Dear Erykah Badu...

“What good do your words do, if they can’t understand you? Don’t go talking that shit, Badu…” – Erykah Badu in the aptly titled song, "... & On?". (Not to be confused with her first major release "On & On".)
 

I love that lyric because I’ve often wondered exactly that when it came to the beloved Miss Badu and her music. And I know I'm not the only one, because it's as if she released this track on her second album (Mama's Gun in 2000) specifically to address a selection of her oft-perplexed fans/devotees. 

Since her first major release “On &On",  it was clear from the start that she had something to say. Her music is jazzy, funky, soulful, sexy and sometimes odd - and I like that. But once in a while, I'd feel like I was missing a certain point she was trying to make or a poignant message she was trying to spread. Be it a peculiar lyric (usually a peculiar lyric), a political statement, or a straight-up weird music video, every so often she would drop a body of work that I didn't fully "get". And I always wanted to get it because I revere her so much as a pioneer of the musical genre that changed my life as an artist and a human being: Neo-Soul. 

So... my adoration for her music and divinity has always been mixed with a teensy droplet of frustration.  Sometimes I wonder if by the time I get around to deciphering one of her beautifully melodic riddles, my opportunity to implement the wisdom will have long passed me by.

Geeze... I'm so dramatic, eh? It's really not that serious and more often than not, I do get her (I think). So I still love her to death. And it’s also quite possible that I’m putting wayyyyy too much responsibility on a person that I’ve never met, to tell me something about who I am (understatement-much?). I just always thought, you know… that that’s what she was trying to do.