The strange reason Erykah Badu had a bath in the sink
Erykah Badu was one of the first neo-soul singers of all time, and with her breakout in the 1990s, she brought a new aesthetic, fresh sound and exciting aura to soul music. However, the vocalist worked extremely hard on her material.
Badu wasn’t just a neo-soul singer. She was a fan of hip-hop and was a part of the Soulquarians, a collective of socially conscious, afro-centric musicians that included the likes of Q-Tip, Mos Def, Bilal and more.
As such, Badu worked extensively with rap producers to bring a rough-and-ready feel to her soul-infused music. In addition to Questlove and Q-Tip, one of the producers she worked extensively with was Detroit legend J Dilla.
J Dilla, also known as Jay Dee, was a part of the Soulquarians but didn’t collaborate with Badu until the turn of the millennium, long after her debut album Baduizm. The vocalist’s project was critically acclaimed, and with hit songs such as ‘On & On’ and ‘Appletree’, she quickly achieved renown in the industry. However, as a member of the Soulquarians, she desperately wanted to work with J Dilla. For her 2000 project, Mama’s Gun, the two worked extensively together. Its contents remain some of her best work to this day.
As she began working on her sophomore project, the Dallas native called upon some hip-hop legends. Aside from Dr Dre, one musician she called upon was J Dilla. With his ear for unique, obscure samples and an unparalleled ability to create soulful beats, Dilla and Badu made the perfect team, and they co-wrote and produced many of the songs that remain fan favourites today, such as ‘Didn’t Cha Know?’ and ‘Bag Lady.’
Initially, Erykah Badu recorded her album at the famous Electric Lady Studios in New York City, designed by the legendary Jimi Hendrix. However, J Dilla was notorious for producing and recording tracks all hours, and Badu was just as focused on the project.
With fast-food chains and the New York Subway running 24 hours a day, the Texas singer took to living in the studio throughout the making of Mama’s Gun. That said, in 2020, to celebrate the album’s 20th anniversary, Badu took to X to recall the project’s creation, writing, “I was livin’ in Electric Lady studio (Jimi Hendrix’s studio and apartment) in NY on 8th St. for about three months.”
She continued, “I didn’t go home. I baved [sic] in the sink. James Poyser, Common, and D’Angelo, Questlove and the Soulquarians were on deck. I was 29…”
Although J Dilla programmed many of the instrumentals, he frequently urged Badu to pick the sample. In an interview with Red Bull magazine in 2013, Badu recalled, “He let me pick out some records, and there were a lot of things I’d never heard before in my life. One of them was a Tarika Blue record, and I was like, ‘Wow, this is beautiful,’ and it became ‘Didn’t Cha Know.’ Not only did he let me pick the record, he let me pick the spot in the record and taught me how to sample the portion of the song.”
Mama’s Gun became a platinum-certified album, and its lead single ‘Bag Lady’ even received a Dr Dre remix with the instrumental from ‘Xxplosive’ used.