Here’s even more info about Erykah Badu’s new album, including a video interview that discusses “Honey” and reports from the album’s listening party. Badu discusses the meaning behind the album’s title New Amerykah and her fave song on the album, “Soldier 7″…
Erykah discusses “Honey” for U Motown:
She might still call herself an Analog Girl in a Digital World, but this homegirl is getting pretty tech! She revealed this to Vibe magazine after they listened to a preview of her album at a special session:
“You can say the production forced this album,” chuckles Erykah, speaking to VIBE after the session. “Although I’m still an analog girl living in a digital world, I have a MAC computer and Iphone now. So producers would send me a hot beat that I instantly would receive and just start writing. I let music inspire me for this album.” With producers who Erykah calls “scientists” - including the talented J Dilla (RIP), 9th Wonder, Mad Lib, Jah Born, Seerah, Frequency, Ringo Smith, James Pose, and Tariqq - the final product is a sound reminiscent of ’70s soul and funk that will inspire you to go out and buy a solid sound system, just so you can bang all the hits.
During the listening party held to preview the album, Erykah Badu said she chose this title because, “I’m dealing with whatever is to come instead of what was.” She also noted how important this project is to her, saying, “In taking on a project like this, I’m taking the responsibility to talk for my race and my planet.” Whereas her last EP, released in 2003, came at the same time as her baby and thus didn’t receive as much attention from the new mom. “I have two children now; my daughter is three,” she told the media and she has been focused on raising them in the years since Worldwide Underground was released.
Universal Motown seem as if they are witnessing a new birth as well, or at least, the blossoming of something they watched grow. Universal executive vice president and Motown president Sylvia Rhone said, “We’ve waited almost 10 years for this album to come. She inspires, sets trends and does music that no one’s done before. Male, female, black white can listen to her and come away with something.”
“Honey” isn’t Badu’s favorite track on the album though. According to Vibe magazine, it’s “Soldier 7″:
“Soldier 7″ - Erykah’s favorite track on the album - speaks about a boy growing up in a tough environment, but stays focused on doing the right things. While he is oftentimes underestimated, Erykah sings matter of factly, “He’s about to change the face of your ghetto neighborhood.” The song knocks with just enough radio appeal that those who would normally consider her “out there” will listen a little closer, pump the song a little louder.
Vibe described other tracks they heard in the intimate studio setting that day:
The song “Don’t be Long” revisits the brother from the “Otherside of the Game” on the Baduizm album, and who got locked up in “Danger” on Worldwide Underground. Erykah reveals, “You have to know my music to catch that. Of course he’s back - that’s how it goes.” Other definite hits: “Jump in the Air,” a song filled with skipped beats and pregnant pauses; “Honey,” the sweetest love song and her album’s first single; and “Dirty Dirty” – in which Erykah is happy to have “a love worth it but questions does she deserve it.”
Erykah Badu Links
Quotes and tracklist from a Billboard report published on the Okayplayer Boards and a Vibe magazine article.
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