critical accolades. A few years later, people had begun to tire of the neo-soul sound, and her follow-up, "Mama's Gun," didn't really register with the public. Some time later, she shaved her head, started appearing at award shows under various sorts of chemical influence, and began rivaling Whitney in terms of looking scarily bony.
Basically, Erykah fell off in a major way.
Some time this past year, though, she started experimenting with her image and sound a bit more, and began developing a more old-school aesthetic. "Love of My Life," a throwback track that she recorded for the "Brown Sugar" soundtrack, helped reinvigorate her career. After touring on the aptly named Frustrated Artist Tour, she ended up with enough songs to form an EP, and "Worldwide Underground" is the result.
The new Erykah opens up her album with a proclamation on the album cover that "neo-soul is dead." The album title, along with the black power iconography and her giant afro, not-so subtly point to a new revolutionary image, something she seems to have picked up from dead prez, with whom she collaborates on the album. The question remains: Is this really a brand-new Erykah, or is she the same old crazy singer/songwriter we love?
The answer is that she's still a little bit of both. Erykah's sound has definitely evolved, although she's intent on letting everyone know she's still a bit out there.Nowhere is this more evident than on the lead single "Danger." Beginning with a dark piano loop that is taken over by menacing horns, the track spirals to its end when Erykah descends into incoherent mumbling and strange caterwauling about "flushing the yeyo." It's the kind of song that produces an initial flabbergasted reaction, but ends up growing on you (I call it the Outkast Effect).
A tension between traditional neo-soul and bold experimentation clearly manifests itself on the opening song "Bump It," a nearly nine-minute epic that begins generically enough with the kind of laid-back groove that Erykah is known for. About halfway through, though, it descends into utterly bizarre vocal samples that seem more indulgent than inventive.
"I Want You," the other mammoth track on the EP, is a more successful experiment, opening with a staccato, almost techno-like delivery ("I I I I want you you you you") that later ends up with some nice electric guitar wailing courtesy of Lenny Kravitz. The song excellently showcases Erykah's developing musical direction, unlike some of the other generic slow jams on the album, such as the lackluster "Think Twice."
Other collaborations on the EP include a socially conscious track with dead prez called "The Grind," as well as a so-so remix of "Love of My Life" with Queen Latifah, Angie Stone and Bahamadia that fits in with the album's old school vibe.
In the end, Erykah Badu still seems to be straddling differing musical worlds, with the lingering legacy of neo-soul casting a shadow over the more inventive organic sound she's currently pursuing. She proves, however, that she's still a talented and innovative artist who is searching for a more concrete image and sound.
I can't wait to see what she ends up looking like next year.
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