New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) found Badu taking a huge stylistic and thematic detour from her previous efforts. The track ends with a delicious nod to rare-groove man Johnny Hammond’s “Can’t We Smile.” 14: Soldier 15: Time’s A Wastin’Ī highlight from her second album, Mama’s Gun, “Time’s A Wastin’” fuses funky bass lines with lush strings and playful keyboard interjections to underscore Badu’s cautionary tale to a young black man. I was really influenced by all of them heavily.Released in 2003 as a supposed EP that was actually longer than most artists’ full-length albums, Worldwide Underground’s immaculately executed analog grooves were exemplified by the deep basslines, dreamy keyboard runs and exquisitely funky guitars of this single – a nostalgic ode to youthful days spent smoking weed with friends. This is how it needs to be.” They were making sure that I wasn’t being taken advantage of by the label’s ideas, A&Rs and all that kind of stuff. I was new and all the guys were giving me all this different advice like, “Don’t change nothing. You can feel all this energy in the building. I was in one room, Wu-Tang was in one room, Common was in one room and Mos Def was in one room. I went into the studio to either add to it or refine it and the first studio I went into was Battery Studios in Manhattan, NY. You know, Baduizm was already finished by the time I got a record deal. The album itself charted at #2 on the Billboard charts and spent 58 consecutive weeks on the chart.Įrykah spoke on the process and effect of the record over a decade later during an interview with Billboard This album is responsible for some her most notable tracks, including “Tyrone”, “Next Lifetime”, and of course the classic “On & On”.īaduizm went on to earn Badu numerous awards, including Best R&B Album at the 1998 Grammy Awards. It was released on Februby Kedar Records and Universal Records.

It’s known as the album that established and cemented her as one of the leading artists of her genre. The album is cited as one of the most iconic and reputable R&B albums of all time by many, and received praise and acclaim upon its release.

Baduizm is the debut album from Neo-Soul singer/songwriter/producer, Erykah Badu.

Erykah badu tyrone album cover