Erykah Badu’s five best rap collaborations
Erykah Badu is an awing rarity of the 21st century, with her near peerless talent, commitment to her neo-soul sound, and her impact upon music that transcends genres, rendering her not a celebrity but an icon of an art form.
So it wasn’t just Badu fans, but fans of music in general, that were elated at the news that the singer, songwriter and record producer was releasing a single with hip-hop DJ and rapper The Alchemist earlier this year, in June. While she has released two songs over the past few years, 2019’s ‘Tempted’ and 2024’s ‘3:AM’ with Rapsody, she hasn’t released a mixtape since But You Can’t Use My Phone in 2015, and a studio album since 2010. The fans want Badu, and Badu is playing hard to Ba-get.
‘Next to You‘, the title of Badu’s single with The Alchemist, is a celebration of cross-genre collaboration at its most innovative. It’s a mesmerising track that plays grounded in its stripped-back sound, all while flirting with something more ethereal by mixing her signature, soulful vocal display with the producer’s sultry, jazzy sound.
Badu is no stranger to a collaboration. and very effective ones at that. Her distinctive voice lends itself magnificently to the likes of rap, hip-hop, jazz and reggae, so from The Roots to Common, here are Erykah Badu’s five best rap collaborations so far.
Erykah Badu’s five best collaborations in rap
1. ‘You Got Me’ – The Roots featuring Erykah Badu and Eve (1999)
This is Badu on a collaboration at her most impactful. Her soulful melodies beautifully soften the rap verses and mirror the sensual moodiness of the production, and this makes for a finished piece that celebrates the strengths of fusing neo-soul and hip-hop at a time when the former genre was gaining traction and the latter was associated with anger and fighting.
Fans loved it, as did critics, and it was awarded the Grammy Award for ‘Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group’ in 2000.
2. ‘Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)’ – Erykah featuring Common (2003)
Oh, to live in 2003, when ‘Love of My Life’ dominated the charts for weeks, and, once again, got awarded a Grammy, this time for ‘Best R&B Song’. The single is, two decades on, still celebrated just as much for its lyrics, in which Badu romanticises a personified hip-hop, charting its growth and influence upon her, as it is for its Raphael Saadiq production.
Common brings in a warmth and intimacy in his rapped verses, and the duo sounds wistful to the point of pining on this lush, if not even lustful, track.
3. ‘Southern Girl’ – Rahzel featuring Erykah Badu (1999)
Another collaboration with The Roots, or at least, one of them. Rahzel, a former member, co-wrote and produced this song with Badu, appearing on the track mainly to beatbox the melody.
At the time, Badu was celebrated for embracing her Southern roots in the track’s lyrics, while also foraying into a rap-adjacent sound that deviates considerably from her usual melodic singing style. Its vibe is sonically tongue-in-cheek while never straying from the warmth and rhythm that Rahzel’s near-hypnotic beatboxing lays the foundation for.
4. ‘One’ – Busta Rhymes featuring Erykah Badu
A song known among fans as being more for the fans than for the chart-listening public, a true ‘if you know you know’ that’s so particularly delicious in music, standing out on Rhymes’ album When Disaster Strikes… for a moment of softness that celebrates Black love and the strength of family.
The duo bounce off each other as if in conversation, and as usual, it’s Badu providing that sonic, lilting warmth so particularly desirable for a song about togetherness.
5. ‘3:AM’- Rapsody featuring Erykah Badu (2024)
Badu’s most recent single up until this summer is trademark Badu: her voice is just as warm and seductive as always, while Rapsody’s delivery sounds utterly authentic in its clarity, presenting itself as much spoken word as it does new school rap in a matter not dissimilar to Gen Z favourite Little Simz.
‘3:AM’ is a harmonious presentation of human emotion and subtle production technique, syrupy longing and self-contained restraint, and it’s no wonder it also picked up a Grammy for ‘Best Melodic Rap Performance’ in 2025.