Nicole Symmonds: March 2008 Archives

Erykah Badu has always been a mystery. From the 1997 release of "Baduizm," she blazed the trail for neo-soul as a genre, but she also brought with her a raw spirituality that made her god no particular god. It was an untouchable spirituality so firmly planted that it seemed like Badu had created a neo-spirituality—Baduizm—that was all her own (and one that would allegedly spread to her lovers, who have included Outkast's Andre 3000 and Common).

But this never concerned me as a Christian, so for nearly ten years I fed into Baduizm. I was enlightened when she spoke of our being made in His image on "Baduizm." I went through the motions of love--self and other--on "Mama's Gun." And I pumped my fist on "Worldwide Underground."

But all that stopped when I heard her latest album, "New Amerykah."