Short Biography
GRAMMY® award winning artist Erykah Badu is touching down in Australia this summer in what is sure to be the hottest ticket of the season. Forging her own path in soul music and almost single-handedly directing the genre since the '97 debut Baduizm, Badu's releases have always demanded critics attention, whilst her live shows incite rapturous engagement from audiences as she bursts through hits like On & On, Love Of My Life, Apple Tree, Tyrone, Bag Lady, Window Seat and more.
Her latest release New Amerykah Part II (Return Of The Ankh) further pushed the boundaries of contemporary soul music, enlisting the work of previous collaborators James Poyser and Ahmir ?uestlove Thom...
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Short Biography
GRAMMY® award winning artist Erykah Badu is touching down in Australia this summer in what is sure to be the hottest ticket of the season. Forging her own path in soul music and almost single-handedly directing the genre since the '97 debut Baduizm, Badu's releases have always demanded critics attention, whilst her live shows incite rapturous engagement from audiences as she bursts through hits like On & On, Love Of My Life, Apple Tree, Tyrone, Bag Lady, Window Seat and more.
Her latest release New Amerykah Part II (Return Of The Ankh) further pushed the boundaries of contemporary soul music, enlisting the work of previous collaborators James Poyser and Ahmir ?uestlove Thompson (The Roots, Al Green) as well as cutting edge producers like Madlib, SaRa Creative Partners, Karriem Riggins (Diana Krall) and the late J Dilla.
Erykah Badu will perform live for the very first time in her own headline shows in Australia, offering fans their first taste to see her in concert in exquisite and historic venues such as Sydney Opera House, Melbourne's Palais Theatre and Perth's picturesque Kings Park. For the latter two events, she will be joined by New Zealand's Fat Freddy's Drop.
The enigmatic seven piece soul act have won the world over with their hypnotic live performances which translate their impeccable records to a live setting in a similarly dynamic fashion to Badu's razor sharp band. Their last album ‘Live At Roundhouse London' showcased the incredible live show, which takes in highlights from their albums ‘Based On A True Story' and ‘Dr Boondigga and the Big BW' and Australian audiences may be in for a taste of new material, which is hinted at a mid 2012 release.
Do not miss the captivating Erykah Badu as she tours across Australia for the first time in her own headline shows, joined by Fat Freddy's Drop in Melbourne and Perth for some of the most musically exquisite engagements of the summer programme.
In-depth Biography
She grew up listening to '70s soul and '80s hip-hop, but Erykah Badu drew more comparisons to Billie Holiday upon her breakout in 1997, after the release of her first album, Baduizm. The grooves and production on the album are bass-heavy R&B, but Badu's languorous, occasionally tortured vocals and delicate phrasing immediately removed her from the legion of cookie-cutter female R&B singers. A singer/songwriter responsible for all but one of the songs on Baduizm, she found a number 12 hit with her first single, "On & On," which pushed the album to number two on the charts.
Born Erica Wright in Dallas in 1971, Badu attended a school of the arts and was working as a teacher and part-time singer in her hometown when she opened for D'Angelo at a 1994 show. D'Angelo's manager, Kedar Massenburg, was impressed with the performance and hooked her up with the singer to record a cover of the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell duet "Precious Love." He also signed Badu to his recently formed Kedar Entertainment label, and served as producer for Baduizm, which also starred bassist Ron Carter and members of hip-hop avatars the Roots on several tracks. The first single, "On & On," became a number one R&B hit in early 1997, and Baduizm followed it to the top of the R&B album charts by March. Opening for R&B acts as well as rap's Wu-Tang Clan, Erykah Badu stopped just short of number one on the pop album charts in April. Her Live album followed later in the year.
In 2000 she returned with her highly anticipated second studio album, Mama's Gun, which was co-produced by Badu, James Poyser, Bilal, and Jay Dee and contained the hit single "Bag Lady." Worldwide Underground, a loose affair billed as an EP despite being longer than many full-lengths, was released in 2003. Her next step, 2008's New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War, was a heavy and abstract release featuring collaborations with the members of Sa-Ra and Georgia Anne Muldrow; it reached number two on the Billboard 200 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh, looser and more playful than Pt. 1, followed in 2010. ~ John Bush, Rovi
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