Baduizm

Erykah Badu

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 11, 1997)
• Original Release Date: February 11, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Umvd Labels
• ASIN: B000005AYM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (112 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,757 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #5 in	Music > R&B > Neo-Soul
  #11 in	Music > Rap & Hip-Hop > Experimental Rap
  #19 in	Music > Blues > Contemporary Blues

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Badu and her large turban appeared out of nowhere in early 1997, on a murmuring, romantic album that trod the median between old-school soul and contemporary electronic R&B. Badu's songs, especially the hit "On & On" and the catchy "Certainly," recall Sade in their polished, subtle sexiness. Badu almost never raises her voice--save the occasional "ooh-wee!" exultation--but she skillfully uses repetition and chanting to empower her words. Later portraying a beautiful swamp queen, she was one of the only good things about the movie Blues Brothers 2000. --Steve Knopper

Product Description
BONUS DVD (PAL) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent debut for Erykah and her sound, January 6, 2000

By	MilesAndTrane (Chicago, Il USA) - See all my reviews

With all the naked sounding R&B, elevator jazz and overproduced soul music out there, this album is a left-field surprise. "Baduizm" has a clear-headed grip on R&B, jazz, funk and soul all at once. Only D'Angelo's "Brown Sugar" album can contest with this one for best debut of the 90's. The album has a very slow, mellow vibe to it, with occasional punches of energy, like on the funky "Appletree." This is the type of music where you could relax with your lover, do the dishes, or cook dinner. It works on many levels. Erykah's lyrics have a very positive, earthy, rastafarian vibe to them and she tries not to be too preachy; although you can always smell the incense when she sings. This album actually sounds like something that might have emerged from the ecclectic, early 1990's; when rap, R&B, and soul artists weren't all trying to sound like each other.

Some people say Lauryn Hill is everything that Erykah Badu wanted to be. This doesn't sound anything like Lauryn Hill and it shouldn't. Erykah carved out a nice sound for herself on this album that should guarantee her longevity in music as long as she expands on it. A great, jazzy "chillin' out" album.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A cooled debut..., May 2, 2004

By	brother_ike "brother_ike" (L-Boogie) - See all my reviews

Erykah Badu was part of that neo-soul movement from the mid to late 90s that were trying to make REAL R&B rather than all the bad boy hip hop kinda mess that most acts were making. `Baduism' is a real cool debut, a nice collection of chilled, jazzy numbers about love & spiritualism etc. The main song here is `On & On', the big single that I personally can play over and over. But there's a lot of other good stuff here, the production is inventive and Badu has a nice style. `Next Lifetime' is a deep & meaningful song with a lot of truth. All the melodies here are real nice and the album is likely to stay in your hifi for a long time. Well Recommended for those in need of some intelligent R&B.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Personal Favorite Album, February 24, 2002

By	Anthony Humphrey (Manhattan) - See all my reviews

Erykah Badu is a very gifted & talented singer, songwriter and actress. Her soothing blends of old-school jazz & soul influences create an amazing backdrop of seductive beats, and a distinctive vocal style. With a musical approach that contains highly mature lyrics, Badu scats her way through an album of masterpieces.

From the opening "Rimshot Intro" all the way to the closing "Rimshot Outro", Badu offers us an in depth look into her wonderful life filled with poetic visions and respected insights. "On & On" is a treasure, as is the hip-hop influenced "Apple Tree". "Otherside of the Game" is silky smooth and my personal favorite track "Next Lifetime" is a tale of reincarnated love.

Though some found "Afro" humarious, it carried a very distinct message, that Badu plays nobodys fool. Other sure fire favorites include "Certainly", "Four Leaf Clover", "Drama" and "Sometimes".

The lyrical content varies from track to track, and its nice to hear Badu's unique style of blended music put together onto one terrific album. She is definetly gifted and I hope that all her releases leave me as happy as this one in the future.