SHE HAS ONLY THREE ALBUMS, but R&B singer/songwriter Erykah Badu has produced a rich range of material. She toys with themes and sounds and never loses her daring or sense of humor. Here’s our guide to Badu’s best:
- “Next Lifetime.” Though she debuted with the quirky “On and On,” this cut is different, finding her torn between two lovers and proving she could be vulnerable, sexy and touching.
- “Otherside of the Game.” She showed another dimension with this ballad about being in love with a drug dealer. Lines like “work ain’t honest but it pays the bills” perfectly capture her ambivalence and struggle.
- “Tyrone.” At first, it seemed excessive when new artist Badu decided to put out a live album in the year of her debut. But this cheeky kiss-off to a lazy boyfriend made the set worthwhile.
- “Southern Girl.” Over a thick bass rhythm made entirely by the mouth of human beatbox Rahzel, Badu chronicles the many things that make her a proud daughter of the black South. It also showcased her funny side with lyrics like “Countrified/Everything I eat is fried/Got a Southern drawl/I’m so country, y’all.”
- “Bag Lady.” A witty empowerment anthem about shedding emotional baggage, it was the lead single from her third album, “Mama’s Gun,” a hip-hop-soul masterpiece.
- “Booty.” At first, this song seems like a simple boast, with Badu claiming she can charm a man away from his girlfriend. But then she says she wouldn’t be with a guy who’d abandon someone over her. “I don’t want him . . . and you don’t need him/’Cause he ain’t ready,” she sings over a bumping blend of ’70s-era horn blasts and go-go percussion.
- “Cleva.” Talk about keeping it real. This is the opposite of “Booty.” Instead of listing her attributes on this jazzy number, she catalogs what she feels are her flaws: sagging breasts, a potbelly, hair that won’t grow. But it’s all redeemed by her mind (“I’m cleva when I bust a rhyme.”)
- “A.D. 2000.” Badu joins ’70s soul singer Betty Wright for an acoustic guitar-driven tune about Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo, shot to death by New York City police in 1999.
- “Green Eyes.” This three-part suite about Badu’s wrenching breakup from OutKast member Dre is as moving as it is ambitious. Most cutting line: You “never knew what a friendship was/ Never knew how to really love.”
- “Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip Hop).” On this recent No. 1 R&B hit, Badu sings about hip-hop as if it were a sweet first love. The song could be used as a primer for anyone who still doesn’t understand the joys of hearing a def rhyme over a dope beat.
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