She is best known for her singles You Got Me her collaboration with The Roots, as well as her own songs Tyrone, Love of My Life, On & On, Bag Lady, The Healer, Honey and Soldier. Her lyrics are highly personal urban philosophy which throw emotional challenges in the face of the listener. She weaves unusual musical influences together creating a rich texture of sound.
Some music journalists have labeled her Nu soul, nouvelle-soul or neo soul, often comparing her to Billie Holiday in lyrical delivery and grouping her with Maxwell and D'Angelo in musical genre.
Baduizm, Badu's highly acclaimed debut album, was released in early 1997 and debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts. Lead single On & On reached #12 on the singles charts in both the U.S. and UK. Badu received notice for her introspective lyrics and jazzy, bass-heavy sound, and was hailed as one of the leading lights of the burgeoning neo soul genre. Her sophisticated style of singing drew many comparisons to Billie Holiday. Baduizm eventually went triple platinum and, along with On & On, won Grammy Awards at the 1998 ceremonies.
During that year, Badu became involved with rapper André 3000 of OutKast, with whom she had a child, Seven, who was born in 1997. Their relationship ended sometime in the late 90s. Badu recorded her first live album, Live, while pregnant with Seven, and the release of the recording coincided with the birth to her child. Live reached #4 on the Billboard charts, selling double platinum, and spawned another R&B hit single in Tyrone a song chiding a selfish, cheap, and inattentive boyfriend. Badu also collaborated with The Roots (who had previously handled production duties on a number of tracks on Baduizm) on their breakthrough 1999 release, Things Fall Apart. She was featured on the song You Got Me co-written by Jill Scott, which hit the top 40 and won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
After taking some time off to raise her child, Badu returned in 2000 with Mama's Gun, an album more organic in sound than her previous studio album, and primarily produced by the Soulquarians and noted bassist Pino Palladino. A remix of one of the album's songs, Bag Lady was issued as the first single and topped the R&B charts for seven weeks. The album was well-received, with the lyrical content winning notices from many publications who found some of her lyrics hard to decipher on her initial releases. Despite not charting as high as her first two albums, Mama's Gun was another platinum-selling success, and Bag Lady was nominated for a Grammy.
By 2000, Badu was in a romantic relationship with fellow Soulquarian Common, and Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop) was released as a collaboration between the two on the Brown Sugar soundtrack. Love of My Life hit #9 on the pop charts, topped the R&B listings, and Badu was awarded her fourth Grammy for the song in 2003.
After the release of Mama's Gun and Love of My Life, Badu went through a period of writer's block. She hit the road throughout 2002 and much of 2003 on what she dubbed the "Frustrated Artist Tour," in search of inspiration to write and perform new material. The conclusion of the tour saw Badu head back to the studio with new material, and in September of 2003, the Worldwide Underground was released. More jam-oriented than any of her prior releases, Badu was quoted as saying that the release was designed to serve as one continuous groove. Worldwide Underground reached #3 on the Billboard charts and was certified gold not long after its release, and Badu received four further Grammy nominations for the EP.
After almost four years and the birth of a daughter, Puma, it was revealed in 2007 that Badu had three albums in the works over the course of 2007 and 2008. Honey, a new single produced by 9th Wonder, was leaked online in November 2007, and the new album, titled New Amerykah Part One (4th World War), was released on February 26, 2008.
On August 23, 2008, Badu joined the rock band My Morning Jacket on stage at their show in Dallas, Texas to perform her song Tyrone. Her surprise appearance was met with an enthusiastic reaction from the audience.
On February 1, 2009 Badu gave birth to her third child, a girl named Mars Merkaba with her boyfriend Jay Electronica.
Her album New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh) was released on March 30, 2010.
Love Of My Life
Erykah Badu Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Way back
Way back, yeah
I met him when I was a
Little girl, he gave me
He gave me poetry
And he was my first
But in my heart I knew I
Wasn't the only one
Cause when the tables turned
He had to break up
Whenever I got lonely
Or needed some advice
He gave me his shoulder
His words were very nice
But that is all behind me
Cause now there is no other
My love is his and his is mine
A friend became the
Love of my life
You are my friend
Love of my life
I can depend
Love of my life
Without you, baby
It feels like a simple true love
Hope this shit ain't clear
A freak-freak ya'll, and ya don't stop
To the beat ya'll and ya don't stop
A freak-freak
Or could it be that it was
All just so simple then
A teenage lover who said
He's just a friend
He moved around and we kept
In touch through his friend Mike
The world was young and he knew
We couldn't rush but
Whenever I got lonely
Or needed some advice
He gave me his shoulder
His words were very nice
But that is all behind me
Cause now there is no other
My love is his and his is mine
A friend became the
Love of my life
You are my friend
Love of my life
A dude I can depend, yeah, yeah
Love of my life
Feels like a simple true love, yeah
Love of my life
You are my friend
Love of my life
A dude I can depend, yeah, yeah
Love of my life
Feels like a simple true love, yeah
Hope this shit ain't clear
Y'all know how I met her
We broke up and got back together
To get her back I had to sweat her (sweat her)
Thought she roll wit bad boys forever
In many ways them boys made her better
To grow I had to let her (let her)
She needed cheddar and I understood that (that)
Lookin' for cheese that don't make her a hood rat (rat)
In fact she's a queen to me, her light beams on me
I love it when she sings to me
It's like that and a
Ooh you know you rock my world
And you be boy and I'll be girl
And we don't stop until the break of dawn
Ooh you know you rock my world
And you be boy and I'll be girl
And we don't stop until the break of oohhh
In "Love of My Life," Erykah Badu reflects on a teenage love that never really went away. She met him when she was young, and he gave her poetry and was her first love, but eventually, he broke up with her. Despite this, whenever she was lonely or needed advice, he was there for her. However, she eventually moved on, and her love for him became that of a friend. The song reflects on their journey together and how they eventually became each other's true loves. The rap interlude reflects on the complexities of their relationship and how they eventually found their way back to each other.
Line by Line Meaning
Right here what we gon' do is go back
Let's take a trip down memory lane
Way back
To a long time ago
Way back, yeah
Yeah, way back
I met him when I was a
I met him when I was just a little girl
Little girl, he gave me
He gave me poetry when I was young
He gave me poetry
He expressed himself through words and gave me his art
And he was my first
He was my first love
But in my heart I knew I
But deep down, I knew
Wasn't the only one
That I wasn't the only woman in his life
Cause when the tables turned
When the situation changed
He had to break up
He had to end our relationship
Whenever I got lonely
Whenever I felt alone
Or needed some advice
Or needed someone to talk to
He gave me his shoulder
He was there for me to cry on
His words were very nice
His words were always kind and comforting
But that is all behind me
But those days are over
Cause now there is no other
Because now I have no one else
My love is his and his is mine
We love each other and are each other's
A friend became the
We started as friends and grew into something more
Love of my life
The person I love the most
You are my friend
You are my companion and confidant
I can depend
I can rely on you
Without you, baby
Without you, I feel incomplete
It feels like a simple true love
Our love is pure and uncomplicated
Hope this shit ain't clear
I hope this is still unclear to you
A freak-freak ya'll, and ya don't stop
A funky and unconventional vibe that won't quit
To the beat ya'll and ya don't stop
We keep grooving to the rhythm
Or could it be that it was
Or maybe it all was
All just so simple then
All just so easy at that time
A teenage lover who said
A lover from my teenage years who told me
He's just a friend
That he was only a friend
He moved around and we kept
He moved around but we stayed in touch
In touch through his friend Mike
We kept in contact through his friend, Mike
The world was young and he knew
We were young and he understood
We couldn't rush but
We couldn't rush our relationship but
Feels like a simple true love, yeah
Our love is pure and uncomplicated
Y'all know how I met her
Let me tell you how I met her
We broke up and got back together
We ended things and then rekindled our relationship
To get her back I had to sweat her (sweat her)
I had to work hard to win her back
Thought she roll wit bad boys forever
I thought she would always be with bad boys
In many ways them boys made her better
In some ways, those boys improved her life
To grow I had to let her (let her)
I knew that to grow, I had to let her go
She needed cheddar and I understood that (that)
She needed money and I understood that
Lookin' for cheese that don't make her a hood rat (rat)
But seeking money doesn't make her a hoodlum
In fact she's a queen to me, her light beams on me
Actually, she's a queen to me and brightens up my life
I love it when she sings to me
I love when she serenades me with her voice
It's like that and a
That's just how it is
Ooh you know you rock my world
Oh, you know you make my world go round
And you be boy and I'll be girl
You play the male role and I'll play the female role
And we don't stop until the break of dawn
We won't stop until the sun comes up
Ooh you know you rock my world
Oh, you know you make my world go round
And you be boy and I'll be girl
You play the male role and I'll play the female role
And we don't stop until the break of oohhh
And we won't stop until we're spent
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: LONNIE RASHID LYNN, ROBERT C. OZUNA, JAMES JASON POYSER, RAPHAEL SAADIQ, GLEN DON STANDRIDGE II, ERICA WRIGHT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Peakfreud
Totally agree, except for the simple part .
This song came out in 2002 the summer after 9/11
I'm a New Yorker the Patriot act had us getting search at random to get on the train.
There was soldiers in the subway with M4 riffles...
Life would never be the same.
@NyssaSayWhat
I didn’t realize as a child. This video is a love letter to hip hop. Showing the evolution and paying homage to every era. Even leaving the future of hip hop up to the children in the end. Beautiful.
@kanetheassassin
and having Kool Herc driving the bus this video is just amazing
@NyssaSayWhat
Smitch another gem I missed! Thank you!
@eadekolu
I didn't even realize it myself too lol
@empress3723
y'all it literally said an ode to hip hop by I understand😂
@callmekrayy
Literally just got that today. Lol, I am ashamed of myself.
@Dr.FinbarrCalamitous
As an adult I understand the slowdown portion with the purple filter. Homage to Texas rap culture. This really has to be one of my favorite videos of all time!!
@adultcartoonsandcereal15
Also she was "screwed" by the police in that police scene when she was framed and arrested.
@tenneshaskyers
The T-shirt Also says screwed :D makes me want to try purp just to experience the slowed beat for myself Lool
@MF_Frost
RIP DJ SCREW, one of the greatest hip hop artists with such an influence over the years