Suffice to say after such a long public absence, fans were extremely stoked to see Noname live and direct in her artistic element.Īfter a few numbers delivered solo, the beloved Chicago-based singer, emcee, activist, and poet invited fellow Windy City native Saba and St.Louis’s Smino to the stage to perform as the trio Ghetto Sage. The ever-whimsical sorceress unveiled a streamlined, reimagined version of her greatest hits set that leaned toward popular numbers from her famed 1997 debut LP Baduizm.īay Area fans were treated to a short, potent opening set from Noname, who was performing for the first time in a couple of years, a fact she acknowledged both on Instagram, and from the stage. On an unusually warm late spring Friday evening, Erykah Badu returned to a sold-out Greek for the eighth concert on her current Live From the Badubatron tour. Related: Music At The Intersection Sets 2022 Lineup: Erykah Badu, Gary Clark Jr., Kamasi Washington, Oteil & Friends, More I was certainly looking forward to a proper spellbinding seance in the balmy Bay Area, within the glorious confines of UC Berkeley’s William Hearst Greek Theatre. It was excruciatingly hot and humid that afternoon, and though her performance was typically tremendous, the experience somewhat suffered from the suffocating sun.

This writer was lucky to take in a good chunk of her performance last month at the Congo Square Stage at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, a headlining slot on the second Saturday of the festival. Erykah remains a brilliant and idiosyncratic live performer who meticulously concocts her own patented hybrid style of R&B and hip-hop, equal parts Zen mysticism and sound of the streets. Yet Badu is an artist first and foremost, a musician and songstress with a catalog of beloved compositions that have made an indelible impact on the lives of people around the world for three decades. Erykah Badu may not have released an official studio album in a dozen years, but she remains an unstoppable creative spirit, not to mention entrepreneur.ĭuring the pandemic years she’s kept pretty busy, hosting a station on Sonos Radio, launching her own livestreaming platform, and executive-producing a forthcoming documentary about her dear friend, collaborator, and high-school classmate-the late jazz trumpet phenomenon Roy Hargrove-not to mention unveiling a popular strand of incense inspired by her, umm… ill na na.

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