Erykah Badu's career began after she opened a show for D'Angelo in 1994 in Fort Worth, leading to record label executive Kedar Massenburg signing her to Kedar Entertainment.
59 Facts About Erykah Badu
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Erykah Badu's voice has been compared to jazz singer Billie Holiday.
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Early in her career, Erykah Badu was recognizable for her eccentric style, which often included wearing very large and colorful headwraps.
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Erykah Badu was born Erica Abi Wright in Dallas, Texas.
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Erykah Badu's mother raised her, her brother Eevin, and her sister alone after separating from their father, William Wright Jr.
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Erykah Badu had her first taste of show business at the age of four, singing and dancing at the Dallas Theater Center and The Black Academy of Arts and Letters under the guidance of her godmother, Gwen Hargrove, and uncle TBAAL founder Curtis King.
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Erykah Badu left the university in 1993 before graduating, to focus more fully on music.
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Erykah Badu taught drama and dance to children at the South Dallas Cultural Center.
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Erykah Badu set Badu up to record a duet with D'Angelo, "Your Precious Love", and eventually signed her to a record deal with Universal Records.
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Erykah Badu recorded her first live album, Live, while pregnant with Seven, and the release of the recording coincided with his birth.
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Erykah Badu collaborated with the Roots on their breakthrough 1999 release Things Fall Apart.
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Erykah Badu was featured on the song "You Got Me", by The Roots and American female rapper Eve.
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In 2001 Erykah Badu embarked on the Mama's Gun World Tour.
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Erykah Badu resumed the tour during the fall with additional dates in America and Europe.
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Erykah Badu co-founded the Sugar Water Festival with Queen Latifah and Jill Scott.
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Erykah Badu later began to use her laptop as a mini recording studio to construct various backing tracks for songs, which led to the album's primary recording sessions at Electric Lady Studios in New York City.
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In 2007 Erykah Badu was said to have three albums in the works for release during 2007 and 2008.
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Erykah Badu performed at the 10th annual Voodoo Experience in New Orleans the weekend before Halloween 2008.
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Erykah Badu performed at a surprise midnight show on March 31,2010 at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles.
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On March 13,2010, Badu filmed the video for her song "Window Seat", at Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, the site of the assassination of President John F Kennedy.
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In 2011 Erykah Badu appeared on Flying Lotus's fourth album, Until the Quiet Comes.
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Erykah Badu appeared on the debut album by the supergroup Rocketjuice and The Moon, which was released in March 2012 and the album Black Radio by Robert Glasper.
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In 2013, Erykah Badu appeared on "Treehome95" from Tyler, The Creator's second studio album, Wolf as well as on the song "Heaven for the Sinner" from Bonobo's album The North Borders.
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In May 2013, Erykah Badu announced she was writing her next project, but not placing a time constraint on it.
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In July 2014, Erykah Badu revealed she was still working on the album and had been recording in April in Africa where she was "laying down drum tracks".
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Erykah Badu said that prior to her trip to Africa she would have meetings with her record label to set a deadline for the album.
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On March 26,2015, Erykah Badu performed at The Bomb Factory in her hometown, Dallas, Texas, for the Deep Ellum venue's grand opening.
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In early October, Erykah Badu released a remix of Drake's single "Hotline Bling", and later released a mixtape, But You Caint Use My Phone, on November 27,2015, making it available for digital download and streaming exclusively through Apple Music.
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The mixtape was released without the knowledge of her label Universal, due to Erykah Badu sending the record straight to iTunes.
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Erykah Badu hosted the 2015,2016 and the 2017 Soul Train Music Awards.
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Erykah Badu held her annual "Still Boomin'" sold-out birthday bash concert at The Bomb Factory on February 26,2016, marking her second performance at the venue since its grand opening 11 months earlier.
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Erykah Badu enlisted Dallas' local hip hop acts Zach Witness and Cameron McCloud as her supporting acts.
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In 2016, Erykah Badu starred as Turquoise in the film The Land.
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On June 2,2019, Erykah Badu teased the release of a new song which she performed live at Barcelona's Primavera Sound Festival, tentatively titled The Work.
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On June 19,2020 Erykah Badu featured on the song "Lowkey" by singer Teyana Taylor.
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The majority of Erykah Badu's music is greatly influenced by her beliefs of the Nation of Gods and Earths and her exploration of her African heritage.
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Erykah Badu's philosophy is influenced by African ideology, African-centered and Five Percent theologies, and Southern African-American folk traditions.
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Erykah Badu was influenced greatly by her music teacher Ms.
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In 2000, Erykah Badu received two nominations and won one, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the Grammy Awards.
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In 2008, Erykah Badu received eleven nominations and won two, including Best Director for "Honey" at the BET Awards and Best Direction in a Video for "Honey" at the MTV Video Music Awards.
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Erykah Badu made her debut as a supporting role in the 1998 film Blues Brothers 2000, playing Queen Mousette.
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Erykah Badu made her second appearances in The Cider House Rules, where she played the character of Rose Rose.
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The film fared well both critically and commercially, with Erykah Badu receiving numerous awards and nominations including a win at the 2000 Black Reel Awards for best supporting actress as well as nominations for Screen Actors Guild Awards and Satellite Awards.
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Erykah Badu is reported to have a leading role alongside Mos Def in the upcoming indie film, Bobby Zero, which tells a story of a struggling couple, who hit rock bottom after Mos Def's character gives up his artistic dream to pursue an advertising corporate job to live on.
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Erykah Badu appeared in scenes of the music video of Miko Marks' 2006 recording "Mama" and Common's video for "The Light," as well as making a special appearance on the sitcom Girlfriends.
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In 2008, Erykah Badu became the face of fashion designer Tom Ford White Patchouli fragrance.
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Ford, longtime friends with Erykah Badu, considered her the best choice for the campaign.
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In late December 2013, it was announced that Erykah Badu would become the face of Givenchy's 2014 Spring collection.
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Erykah Badu called this collection a "movement" against issues including depression, racism, and hatred.
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Erykah Badu remains an activist in her hometown of South Dallas.
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Erykah Badu chose to renovate and reopen the Black Forest Theater in South Dallas.
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Erykah Badu has received the Key to the City of Dallas and been recognized in Philanthropy Magazine for her efforts in community service.
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On February 20,2020, Erykah Badu opened an online store named Erykah Badu World Market.
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Erykah Badu launched her own cannabis line, That Erykah Badu, in partnership with the Cookies cannabis brand in 2023.
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Erykah Badu founded a company Apple Trees in 2020 that sells cannabis-related accessories.
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In 1996, Erykah Badu became involved with rapper Andre 3000 of OutKast, with whom she had her first child, a son named Seven Sirius Benjamin, on November 18,1997.
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On February 1,2009, Erykah Badu gave birth to her third child, a girl named Mars Merkaba Thedford, with her boyfriend of five years, rapper Jay Electronica.
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In February 2012, Erykah Badu's concert was cancelled in Malaysia because it was found that she had applied a temporary tattoo of the word Allah on a part of her body.
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Erykah Badu presented Mswati with a $100 bill, and a good-luck stone.