Erykah Badu calls herself an ‘ever-changing vessel’ as first full-length project in 11 years arrives
TheGrio...
The singer opens up about reinvention, doula work, motherhood and technology as she releases ‘Before the World Blows’ with The Alchemist.
Erykah Badu says change has always been part of how she moves through music and life. The iconic singer-songwriter’s new album, “Before The World Blows,” arrives two weeks after TheGrio confirmed the release date and months after Badu returned to the Roots Picnic with her singular stage presence.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Guardian, the 55-year-old singer described herself as an “ever-changing vessel” while discussing “Before the World Blows: The Abi and Alan Experiment,” her collaborative record with producer The Alchemist. It is her first full-length project since the 2015 mixtape “But You Caint Use My Phone” and her first official studio LP since 2010’s “New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh).”
Badu said the long gaps between projects are partly the result of living, learning and gathering experiences she can later turn into music. That perspective also shapes her resistance to labels. Although she helped define neo-soul in the late 1990s, Badu said she rejected being boxed into the genre because she did not want a fixed identity placed on her work.
The interview also explored a lesser-known part of her life. Badu became a certified birth doula in 2006 after supporting a friend through a 52-hour labor. She later expanded that work to become an end-of-life doula, sitting with people as they die. Badu described that role as another form of art and connected it to the way she approaches performing.
Badu’s new effort also reflects her thinking about relationships, motherhood and technology. Badu said some songs are autobiographical, while others carry messages for her daughters and younger generations. The final track, “Black Box,” addresses phone addiction and the way devices have become embedded in daily life.
The 16-track project was recorded over 18 months in Dallas and Los Angeles. It includes appearances by artists such as Steve Lacy, Thundercat, Westside Gunn and DRAM.
Badu’s latest project fits a career where change has been constant. At 55, she is still gathering experiences, reshaping them into music and resisting the labels that have followed her since “Baduizm.”
Listen to the full album below.