ok i finally get it. it took forever. i was a 'newbie' badu fan with Worldwide undergound. that's the album that made me a fan. i'd heard bits and pices of Mama's Gun (liked) and Baduizm (eh)...but never gave the music any thought. WWU changed that...bought it on a whim...got blazed...listened to the whole thing once through...bam, i have a new favorite all time artist.


then FIVE YEARS...the longest gap in Badu history

1997-1997
1997-2000
2000-2003
2003-2008

I had waited 5 years for a follow up to WWU. Countless shows, rediscovering Mama's gun as my favorite album of all time, "Live" close behind, gaining a new found appreciation for 'Baduizm' and then being led to also in the process discover the pure brilliance of D'Angelo, Jill Scott, and Maxwell...


and then it took 5 years to get something. and what do we Baduites get?

on the first 389380393093 listens, "New Amerykah" is:

UNFINISHED.
MUDDLED.
HALF ASSED.
OVERBAKED (AS IN SHE WAS TOO STONED MAKING IT).
DISTORTED.
ONLY 10 TRACKS PLUS A SONG WE ALREADY KNEW.

but after 39909300 listens (I'd never give ANY artist that much of a chance)...I get it. i feel it. it's the funk. the funk to the highest degree, the lowest of the earth, the "drowning in my own shit" that Funkadelic introduces on "Maggot Brain"

how this shit is not nominated for Album of Year just exposes the Grammys for the boooolshit hoopla and garbage they are.

FINALLY! Erykah...dang...you always throw us for a loop. How can you disappoint and thrill so unequivably?

That said...Part 2..."Annie Don't Wear No Panties"

BRANG IT!

She had a baby girl last night


and she was on Twitter while giving birth!!!

bboy87 said:

She did? Congrats to her.

Yeah New Amerykah in all its rawness is hot. My favorite remains WWU but NA is worth reviewing.

I love this Texas dame

I'ma try to get to
the Black Forest Theater soon
to see if they still have
open mics & such

I'm actually thinking of
relocation to Dallas, TX

badujunkie said:

Maybe they just didn't have the time for 39909300 listens, because they need to listen to 344956345693 other albums, too.

bboy87 said:

What'd she say? "Aaaaaahhhhh!!!!!"?

DirtyChris said:

I think Black Forest closed ages ago cuz it was costing her too much money to keep open and she was having problems with the building owner.

So now that the baby's out she can get back to finishing up Part II and possibly start touring by the spring!

Love her

but, uhh badujunkie...how did you get so behind?!

badujunkie said:

It's a great album. I gave it my girlfriend to listen to and she thought it was a mess but a mess you have to listen to over and over again. There's something that pulls you in with that album. It's not like an album that you try to like because deep down you know its crap but it is truly one of those really does reward the more you listen to it. It's great fun too.
[Edited 2/2/09 10:08am]

This is a statement album and while she was obviously high while making it, a statement it still is!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I'm VERY biased,,,,so my judgment here doesn't count.

But after she did I Want You from Worldwide Underground she sealed the deal FOR LIFE for me, and I honestly think she'll never go wrong in my book,,EVER

Harlepolis said:

can't find my copy of that album

Anyway

See, one of the biggest devils that ever invaded my mind was the concept of production. Until about the Gold Experience, I really didn't know what it was and what it was for and so I always just went with the music without thinkin too much on how it's crafted, created and constructed. If that demon were allowed to run free, I can see the problem with New Amerykah. There are many things the producer side would change about this album.

Pollock created a mess on canvas and was acclaimed for it so I don't see why this should be any different

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I think the biggest problem with NA is the time gap between those track, in terms of recording. It doesn't have to do with the producers because she worked with a great ensemble of musicians,,,and anyway, she's not that really influenced by producers.

Also the fact that she recorded most of them while she was on the road(and doing other different projects), it oughta shift your focus if nothing else.

I seriously think that if she locked herself in a remote recording studio with nothing in front of her except that notebook and that keyboard(like she did with Mama's Gun), we would get a REAL nutritious album(not those salty cracker EPs) and dare I say, we might even get an album BETTER than Mama's Gun.

Yes, it ALL boils down to focus.

Harlepolis said:

My critique isn't in her choices of collabs but things like there needs to be a richer bass in places, less in others, a tightening of sharper sound and less rambling. Also, more of an emphasis on vocals. They are hidden sometimes when they should be up front. That kind of stuff. I hear what issues people are having with it on those fronts but I still love that it's a statement album and none of that changes how much I love it

.
[Edited 2/2/09 12:23pm]

This album is definitley like no other. Kinda in the vein of Meshll's last album in a sense. Reminicent of Cookie too.