![]() 1971 daugh ter of KolteenWright changed first name to Erykah in high school changed last name to Badu in college, Education: Attended Grambllng State University in Louisiana studied theater.Ĭareer: Hip-hop/soul/jazz vocalist, songwriter, producer, and video director. Mixing abundant creativity and an astute understanding of the music business, “I learned that in order to be a successful entertainer, you At a Glance …īorn Erica Wright in Dallas, Taxas, ca. She remained determined and, by the early 1990s, Erykah Free was the opening act for some of the big hip-hop acts of the day, such as Wu-Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest, and Mobb Deep. Initially, they struggled to find success in the music business and Badu had to take work as a waitress and as a hostess at Dallas ’s Steve Harvey comedy club. She has also had formal training as a dancer.īadu and her cousin, Robert “Free ” Bradford, formed a duo called Erykah Free and performed at progressive nightspots around Dallas. Badu performed in community theater in Dallas during her school years and majored in theater at Louisiana ’s Grambling State University before dropping out to pursue music. She made her own clothes while in grade school, and her mother encouraged the drawings, poems, letters, and writings that filled her daughter ’s school notebooks. Artistic Activities in Youthīadu ’s unusual creativity was evident at a young age. Badu respelled her first name in high school, and in college took the name Badu, which means “giver of truth and light ” in Arabic. ![]() ”Her given name, which she has called her “slave ” name, ” was Erica Wright. Badu told USA Today that she fell in love with the music of Stevie Wonder “at maybe age two. She was raised by her mother Kolleen Wright and her grandmother on the city ’s rough south side. ![]() ”īorn around 1971 in Dallas, Badu was the oldest of three children. “Sometimes, ” she told People when the magazine named her one of 1998 ’s “50 Most Beautiful People ”of the year, “I do feel quite Queen Nefertiti-ish. Both romantic and a bit intellectual, Badu is steeped in African American spirituality, and exudes it in her personal presence. An original artist, she composed and performed a fusion of soul, hip-hop, and jazz. Erykah Badu was a breakout star of 1997, selling over two million copies of her debut album, Baduizm. Her trademark African head wraps helped inspire a vogue for African clothing in the late 1990s, and her music seemed to carry layers of African American experience, wrapped up and elegantly presented with the latest hip-hop beats.
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