Erykah+Badu

**Erykah Badu **  is an African-American recording artist, record producer and actress. She was born February 26, 1971 in Dallas Texas. Badu was born Erica Abi Wright, but she changed her name believing it to be her "slave name." Badu incorporated the "Kah" in her first name and "Badu" from the language of the Ashanti people in Ganna. Badu was raised by her single mother Kolleen Maria Gipson, along with her brother and sister. Badu's father left the family when Badu was really young. Erykah Badu's mother inspired her at a young age to gain a love for performing arts. Kolleen worked as an actress in a theater to support the family and allowed Badu to perform with her on some occasions. Badu graduated from Booker t. Washington Highschool for Performing and Visual Arts. Later she attended Grambling State University, but dropped out to pursue her music career. She took on many minimum wage paying jobs to support herself, and even taught dance and music to children at the South Dallas Cultural Center.

Erykah Badu launched her music career when she went on tour with her cousin Robert Bradford. While on tour she recorded a nineteen song demo and was noticed by Kedar Massenburg. She made a duet with singer Deangelo and was later signed with Universal Records. Badu's debut album //Baduism //  was released in 1997, hirst first hit single //On & On //  reached # 12 on the billboard charts. The album won Badu multiple Grammy's the following year and she became the "queen" of a new music genre neo-soul. Badu then recorded her first live album titled // Live, //  featuring the R&B hit //Tyrone // . In 2000, she returned and made //Mama's Gun, //  which gained Badu more Grammy's. She also made another R&B hit with her love interest at the time rapper Common. Most recently in 2008 Erykah Badu released // New Amerykah pt. 1 // . //New Amerykah pt. 2 //  will be released on March 31, 2010. Acting wise, Badu has made appearances in a number of films including: //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Blues Brothers 2000, Cider House Rules, and House of D. // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">

Badu has created he own charity organization called Beautiful Love Incorporated Non-profit Development or [|B.L.I.N.D.]. She aims to provide development for inner city youth through music, dance and visual arts. the organization was inspired by her Black Forest theater. The theater is a performance hall and a community center. It is made for real performances and often has special artists perform. Badu also endorses her own lotion and perfume. They are called White Patchouli Perfume for Women And Superbly Restorative Body Lotion.

Erykah Badu now lives in New York with her three children. They are: Seven Sirius, who was fathered by rapper Andre 3000, Puma Sabti ( The D.O.C.), and lastly Mars Merkaba ( Jay Electronica). Badu also is a proud Vegan. Artists that highly influence Badu are Stevie Wonder, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Marvin Gaye <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">, Chaka Khan, and Robert Flak. Badu is also famous for her head wraps, which in recently in her career she no longer wears.

Works Cited www.erykah-badu.com []