The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Erykah Badu Speaks On Her Iconic Fashion Sense, Social Media's Affect On Art, New Music + More

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

The Breakfast Club Sits Down With Erykah Badu To Discuss Her Iconic Fashion Sense, Social Media's Affect On Art, And New Music. Listen For More!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wake that ass up early in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne Tha Guy. We are The Breakfast Club. Jess is on maternity leave. So, Lauren LaRosa is filling in, and we got a special guest in the building. The icon living. Yes, Miss Erica Badu. Welcome back. Peace, peace, peace. How you feeling?

How you feeling? Exquisite. There you go. All right. Well, I don't know if you noticed, last time you were here, the art wasn't up, but do you see the art now? Look how you sinned it, though.

Look what y'all did. You got Queen Mother blessing the whole room. Well, I got to pull out the pussy then. What? You got bottle of pussy on you? That's my purse. You got the incense? I got it.

I've been burning them incense since you dropped them. She says you need the pussy. She says she need the pussy. She says she need the pussy. I saw y'all two together at the awards yesterday. Congratulations on that, too. Congratulations on receiving the CFDA Fashion Icon Award. Oh, thank you very, very much. I have no idea what that means, but I feel like you deserve all the awards.

So congrats. They say, I found out it's the Oscar of fashion. Really? Yeah. So that award means a lot to people in the fashion industry. And thank you, Sid. And to us as artists as well. You know, creators who are constantly trying to you know evolve our our culture

okay you know so that means a lot to be recognized it's always felt like you had an effortless style do you really put a lot of thought into how you

how you dress sometimes okay you know sometimes I do and sometimes it's just grace blow that pause

it just happens yeah there you go you're not supposed to blow out incense the old Googles don't like that. Why you tell me to blow it out? I'm joking.

I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I'm kidding, but I'm not kidding. Okay. I'm just trying to say it's not me. The fire alarm's about to go off. It ain't on me. We got so much of this at the house.

Y'all do? Yeah, when you first put it out a couple years ago. Absolutely. Now, you said during your speech that this was an award that you wanted for a long time. Was that true? Was that long? Absolutely. You said as a child?

I didn't even know that you could get an award for that, but just wanted to be recognized for the canvas that I create when I go out. I mean, it's really important to me. It's my therapy. You know, I can't leave without having my, like I said in the speech, shit together. You know, it's just something that came with my head. You know, it's a nagging thing. You know, make sure your shit is together.

And sometimes when I don't try really hard, it sometimes gracefully comes together. I guess maybe because of my intention. The fashion gods gave me the keys out here in these streets. You get it from your mom, grandma, pops? Definitely my mom. Okay. Yeah, definitely Colleen Wright.

They used to call her Twiggy in high school after the model because she was just so original. She had bleached her hair white. She was a really skinny kid with big eyes. She was really creative. How difficult is it for you to

have so much of a fashion sense? Because you travel a lot. How much luggage do you have to carry? How much do you go shopping? That's what I'm saying. You carry a lot of freaking luggage. Her luggage has her own bus. Well, I'll explain that.

When you're your own stylist and your own makeup person and your own hair person and then I do the band's wardrobe and they're just instruments and all kinds of things. So I carry a production.

So I like to see the vision all the way through. And have my hands in it. There's a word for that. An artist who has their hands in every aspect of the work. Of the vision.

It's called an auteur, I think, A-U-T-O-I-R, auteur. And they describe it as an artist or a visionary who has an idea and has to see it all the way through in each department because they have the ability to do that. So you write a song and you know what the video is going to look like, you know what you're going to wear. Yeah. Okay.

Wow. You talked last night about your best friend who accompanied you to the awards. Alfredo. Alfredo and him introducing you to a lot of the fashion houses and stuff like that. Where fashion houses always open and like rushing to support you and all of your creative ideas or did you have that was there a fight because a lot of artists talk about it being a

fight trying to get into the couture houses you know it was um I I was out since 1997 and social media was really the opening to a lot of these relationships because they could now directly get to the artists where they probably didn't know how to get to the ones that they wanted to feature before. But the first person that reached out to me was Tom Ford. Tom Ford wanted me to do a perfume at White Patchouli, which was his natural incense flavors. What year was this? This was 2002, maybe.

Oh, okay. Yeah, so that's Tom Ford. And Tom Ford's from Texas as well, so we kind of formed a bond. And I guess as I evolved, my style, other houses, or artists, because it's really the creative director who is the person. He is the house at the time

because his vision is trusted most. And they started, you know, kind of paying attention to, you know, the goddiness or the freeness or the hobo chicness. It's been called all kinds of things. But, yeah, they caught notice. Next was Roberto Ticci.

And he was the creative director of Givenchy at the time. And that was my first full campaign. And he let me co-style with him and put things together. And I think it just, after that, I was kind of, you know, I was on the radar for certain things. Definitely the page to go

to if you want to know what's next. And how do you pick, like last night you were in Tom Brown, or the other day at the CFDA Awards you were in Tom Brown, how do you pick which designers and which houses now you want to work with? Because I'm sure they're all banging. You can do anything you want now. Right.

I picked Tom specifically for this event because he's the chairman of the event. Yes. And he's also a very, very good friend of mine. And his art is just so amazing. So I thought since I was being honored, I would also honor him by wearing one of his pieces. And I chose one from Runway. And a really beautiful architectural shape. Real pretty.

And I said, but I need something futuristic, ancient to go on top. And I saw this AI. I think he saw this post this morning. I'm not sure. But I saw this AI rendering of this headpiece, and I reached out to the person, and I told him, this is really beautiful. I would love to challenge a designer to bring this to life

in the 5D world, 4D world. And he said, okay. So I called a friend, Chris Habana, who does a lot of crafting and an amazing jeweler. And he said yes, and he had three days, and he pulled a team together, and they did some, what do you call it? Renderings. Yeah, they did some. Put it in a machine.

It's plastic. You can make a gun with it. You can make a house with it now. 3-D printing. Right. Yeah, they did some 3-D printing to try to really. It's amazing. It's amazing.

Do you remember where you were at when you got the call that you was getting the CFDA award? I was at home, and my agency forwarded me the email. I was like, wow, okay. It's good. It's good stuff. It's good. Did you immediately know what you was going with? Did you see that vision?

Absolutely not. Okay? Absolutely not. Okay. Absolutely not. This thing was three weeks away. Yeah. I didn't know what I was going to wear tomorrow. You've done capsules before with people and collaborated. Have you ever thought about just straight up?

I like how you're trying to talk low and soft just because Erica's watching. You don't even talk like that. You know what I'm saying? Every time I hear you talk like that, you don't even talk like that. You know what I'm saying? You don't even talk like that. I gotta calm down a bit. Every time she comes up I do that though. I don't know why.

I wanna be in the vibe. She put you in the vibe. Yes. But I was gonna ask, you know, I will never blow the instant again either. You ever thought about

doing your whole line, like a full clothing line from Erica Badu from Ruta to Tuta and everything in between? I have thought about that. I had a chance to practice that with Marnie and Francesco Riso. We did a collab, Marnie and Badu, last year.

A lot of things happened for me in fashion last year. Right. The last two years. It was my first fashion week. So that's when I really started to catch the bug. And I met Francesco because we went to the Met Ball together. And we drew up some things and talked about some things and had a capsule line that came out.

And these sleeves are part of it. The collab was everywhere. It was? Yes. Everybody was in y'all collab in Marnie. That was your first fashion week? Yes. Like you attending? What do you mean by that? Yeah, it was my first fashion week in 2020.

Three. Yeah. Wow. So during that time, that collab is no 22 is that collab the collab when you got to work with your daughter puma too with marnie or was it yes okay yes and how did that feel because like okay we see lebron and bronnie on the court and they're like you know but like this is your lane and now your daughter's coming into it y'all are working with a fashion house how did you feel just doing that with her? It was surreal.

It was a dream, you know, because Puma's such an individual person that I didn't know what direction she wanted to go in, and I still don't. You know, she's 20, so she's kind of finding her way. And sometimes when your kid is an artist they don't want to follow your shadow they want to find their own thing you know but she was cool with supporting me and standing beside me

and she was like mom I don't care this is for you you know so I don't feel like nobody can dress like you if they tried yeah well yeah like what happened with the line what they got to do with what we talking about I don't feel like nobody can dress like you if they tried. Yeah, well, yeah. Like, what happened with the line? What they got to do with what we talking about? Because even, I feel like everything you do is spirit art. Even down to your fashion.

Yeah, man. So I don't know, if you don't embody that spirit, I don't even know how that would even. Charlamagne, you are such a wise person. You really are. Ever since I met you, you tap into things so well. Yeah, I approach everything the same way. It's a feeling.

I feel. Yeah. So would you do your own line? Do you want to do your line? That's not something that's in your course for right now. Absolutely. Would you have the time for it? Oh, yeah.

I would make time. I would make time. This is my last fashion question. Huh? She got awarded with a fashion award this week. All right. I didn't know. I didn't know if you wanted to get to other stuff.

I've been trying to get this award since I was six. Okay. Because, look, I'm locked and loaded over here. Ask me everything. I've been playing with paper dolls, trying to make sure that people, you know, really appreciate my work. It's kind of like putting your picture on the refrigerator so your mom sees it. And you never expect your mom to say nothing bad.

So it's such a shock every time. It's always new when people are disrespectful and mean and all that people disrespectful and mean to you oh yeah I'll fuck them up who

I told somebody that the other day didn't I tell somebody that the other day I feel like you got I feel like you going against like the gods

to do that to you I mean they try it you know what I'm saying but I'm anointed and protected and I don't have a heart so they can't

you know they can't penetrate me what you mean you don't have a heart, so they can't penetrate me. What you mean you don't have a heart? I'm joking. Oh. This is funny. I don't care about this. Put that pen and paper up.

You don't have to take notes about this. I saw online you were doing some interviews just after the awards and you were in some Jordans. Yes. That was a Jordan Virgil collab? No, it wasn't. Okay, that's not true then. Because they were saying it was like an unreleased collab.

It was an unreleased one, but it wasn't Virgil. It was Shoe Surgeon. Got you. Okay. Yeah. People just give you, like, how do you get your hands on? People online were going crazy over the collab. They were trying to figure out how you even got the shoes. Right. Showed up at my door one collab. Yeah. And they were trying to figure out where, like, how you even got the shoes.

Right. Showed up at my door one day. Yo. Yo. I was like, yeah, I was like, yo.

All my fashion blog pages are literally trying to figure out. Shoot. Y'all zoomed in on it? I zoomed in. Cause I'm like, I don't even see any of Virgil's like, uh,

you know, he has the things that he does, but you know it's him. I'm like, I don't see none any of Virgil's like, you know, he has the things that he does. You know, it's him. I'm like, I don't see none of that. She started to get busy. Yeah. Yeah. Yes.

Go ahead. Yeah. Maybe I'm not going to say nothing about that. What? Nothing. What? What? What?

Damn. How'd you feel about that? It was my first time, so. I'm joking, I'm joking, I'm joking. I'm trying to throw off the audience so they'll know what I told you. No, because I was sitting here like, I wanted to hear your answer. I don't know what you just said.

Oh, no, we'll tell y'all another time, when the news come out. That's right. How'd you feel about that? Now, you've always been an artist that's sensitive about your shit. You told us that a long time ago. But you said in your speech at CFDA

that it's scary being an artist in the social media era. So how has social media made that critique worse, I guess? Yeah, it is scary. I mean, I've heard my own kids be afraid to express and share their art. Erykah Badu kids scared to share their art and express themselves because the audience is so vicious at this point, and they have such a huge appetite for blood. And they want people to be disciplined and humbled and punished for their success, almost.

It's what it seems like. So that's why a lot of kids are afraid to share their work or share their art or feel like they have to come at it with some kind of armor on. And that armor doesn't allow for the art to truly express itself, in my opinion. So it's a scary time for art. We didn't have to do that. We didn't have to deal with that.

You heard the few little comments and things, but those weren't strong enough to penetrate a strong person. But these things are now, because when people come at you in numbers, you know, we've talked about group things so many times. It's what, it was a prediction that I made with Window Seat in 2010, a group think would overshadow art. And it is right now. Yes, because people can.

People can. I think it's very smart to get at the channels and even the whole... Instead of getting at the bloggers and the people, we see artists penalizing the channels themselves. And I think that's the smart thing because that's what has to change. If that doesn't, if there's no place to do that, then it won't be done. I agree.

Will it get back to that ever, you think? Huh? You think it'll ever get back to where people feel comfortable releasing music or not hesitant because of the amount of people that go at them? I mean, we see it in everything, comedy. We see it in movies.

We see it in just regular conversation. People are afraid to be, quote, unquote, canceled. Yeah, it's kind of like if it's eating, if it's feeding season, you're a little bit more cautious to go outside. Squirrels are not going to try to run free and not be cautious when it's lion season. It might get back to it if we really want kindness. Kindness seems kind of boring to people. You know what I'm saying?

It's kind of boring. People don't feel that there could be some kind of dopamine release from being kind or being right. Does that make you hesitant to release music? No, not me. You haven't dropped in 14 years. 14 years?

It's been 14 years since 2010. 2015. I can make you put your phone down? Yeah, 2015. 10 years. That was okay. 10 years. That was the hotline bling. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But an album.

You haven't put out an album since. Well, one reason I don't have to is because I am a performance artist. And I've been doing that constantly for the last 30 years. Eight months out of the year. All year round I do it. That's what I love to do. I only put out albums when I have something to say. I have something pressing to say or push out.

But I have more than enough space to get my art out on stage. So it's not totally necessary to put an album for me. I would just love to see the vision that God has shown you. Because if you look at your catalog, right, your catalog literally has predicted where we are now. If I can only imagine the stuff you're creating right now, how far into the future are you seeing things? Me too. I mean, I'm writing right now, how far into the future you seeing things? Me too. I mean, I'm writing

right now. I got a project coming out soon. A full album? Wow. But I can't tell y'all about it. How soon? Niggas be biting. I just got goosebumps. How soon?

It's going gonna be soon soon like by the end of the year soon or next year soon we'll see yeah it's an important one it's a collab album oh you with another artist

you not gonna say who are you you give Andre 3000 a rap again he's a guy he's a guy oh yeah wow

do I think he'll rap again I say is this gonna be the collab album that gets him to rap again and also you can answer do you think he'll rap again? He's a guy. He's a guy. Do I think he'll rap again? I'd say, is this going to be the collab album that gets him to rap again? And also, you can answer do you think he'll rap again? And why would you say is this going to be the collab album? Because you're assuming that it's him. Yeah, I am. I'm asking.

You can assume whatever you want. But I don't know. I mean, I don't know. I don't think he has to. He's speaking with that instrument. It's the same thing. It emits the same kind of thing. Yeah, the way he make us feel when we're bombs over Baghdad is the way he makes people who are ready for that feel.

It's the same thing. It's his energy. It's his air. It's his wind. I feel it. That's the rap, you know, to me. He rapping to me. That's true.

I went to go see the New Blue Sun tour when he performed in Brooklyn. And I felt very fulfilled. Me too. Very fulfilled after it was over. I felt fulfilled because he was fulfilled. He was happy. He was happy. He was doing what he wanted to do at his own pace. There was no urgency, you know, to be right.

He was happy with making mistakes. It was cool. I really enjoyed it, and I love improv. So I was happy he had a chance to get up there and express himself because I don't know if you understand it, we have to do this. Or we may be sick or something. Artists who use their art as therapy or use their art as a coping mechanism, you know, helps me with all of the things that are off balance.

I have to do that. So seeing him being able to do that, because I'm assuming that he may feel the same way I do. It's just such a blessing to have that platform to do it, you know. I can see why y'all are twin flames, too, because he was on stage and it was one part of the show where he just started going making all kinds of noises and the crowd was answering him back

and then he goes I wasn't saying shit I was just bugging with y'all last night he I keep saying last night I don't know what date it's coming up but he presented you with your CFDA Fashion Icon Award

yeah on the way I know you reached out to him to have him present to you, and you guys had a conversation. He was saying... I did. Well, it was a kind of tricky thing. I actually reached out to Tiana Taylor, because I think she's next.

Wow, okay. Yeah, I think she has a really good grasp on art and fashion, functional art. I'm really impressed and inspired by her. But I asked her, and I'd asked Andre before, but he didn't respond. And then they came back and told me after I asked Tiana that Andre said yes. And I had to figure out how to maneuver that. Yeah. Because that meant a lot to her.

Oh, yes. So I want to tell her I love you so very much and I'm so happy that we're friends. And I hope that that did not bring a wedge between us in any way. But that's Andre 300050,000, girl. Your best friend. You got to talk to people? You got to talk to people to get to him? No.

Oh, you just said they came back. My sister told me that he responded. Got you, got you. No, no. Well, sometimes. It depends how busy he is. I'll follow proper protocol if I have to yeah

how do you handle the challenge of balancing like your personal expression with the expectations that your fans in the music industry might place on Erykah Badu how do I do what how do you handle the challenge of balancing like the personal expression with the expectation the fans

may have like they might expect you to show up a certain way all of the time. That's fun. It's part of the art because this career is an art. It's what it is. There's an art of longevity. There's an art of conceptualizing. There's an art of conceptualizing. There's an art of building a persona. There's an art of knowing when to divvy the art out,

knowing when to pull it back. It's all an art. So what the people feel and think are very, very important. It's a major part of it because they decide who and what you are. I like to surprise them. I like to give them what they did not know they may have wanted from me because I hope that I'm doing whatever I'm doing presently as well as I was doing what I was doing in the past.

As an artist, when did you realize that you didn't say, that you didn't give a fuck and you said you're going to do what you want to do? You're going to put out what you want to put out. You don't necessarily have to fit in the box of every artist. You don't have to follow the platform and say, this is it, take it, leave it. When did you get to that point? In the contract negotiation in 1997, 95.

It was never a fail? No, I mean, I didn't have to do it, you know, and they didn't have to do it. you know, and they didn't have to do it. You know, I figured it was a partnership, and I was doing the record label a favor. I knew who I was. I knew what I was getting ready to do. I had a mission, and nothing was going to infiltrate it, not even my own fear and doubts. And I'm still on mission.

Best work is still in me. And I have not accomplished whatever that is yet because there's still this feeling of youth and greenness and growth. When did you realize you was on a divine assignment in your life?

A little. Yeah, I always thought I was very, very special. Very anointed or narcissistic one, because I just believed it. I always have. Nobody can tell me that it's not true, that I have

a mission and I am anointed and I am special and I am blessed and that's why I choose service over anything because I know things some things come easier to me than they were to someone else so I already know when you look at other artists without saying names do you see it in them like they're selling themselves out I know they're different do you see that in a lot of artists like they're selling themselves out for

a check or selling themselves out for a label where you see they can go something different. Do you see that a lot? Envy, I don't know. I don't ever look at that. Yeah, selling themselves out for it. I don't know. People do what they have to do.

And it's not a race. We don't all have to be at the same understanding at the same time. Everybody, all artists don't have to be responsible for your kids. You know? Yeah, so I don't know. I mean, people doing what they have to do. I remember needing money, too, and doing things.

Strange things were a piece of change. You know, like performing in venues I didn't want to perform in. Yeah. So I don't know. I can't judge that. What do you think about that? I think sometimes they got to realize their assignment. I think we all go through that sometimes.

Realize why we're there. What made me think about it is when J. Cole jumped into that beef, and he came back and said, this is not for me. And, you know, press people ished on him and said this, that, and the other, but that was his assignment, and you can't be mad at his assignment.

Even me as a fan was kind of mad. Well, he was on a mission, right? He was on a mission. He realized it. I understand that. Sometimes I believe that, you believe that being on a mission or your assignment is not always to do something heavenly and great and good.

Sometimes it's to create some chaos so that you may shake things up. Fertilizer is put into a pot to disturb the roots. It's poisoning them so they have to move. So yeah, you can't really judge it. You don't know what somebody's mission is.

Because it all counts. It's all a matter. And you don't know what journey God got them on. That's right. You don't get Malcolm X without Malcolm Little. That's right. You don't get Erykah Badu without... I'm trying to think of a...

Street name. You don't get Erykah Badu without Butchie Knife Betty. There you go. Butchie Knife Betty. I'm trying to think of a street name. You don't get Erykah Badu without Butchy Knife Betty. There you go. Butchy Knife Betty. That's my new moniker, everybody. When you said that you knew you was of service, did you know what that was going to look like?

Did you know it was going to be music? Actually, I did not, but I don't consider that the service. I consider music my privilege because I'm using the audience as therapists, a thousand million therapists to get my idea out, my thing out. Services are the things that I don't charge money for, that I do because I feel like it's the right thing, not because of a promise of heaven or accolades or a trophy, just because of integrity and the connection between two people. When people hear this, they don't believe that. Nobody believes that. It's so strange to me that people don't believe that that kind of human can exist. You know, they don't believe it.

I wonder why. Maybe it's strange. Is it strange that I don't need anything back? Or I don't ask for anything when I pray? Is it strange? I don't think so. To me, prayer is for gratitude. I find

myself when I'm praying, I'm just saying thank you. And I guess coming from where I come from, a dirt road in Moscow and South Carolina, I always felt good. I feel like whatever God has given me in that moment is what I'm supposed to have, and I'm grateful for that. Yeah. It seems like it's becoming more of a general consensus

that we don't need anything. We're realizing that, that we don't need anything. And the biggest gift we probably need is peace of mind. And I'm rewarded with peace of mind when I do service for others for free, for nothing, just because. It's the right thing to do. Peace of mind, that's what the green juice is for, what the yoga is for, what the music is for, what the singing is for,

what the money is for, what the singing is for, the money is for, the bitches is for. One point, two kids and husband and house and car is for. We all looking for peace of mind. And that's how I get mine the most. Do people take advantage of that though sometimes? Absolutely.

But that's none of my business. Absolutely. But that's none of my business. Absolutely. Were there points like Bag Lady I was saying earlier in the room that I remember when Bag Lady for me started hitting differently and I was listening to it and was like, oh, I get it now. When I was younger, I was just listening to it because it was played in my house and I loved the song, but I literally remember that feeling. For you, were there points in your life where you had to be like, ooh, I get it. Like, I feel it, Bag Lady. Or like, was this song of service for someone else?

You mean feeling my own song? You're feeling your own. Even before Bag Lady was created, maybe there was a time in your life that created or inspired the song. When did you get out of the bag lady phase? And what did that feel like for you? Lauren's trying to say she has a lot of baggage.

So she's trying to see, did you have a lot too? Or was it just a song? What I'm saying is, what I realized is, number one, with my mom, I always, I never understood why she couldn't be happy about certain things. And then I got older and I'm like, man, you carrying so much stuff. I tell her all the time, like, just let that go. Like, we can handle that. Recently, a couple of men have told Lauren that she needs to heal.

We are not doing this with Queen. A couple of men did that to Lauren. They said, I'll spend a block, but you need to heal. You need to work on yourself. Who said this to you? First of all, the two people that said it to me. They ain't even, they probably can't even spell heal. So what y'all think about the two guys that said it to her?

They right. I think they right. But she on a journey. I told her that all the time. She's on a journey. And the two men that you respect. One of them I respect. Told you that you need to work on yourself.

Yes. As an insult or as encouragement in love? The second one I think it was an insult and deflecting. It's all about the intention. Yeah, the first one I think it was insult and deflecting. It's all about the intention. Yeah, the first one, I think it was like he really cares. That's why when he said it, I was like, okay. I hear you. I'm at a point in my life now where I can do the accountability.

So does he need to work on himself as well? Yes, he does. Does he know? Yes, he does. Okay, cool. Second one, really know. He really know he got to work on himself. I don't even want nothing to do with that.

It's bad. But I ask that like I just feel like as I got older and realize how much you do care especially emotionally sometimes yeah it weighs into other things and it closes doors or it cuts off relationships or you just miss out on good things and I'm every time I listen to that song I'm like man how did she know that people was going to need this I don't know you know I was writing what I felt you know in my heart and you know I did hear it later and I'm talking to myself my future self what was where were you at at that time in your life when you were talking to your future self like what was the transitions you were trying to make I think I was transitioning out of a relationship where I was not happy about it. Yeah. And realizing that I had to leave some things behind,

some parts of me behind. So it felt like a funeral of sorts. You know? Because you have a part, you have to die. Every time you evolve, you got to leave it back there. You want it because it's familiar. And a lot of times we like to resort to the familiar, even if it's toxic. So you have to leave that corpse, that beautiful old you has to be left.

And you have to walk forward and not look back. That's the hardest part, not leaving the people, but it's leaving your own ways and you. It's a lot of discipline. It is. It is. When did you get to the point where you loved every version of yourself? I don't know when that happened, but I definitely do. Yeah, I look forward to waking up and getting to do things,

getting to experience, getting to test out my kindness. You know, I pray for kindness. I was like, I want to practice kindness. You know, my last big, whatever, meltdown, we were going through 2020 or something. I just want to be kind. Two or three days later, I went to the airport. My ticket was wrong. My bags got put somewhere else.

They were left on the tarmac of all bags. Mine. The lady was talking to me crazy. Asked me, this is first class. You can't put your you know that whole routine it was everything that was hard so I was assuming

that the creator was saying well here practice on this if you want to practice kindness here I'll give you some things to practice on because you just don't get to be that how did that work out? worked out great some parts when the last time mama wanted to pull out her gun though because you just don't get to be that. How did that work out? Worked out great.

Some parts. When was the last time Mama wanted to pull out her gun, though? At the airport. At the airport. But I just settled for having my fist balled up like Arthur. And, yeah, I got through it because I kind of, it took me a little bit to realize what was happening. Like, wait a minute.

Okay, I see what this is. I see what this is. You know, and yeah. I really don't see you getting outside of your vibe, your zone. What vibe do you think I got? I'm your Erykah Badu. Tell me about it. I don't, but every time I see you, you just seem mellow, chill, and at peace. I don't.

This is the place to be, mellow, chill, and at peace. There's no reason in here to be any other kind of way. If anybody else comes on y'all show without this, call me. Just shine a light on that. You're also playing Lucille in the Netflix movie, The Piano Lesson. Were you a fan of the play? Absolutely. I went to HBCU,

Grambling State University. I was a theater major. I was a thespian. So we did a lot of August Wilson material. Lorraine Hansberry and a myriad of black artists and playwrights.

But we did do that play as well. And Lucille's part is very tiny. But the most important role I played was composing music for the movie. Malcolm Washington, who is Denzel's son, is directing. And he called me and asked if I would put together some music for it.

And I called my very good friend, Daniel Jones, God rest his soul. Safe journey, Daniel Jones God rest his soul safe journey Daniel Jones um he came and put some beautiful pieces together 1930s and I wrote lyrics over them and they're they're used in the movie the piano lesson let me on Netflix so before we get this collaboration album I think November 8th right November 8th so before we get this collaboration album I think November 8th right November 8th so before we get this collaboration album we getting original music

on this soundtrack yes ooh yeah 1920s 30s so there's an acquired taste period piece type

period piece type does acting does acting feel like restricted to music does it feel like it's restricting you in any way? No, it just feels like work. Okay. Yeah.

Touring and music doesn't feel like work. But acting does feel like work. I can't even see you on the set. You don't seem like the hurry up and wait type. You want to be doing something. Yeah, I do. I got something. I'm going to bring an easel and some paint.

I really miss my kids being little. That really took up a lot of my play time. I just want to play all the time. Make something, play, paint, do something. And I have to carry everything with me to make that happen. Like if I'm working on a movie set, because there are long hours. And I should be reading over my lines, but I always wait and do it the last minute.

But no, I don't really dig that too much, being an actor in a film. I like theater, though. I think that's a wonderful place. I like the immediate connection between you and the audience. And you only get, like, one take to do it when you're on that stage.

Yeah, that's it. It's live. That's what's beautiful about it. Yeah, one stop. Denzel, he's producing The Piano Lesson, right? Yes. Was he involved? He was around, but he stepped back and let his children work.

Yeah. What do you learn from your children now, now that they've grown? Oh, so many things. Like I told you guys, there are definitely improvements on my design. And Puma is at a place now at 20 that I was 30 before I was at her level of understanding and emotional intelligence and compassion for people, integrity, discipline. I was still a child, kind of, at 20. I learned a lot from them. And they aren't very judgmental, you know. So they just kind of go along with whatever I do.

We never had rules. It was just do what I say. And they did that and watched me. You know, I never hid anything from them. So, yeah, they're having their turn at showing me and teaching me. Patience. Severity. Mama, you got to say what you feel, feel what you say.

Tell that nigga this, that, that. That's Mars. They telling you that? That's Jay Electronica, little girl. Mars. Yeah, they will. They'll tell me, you can only be so kind now. You know. And our favorite saying is a Kabbalistic saying that severity without mercy is cruelty.

Mercy without severity is weakness. So we try to walk that line. You know, kindness isn't only being, you know, appearing nice. Kindness is also telling somebody to beat it. Right. And counter yourself. Could you still, could you write an ode to hip-hop now in 2024? Like based off this era of music, would hip-hop be the love of your life right now?

It still is, always. Okay. You only have one love. Mm-hmm. You're lucky just to have just one love. Mm-hmm. Who am I quoting? One love, one love.

Houdini. Houdini, yeah. And who did it over? Nas. Nas. Yeah. I was trying to see if it was some B-boys. Houdini Houdini yeah and who did who did it over Nas Nas yeah I was trying to see if it was some B-boys B-boys in New York

I'm from New York that's my I'm saying I'm saying you know y'all looking at me like why you asking that that's I didn't ask that

that's simple arithmetic I knew what it was yeah how did the relationship evolve though or change between me and hip hop It has not because hip hop is still here

It's recorded It can never go away Nobody can take it away It has been recorded in time Hip hop will be televised It is down I can access it at any point in time So it is there

Yeah So I feel the same way How do you feel about people having a conversation access it at any point in time. So it is there. Yeah. So I feel the same way. How do you feel about people having a conversation now about it being like the third most popular genre behind Latin music, I think, and country music? How do you feel about that? Hip-hop? Yes, hip-hop.

At one point. Go ahead. No, it's not third. It's first. I'm talking about all over the planet. Everywhere I go. Gaza. Australia.

New Zealand. Argentina. Africa. Mexico. Everywhere I go. We are praying to different gods or different names of God, but everybody is nodding their heads in agreeance to the one, kicking a snare.

Hip-hop is the religion. It's what brings us all together, the whole world. Yeah, nah, hip-hop is the biggest. They know that. Oh, they talking about sales sales sales not culture

sales oh okay like culture wise they wouldn't even be able to understand it to rank it but nah

what made Jay Dilla so brilliant we gonna get you out of here what made him so brilliant what made him so brilliant his approach uh

to music was authenticity. He was authentic. That's what made him different. He had a metronome, and he was true to it. He didn't never use the quantization button. He never quantized. It was always his inner metronome. So the snares were live.

Usually when we produce, we are using a kick in the snare button, and we push a button called quantizing. It puts it on the grid, on the two and the four. So it's the same all the time. Yes, which gives us a certain swing depending on what feel you want. I never knew that. Dilla's feel was his feel because it was always live. Maybe a couple of quantized things.

He had a little tricks here and there with the snares. But for the most part, he was very simple and unquantized. So for four minutes, he would actually play the beat so the snares wouldn't necessarily be on the... Yeah.

Which is amazing, because it's feeling. Not necessarily... It's based on the feeling. All the time. Sometimes he would just play the... play the kick and the snare live, or play the...

Yeah, kick and snare live and do the hi-hats live. Gotcha. Or the shakers, because those are laying back. So his beats laid back. I don't know how to explain it. But he had a laid back, he was on his own beat, rhythm.

And he brought all of us to that place. I never knew that. Yeah. It was a certain hump that he had. Can't be explained. But that's what made him so special and his choices and samples and his collection of

music he was a historian he was also very you have to be mathematical but I told stories before how when I opened this refrigerator, all the Coke cans would be lined up so symmetrically. I wouldn't want to get one.

I don't drink Coke no way. But I had to make that clear. As you're sipping your green juice. People. People crazy. Another endorsement. Now I've seen the beehive chase you a little bit for a little bit. Where's the beehive now?

I don't know. They're on Twitter. I ain't seen a beehive in a long time. And I love bees. They don't know I like it. I love peace.

They're my totem. Yeah. We ain't seen them lately though. Have y'all? Mm-mm. I ain't seen them. You ain't seen them. They gonna tell me up.

Yep. You gonna see them tomorrow. See them tomorrow. I like the tweet when you said Jay you gonna let this woman in these beads say something Jay you gonna let this woman

in these beads do this to me say something I don't know why people think take things so serious it's just my sense of humor that's right

I love Jay well you saw the cover though knowing that there is the inspiration like does do those inspiration moments are you feeling feeling like, oh, my God, they saw what I was trying to do, they love it, they still doing it? Yeah.

Or do you feel like, oh, that was mine? Like, don't buy it. I have to be very careful with this because my children are watching me and that generation is watching. And as much as we love our art, it doesn't belong to us once it goes out in the world. However, though you can't manage what people are going to do with the art, you can't manage whether they are going to do with the art. You can't manage whether they're going to duplicate it or do another interpretation of it or just enjoy it or use it as an inspiration.

You can't manage that, but you don't have to remain silent about it. Yeah. If it makes you feel a way, you should say something about it. Yeah. If it makes you feel a way, you should say something about it. Yeah. But outside of that, there are a lot of artists that get there, you can tell, their style, their approach, everything from you. And you do see that. Does that bother you or do you look at it like, I put my art out there and it is what it is? Or do you mind only if they don't show you respect and love

and say, well, it came from here. As I mature more, I have less of a need to own something. And the more I let go of it, the more I am acknowledged. Isn't that something? The more I let go of the need of that, then you get a call and say, hey, we want to give you an award. That's how the universe works in my world. So I saw that, and I was very proud of that award and proud of that moment

because I had let go of some things that were no longer evolving me, thinking. And then there it comes. They give it to you because I became it. They don't give you what you want. They give you what you want. That's a ball. Y'all heard that one?

Wow. My last question, I feel like everything you do is spirit art, like I said earlier. Is it even possible for you to do any type of art without divine energy being involved? I don't think so. Even if I'm not aware of it, it's always involved.

Yeah, something. I know what it is, but it's something we float on. That's giving us life. Choices of some sort. Yeah.

You know, we're born. We're told, you know, once we're born, you know, our religion was here already, what we're supposed to believe in, the tribe, the ways, the hunting ways, what we worship, how we worship, how we learn, how we cook, how we dress. There's a drive, and you learn that. Hopefully you go outside of that once you are of age to explore other things

because you want to see if that is true. You know, and you explore even further. You want to go outside of that and see how you feel being entangled with another person, another human. And then after that, you go. Like entangled, entangled? Entanglement? Entanglement is when two cells meet and become something. Yeah, so you become entangled with another human in the next phase of your life. Then hopefully you learn that and learn some boundaries,

and then now you're an individual human who's created in spirit. And then you have to learn how to walk in that humanness, in that spiritualness. I don't know what I was saying or how we got to this. Because I was asking you, is it possible for you to make art without that divine in it?

No, not for me. Because I believe that. I believe that. Do you think it's possible to do anything without divine? Not anything meaningful. Not anything meaningful. Yeah.

So you think or you feel that there's an opposite of divine? Yes. Yes. Yes. I feel like there's just, I think that, you know, you have your divine and then you just have your human, right? So we're all spiritual beings living a human existence. So you can do all types of things in the human existence. And you may think they feel good in the moment,

and they may just, but it's not lasting. It's not fulfilling. You know when you're doing something divine. You know when God has his hand on it. Oh, absolutely. And you don't have to do much. Your body's feeling. You just show up and do what you do,

and everything around you just moves. That's how music and performing is to me. It's the only thing in my life that is like that. Wow. Yeah. When I get up there, I'm not wrong. I'm not too skinny. I'm not too ugly.

I'm not too anything. Everything is right. You got some shows coming up. I do. Marilyn, this weekend. Yes, D.C. First and second. Brazil on the 6th. That's right. And San Francisco

on the 16th. Yep. And also, you can check out BadooWorldMarket.com if you want to get all types of things like the Funko we ordered the Funko doll everything is always sold out on there I've been waiting we don't realize how big the

fan base is, the reach is but it's amazing for me it's always sold out I bought you guys some Funko I have a gift for you too you do? y'all gotta cut it open if you wanna see it It's always so out. I bought you guys some Funko. Oh. Hey. I have a gift for you, too. You do? Yes. Y'all got to cut it open if you want to see it.

What is it? Thank you so much. Oh, this is the figure that you created, right? Yeah, this is the Funko Pop. The Funko Pop. And this is the Funko Pop is this collective. Look at this. Look at this email.

Look at this. I forwarded this to my wife. I like this She sent me back this morning This is so cute Now we got one There you go So they're a pop culture

Vinyl toy Collective And And they They They specialize in Artists Or icons

Not metamix Yeah They specialize in not being able We need to put a shelf up there Put one up there on that shelf Yeah I want to show that camera in artists or icons. Not Meta Mike. Yeah. They specialize in not doing it. We need to put a shelf up there and put one up there on that shelf. Yeah, I want to show that camera. He'll get it before me.

My girlfriend won't let me. Okay, okay. And she's cute. Man. JMSJ, JMSJ. So this first one they did is the Call Tyrone

video. Mm-hmm. So that we, I actually reached out to Funko to do this. Because I thought it was important for my kids to have these. They love Funkos. That's dope.

I surprised them one day and said, I have a Funko. That's so dope. Like your own Funko? You? Yeah. This is beautiful. That's dope. Thank you again for joining us. We always like your own fucko you yeah me you yeah were you this is beautiful yeah

that's dope thank you again for joining us we always appreciate you absolutely I appreciate you too no we do definitely do

no we love you value you appreciate you I literally just told somebody last week I said I don't play about Eric but I do

hi I don't play about y'all name either or Envy there you go at all and I don to play about your name either or Envy. There you go. At all. And I'm going to play about you either, sis. Thank you.

And if something happens, you call me. I got you. I'm going to call you. Yeah. Because Charlotte may be acting up in here, honestly. That's not true. I don't believe that. Oh.

I might need to comply. I don't believe nothing like that. Don't do that. It'd be hard. Don't do that, sis. It'd be tough. He'd be tough. What? That's not true. All you got to do is just light some incense. He't do that. It'd be hard. Don't do that, sis. It'd be tough. He'd be tough. What? That's not true. All you gotta do is just light some incense. He'll calm down.

Now we got the Badu pussy in here. Maybe he'll relax. Everybody gonna relax. Everybody gonna relax. Thank you, though. Yeah, within a 30-mile radius, everybody gonna be relaxed. I appreciate y'all always supporting me. Thank you. This is Eric Badu.

It's the Breakfast Club. Good me. Thank you. This is Eric Abadu. Sister. It's The Breakfast Club. Good morning. Thank you. Good morning. Wake that ass up. In the morning. The Breakfast Club.