So what do all of you neo-soul haters ...

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... think of the new Erykah Badu record? To me, it seems kinda paradoxical that on one hand it sounds like it is made over the weekend with rally cheap keyboard sounds and all, and at the same time it is probably her most freaked out and musically adventurous effort to date. There's all kinds of weird shit in there, she even worships the glitch (a little late, maybe, but hey! She's approaching 'white' IDM here! For better or for worse...). Any thoughts? (Preferably on a slightly more elevated level than the usual college boy spiffier-than-thou bullshit shot from the hip...).
I know that Neo Soul has its flaws (the world DOESN'T suffer from an acute lack of Fender Rhodes riffs, as some critic once said on that note), but this has sumpin'. Hit me!

Jay K (Jay K), Monday, 8 September 2003 20:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Come to think of it, this is probably the record that Common wishes that he could have made. Even though it draws on all kinds of inspirations (afrobeat, glitch, ol skool electronica), this is much less forced and much more rooted in a genre and a personal style. Yay, Erykah, you've beaten your ol' man - again! I salute thee!

Jay K (Jay K), Monday, 8 September 2003 21:39 (twenty-two years ago)

i was only able to DL (some of) one track, donald byrd's "Think Twice". i love the original, i think it's been sampled beautifully many times, and i LOVE the Jay Dee version, but i think (from the 1.5minutes i heard) that this version is ok. i am looking forward to the album and until this thread didn't know there was a new one coming out.

and why's there hate for erykah? her last album was a masterpiece fer shure

JasonD (JasonD), Tuesday, 9 September 2003 00:30 (twenty-two years ago)

and why's there hate for erykah? her last album was a masterpiece fer shure

No joke! Oh, the glares I weathered suggesting that it was better than Stankonia.

Eric H. (Eric H.), Tuesday, 9 September 2003 02:53 (twenty-two years ago)

the world DOESN'T suffer from an acute lack of Fender Rhodes riffs

this is fallacy

And on the other point...HOLY SHIT I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW SHE HAD A NEW ALBUM COMING OUT! (ps I hella love her first two albums)

nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 9 September 2003 03:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Some folks have uh, interesting impressions of her live....The below is from the Village Voice..


Cuz She's Cleva

I regret to inform you that you're not Erykah Badu. Got it? You don't have the chops to pull off this sort of
conceit. You can't start your show an hour and a half late, then draw out your intro for three minutes while
your backup singers croon your name ("Badu, Badu"). You can't sport gold fronts and an Afro wig with a
black-power pick nested inside. You don't have the skills to saunter onto the stage at S.O.B.'s, never smile,
and turn your back to the crowd like Miles Davis. You need a voice from God to blunt all those pretensions.
She has it. You don't.

At least one person in Badu's band must have dreads. Badu must refer to herself in the third person at least
20 times for a show to be complete. The Most High must be thanked. Everyone in the crowd must be brother
or sister. But most importantly, Erykah Badu must blow like a woman twice her size. She must have an
awesome catalogue to pull from. Her band and backup singers must be tight as a knot. It's easy to forget the
last part. And each time she steps on stage with her shenanigans, another neo-soulite reaches for a
head-wrap and forgets their voice.

Erykah Badu is a trap, you hear? Only she can raise her hands in front of her and spread them like she's
parting the clouds for the sun of her face and exclaim, "Wooooo!" You want to move crowds like Badu? Get a
perm, a long dress, and a Bible. Head down to church, join the choir, and never speak of Baduizm again.
--Ta-Nehisi Coates

Steve Kiviat (Steve K), Tuesday, 9 September 2003 04:05 (twenty-two years ago)

well, officially it's an ep, but it's eleven tracks (only one or two interludes). it's really interesting, as a matter of fact ... just saw a doc about nina simone, and badu strikes me as a worthy modern inheritant ...

Jay K (Jay K), Tuesday, 9 September 2003 07:55 (twenty-two years ago)

picked this up yesterday (BestBuy is selling it for 7.99$ - just like bubba sparxxx for 6.99$). it's pretty great that it's a 10 track 50 minute ep. after listening to it 2-3 times, i think it's pretty good. not much of a departure from the last one, which means it's very good but not as adventurous. the hip hop styled "Woo" is easily my favorite thus far.

JasonD (JasonD), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 17:21 (twenty-two years ago)

fuck, I paid $14

Sonny A. (Keiko), Saturday, 20 September 2003 21:24 (twenty-two years ago)

six years pass...

Is Raheem DeVaughn neo soul or RnB?

Also, is the song B.O.B about a woman addicted to her vibrator or a beef track with B.O.B himself? It's really been troubling me.

bigjoemuzz, Monday, 7 June 2010 08:32 (fifteen years ago)


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