Erykah Badu Live in Rome
Rome will hum with pleasure as the air fills with glorious soul musing during the upcoming concert by the reining anti- diva of neo-soul Erykah Badu on July 20 at the Auditorium Parco della Musica. She is an anti-diva, not because her singing or compositions are lacking: in fact she has one of the most beautiful voices of her generation. Anti-diva because you will never see this singer pulling a prissy star fit and only asking for green M & M´s backstage. She is touring to promote her new album New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh. The tour is called “Out my mind, just in time,” and if you aren’t lucky enough to see her in Rome, you might be able to catch her in Barcelona or Madrid.
Her debut album Baduizm (1997) reached platinum five times, and while other singers in the genre of Soul and R & B have made headlines for their extravagant costumes and personal lives (only need to think of Rihanna or Beyonce) Badu has always been the critics’ favourite, because, well, she makes awesome music and is not afraid of musical innovation or addressing political and social issues. Apart from being a very talented singer with a warm and expressive voice that harkens back to the queens of soul and jazz, she writes serious lyrics with a sense of social commitment, and chooses fantastic producers and collaborators. For example, in the disc New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) Madlib, 9th Wonder, Shafiq Husayn lent her a hand with the beats. Though she also deals with the romantic topics typical of soul, her music’s political attitude is inescapable, and she deftly melds soul music with hip-hop’s most experimental branches in a novel way.
Lately, her career has found her working on her own label, Control FreaQ, founded in 2005, raising her three children, and managing a charity for children. She is also working on another project, The Cannabinoids, with DJs, musicians and beatsmiths from Dallas. The project looks to sound like a live remix session.
Rent apartments in Rome and get your tickets for the concert to enjoy a couple of days to recharge your soul.
