Badu’s 2008 album, New Amerykah Part One: 4th World War, attracted heaps of press, perhaps because it was her first release for five years. New Amerykah Part Two (Return Of The Ankh), in contrast, struggled to raise a murmur until… Badu got her kit off in a video.
Cue much head scratching as fans tried to decipher what on earth the promo meant. Was it a plea to turn the other butt cheek? Who knows. But one thing was clear: amid the hullabaloo no one noticed that this album was pretty good. Better, in fact, than her previous.
Here, there’s a return to the smart samples and head-nodding grooves of yesteryears. To cap it all, tracks like Turn Me Away (Get Munny), Love and Fall In Love (Your Funeral) are all executed in a cosy, almost intimate manner.
Never mind prancing around in the buff, the only thing that needs exposure in Badu’s life is this album.
Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long video from Erykah Badu’s New Amerykah Part Two (Return Of The Ankh) album
Erykah Badu