Erykah Badu Research Paper

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During the 1990s and early 2000s, rhythm and blues was an up-and-coming genre that was dominated by black voices. Even though R&B was just starting to emerge as a mainstream genre, a new subgenre was in the works. Neo-soul was a subgenre born from soul and R&B. This genre became popular with many musicians and artists, including the birth of a new artist, Erica Badu. Erica Abi Wright, also known as Erykah Badu, is an American rhythm and blues singer born in Texas. She used Stevie Wonder and Miles Davis art styles to create her take on R&B music. Erykah Badu has been and still is a very influential Neo-soul and R&B artist. Erica Abi Wright was born in Dallas, Texas on February 26, 1971. She was the oldest sister of three younger siblings and …show more content…

She displayed a multitude of creativity from a young age. In grade school, she created her own clothes and poems; additionally, she performed in a local community theater named “Booker T. Washington”. While in her Catholic grade school, she considered herself “weird”, but Erica eventually found other “weirdos” to hang out with in theater. While in high school, Erica changed the spelling of her first name to Erykah and referenced her birth name as a “slave name”, and she continued to dance. These moments and experiences from her childhood directly affect her personality and profession as an artist today. Erykah Badu attended Grambling State University, a historically black college and university, in 1989; She majored in dance and performing arts. Erykah had a cousin named Robert “Free” Bradford. He was studying music production at a college in Chicago. Robert would send Erykah his demos for her to rap over while she was in college. One day, Erykah decided to sing instead of rap; that song became the blueprint for the future songs they would make …show more content…

Unfortunately, Kedar wasn't interested in a duo, he was looking for a solo act and Erykah was one of his candidates. Badu signed a solo deal, leaving her partner Free behind. With Kedar as her producer, she could collaborate with more well-known artists of that time; for example, D’Angelo and the Roots. Kedar also helped her album Baduizm rise to fame, which was the official start of Erykah Badu’s career. Kedar Messenbrug coined the music genre “neo soul’ to help market his artist style of music. Neo-soul is a less contemporary sound mixed with soul and elements such as jazz, hip-hop, and funk. Neo-soul is mainly known as the counterpart to contemporary R&B. Kedar's neo-soul movement was mainly associated with his 2 artists D’Angelo and Erykah Badu. The term still sticks to Erykah music and now she is referred to as the Queen of neo-soul. Erykah Badu inspired many well-known artists from the R&B genre to neo-soul. For instance, Durand Bernard constantly publicly announced Erykah's influence on his music; he even named his 2010 mixtape 8ight: The Stepson of Erykah Badu. Durands music career started from Erykahs

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