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The Student News Site of Ocean Lakes High School

The Current

The Student News Site of Ocean Lakes High School

The Current

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Erykah Badu’s music creates an echo on the music industry

Erykah Badu performing live in Spain at the 2019 Primavera Festival (Primavera Festival in Spain /Raph_PH/WikimediaCommons/CC-BY-2.0.)
Erykah Badu performing live in Spain at the 2019 Primavera Festival (Primavera Festival in Spain /Raph_PH/WikimediaCommons/CC-BY-2.0.)

Erica Abi Wright, professionally as Erykah Badu, is a generational, American musician who creates Neo soul based music.
Her stage name ¨Erykah Badu¨ came from an Egyptian term, ¨Kah¨ which stands for ¨inner self,¨ and “Badu” from her favorite jazz-riff scat sound.

Badu grew up in a working, stubborn household with her mother Kollen Gipson, who was an actress at the time. Twenty six years later after her birth in January of 1997, Badu realeased her first ever single ¨On & On.¨

¨Erykah´s song, ¨20ft tall¨, taught me to let go of relationships that contribute to making me feel like an outsider at times¨ said sophomore Chase Hines.

Badu has an impactful influence on her listeners and the Neo soul side of the music industry, which contains artists such as Lauryn Hill, SZA, Ari Lennox and Frank Ocean.

Many of  her songs speak about feminism, including “Cleva” and “Bag Lady.” Outside of her feminist approach, she also covers societal issues such as wars, police brutality and pollution.

Badu’s ambition and passion to enhance the ones who look up to her, led her to create a charity called ¨B.L.I.N.D,¨ which stands for “Beautiful, Love, Incorporated and Nonprofit Development.” She founded this charity to provide community driven development for youth through dance, music visual arts and theater.

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About the Contributor
Tameya Norton
Tameya Norton, Staff Writer
Tameya Norton is a sophomore and a first-year journalism student. Tameya plays volleyball, soccer and outside of school she plays volleyball for Club757. If Tameya is not at school or practice, she enjoys hanging out with friends, going on bike rides, writing and she loves to meet new people. In the future, Tameya hopes to be a journalist and write articles on top athletes and celebrities.

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