2008 Woodie Awards
Erykah Badu Returns With a Strong EP
Jason Hortillas
Issue date: 10/9/03 Section: Arts and Entertainment
- Page 1 of 2 next >
When Erykah Badu first arrived on the music map with Baduizm, she sent shock waves among the industry with her southern flavor, bringing back a classic sound into the mainstream ear.
Along with the likes of D'Angelo, Maxwell and a host of others, the return of classic vibes was coined as "Neo-Soul."
Coming in with a different sound was also a different demeanor.
The head wrapped songbird, integrated song cadences similar to the Jazz singers of yester-year.
In addition, her hooks struck critics with her use of sharp metaphor. It was beautiful.
As the years passed, there have been many talented singers, male and female, who fall under the Neo-soul category, but Erykah Badu remains to be the innovator.
There is rawness to her delicacy as evident in World Wide Underground, where an eight song EP (without intro/outro) packs punch without any filler in between.
Her leadoff single, " Danger" starts of smooth and gets grimy, continuing her rapping type of flow. The breakdown returns to a smooth intermission, building the track up to the horn-induced melody.
In regards to her rap-like qualities, unlike Ja-Rule, Badu admits to her singing and is sure proud of it.
The song is quite good, but if comparisons must be made, it is not as heartfelt as her previous leadoff singles "On and On" and "Bag Lady." Other notables include, "On The Grind," featuring M-1 of Dead Prez, "Back In The Day" with Lenny Kravitz on bass, and "Love of My Life Worldwide" featuring Queen Latifah, Angie Stone and Bahamadia.
"On The Grind," produced by Dead Prez alongside Badu's new production team Freakquency (Badu and Rashad "Ringo" Smith") arises as the most politically charged single, evident to fans of the collaborative artists.
A suggested track for the socially conscious, but to the shallow pop ear, you should probably skip track six.
The most noteworthy song on the entire album would be a tie between "Bump It" and "Think Twice."
Along with the likes of D'Angelo, Maxwell and a host of others, the return of classic vibes was coined as "Neo-Soul."
Coming in with a different sound was also a different demeanor.
The head wrapped songbird, integrated song cadences similar to the Jazz singers of yester-year.
In addition, her hooks struck critics with her use of sharp metaphor. It was beautiful.
As the years passed, there have been many talented singers, male and female, who fall under the Neo-soul category, but Erykah Badu remains to be the innovator.
There is rawness to her delicacy as evident in World Wide Underground, where an eight song EP (without intro/outro) packs punch without any filler in between.
Her leadoff single, " Danger" starts of smooth and gets grimy, continuing her rapping type of flow. The breakdown returns to a smooth intermission, building the track up to the horn-induced melody.
In regards to her rap-like qualities, unlike Ja-Rule, Badu admits to her singing and is sure proud of it.
The song is quite good, but if comparisons must be made, it is not as heartfelt as her previous leadoff singles "On and On" and "Bag Lady." Other notables include, "On The Grind," featuring M-1 of Dead Prez, "Back In The Day" with Lenny Kravitz on bass, and "Love of My Life Worldwide" featuring Queen Latifah, Angie Stone and Bahamadia.
"On The Grind," produced by Dead Prez alongside Badu's new production team Freakquency (Badu and Rashad "Ringo" Smith") arises as the most politically charged single, evident to fans of the collaborative artists.
A suggested track for the socially conscious, but to the shallow pop ear, you should probably skip track six.
The most noteworthy song on the entire album would be a tie between "Bump It" and "Think Twice."