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166-456: Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu ( / ˈ ɛr ɪ k ə b ɑː ˈ d uː / ), is an American singer and songwriter. Influenced by R&B , soul , and hip hop , Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut album Baduizm (1997), placed her at the forefront of the neo soul movement, earning her the nickname " Queen of Neo Soul " by music critics. Badu's career began after she opened

332-461: A doo-wop group, had the number four hit of the year with " Crying in the Chapel ". Fats Domino made the top 30 of the pop charts in 1952 and 1953, then the top 10 with " Ain't That a Shame ". Ray Charles came to national prominence in 1955 with " I Got a Woman ". Big Bill Broonzy said of Charles's music: "He's mixing the blues with the spirituals   ... I know that's wrong." In 1954

498-416: A "movement" against issues including depression, racism, and hatred. Badu also remains an activist in her hometown of South Dallas . In Nation19 Magazine Badu talked about why she set up her own charity organization, titled Beautiful Love Incorporated Non Profit Development (B.L.I.N.D. 501c3). The charity was established in 1997 and aims to provide "community-driven development for inner-city youth" through

664-840: A "rawer" or "grittier" sound than the more popular " beat groups ". During the 1960s, Geno Washington , the Foundations , and the Equals gained pop hits. Many British black musicians helped form the British R&;B scene. These included Geno Washington , an American singer stationed in England with the Air Force. He was invited to join what became Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band by guitarist Pete Gage in 1965 and enjoyed top 40 hit singles and two top 10 albums before

830-552: A Dallas sidewalk until she was nude at the site where Kennedy was shot. A shot rang out as the song ended, Badu's head jerked back, and she fell to the ground. Children with their families could be seen nearby as Badu stripped. When asked about stripping nude in the presence of minors, Badu said, "I didn't think about them until I saw them, and in my mind I tried to telepathically communicate my good intent to them. That's all I could do, and I hoped they wouldn't be traumatized." Badu said on The Wanda Sykes Show on April 3, 2010, that it

996-546: A Dream ". Faye Adams 's " Shake a Hand " made it to number two in 1952. In 1953, the R&;B record-buying public made Willie Mae Thornton 's original recording of Leiber and Stoller 's " Hound Dog " the year's number three hit. Ruth Brown was very prominent among female R&B stars; her popularity most likely came from "her deeply rooted vocal delivery in African American tradition". That same year The Orioles ,

1162-536: A United States embargo that still remains in effect today, the island nation had been forgotten as a source of music. By the time people began to talk about rock and roll as having a history, Cuban music had vanished from North American consciousness." At first, only African Americans were buying R&B discs. According to Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records, sales were localized in African-American markets; there were no white sales or white radio play. During

1328-475: A blues progression. Ike Turner recorded "Cubano Jump" (1954) an electric guitar instrumental, which is built around several 2–3 clave figures, adopted from the mambo. The Hawketts , in " Mardi Gras Mambo " (1955) (featuring the vocals of a young Art Neville), make a clear reference to Perez Prado in their use of his trademark "Unhh!" in the break after the introduction. Ned Sublette states: "The electric blues cats were very well aware of Latin music, and there

1494-619: A boogie-woogie with a tresillo bass line, and lyrics proudly declaring the adoption of Cuban rhythm: Harlem's got a new rhythm, man it's burning up the dance floors because it's so hot! They took a little rhumba rhythm and added boogie-woogie and now look what they got! Rhumboogie, it's Harlem's new creation with the Cuban syncopation, it's the killer! Just plant your both feet on each side. Let both your hips and shoulder glide. Then throw your body back and ride. There's nothing like rhumbaoogie, rhumboogie, boogie-woogie. In Harlem or Havana, you can kiss

1660-450: A cappella groups is to simulate an instrumental rhythm section, often alongside a vocal percussionist or beatboxer . Some notable vocal bass artists are Tim Foust , Adam Chance , Bobby McFerrin , Al Jarreau , Reggie Watts , Alvin Chea , Joe Santoni , Avi Kaplan , Matt Sallee , Chris Morey , Geoff Castellucci . Many hip hop artists and rappers use scat singing to come up with

1826-464: A comment to a fan on Instagram. In May 2020, she featured on a single titled "Beehoove" alongside D'Angelo on Slingbaum's vinyl-only release debut studio album, Slingbaum One . On June 19, 2020 Badu featured on the song "Lowkey" by singer Teyana Taylor . In August 2020, Badu contributed to the live streamed recording of Bilal's EP VOYAGE-19 , created remotely during the COVID-19 lockdowns . It

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1992-463: A dense stylistic amalgam that primarily incorporates funk , soul , and hip hop genres, as well as jazz and electronica . In contrast to its predecessor, New Amerykah Part One (2008), which was digitally produced and political in tone, New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh) incorporates sampling and live instrumentation. The majority of Badu's music is greatly influenced by her beliefs of

2158-461: A kind of musical parity" and are "at times so close in timbre and so inextricably interwoven within the music's fabric as to be nearly indistinguishable." Dick Higgins likewise attributes scat singing to traditions of sound poetry in African-American music. In West African music , it is typical to convert drum rhythms into vocal melodies; common rhythmic patterns are assigned specific syllabic translations. However, this theory fails to account for

2324-547: A lesson saying "When you do it, it gotta be real, or that's not it." In 1997, Badu received twenty nominations and won three, Favorite Female Solo Single for "On & On", Favorite Female Solo Album for Baduizm and Best R&B/Soul or Rap Song of the Year for "On & On" at the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards. In 1998, Badu received fourteen nominations and won eight, including Favorite R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist at

2490-459: A line of incense; one scent is named "Badu Pussy" because Badu claimed she "took lots of pairs of [her] panties, cut them up into little pieces and burned them." Badu launched her own cannabis line, That Badu, in partnership with the Cookies cannabis brand in 2023. She also founded a company Apple Trees in 2020 that sells cannabis-related accessories. Badu became a vegan in 2006: " Vegan food

2656-404: A mainstay in rock and roll. At the urging of Leonard Chess at Chess Records, Chuck Berry reworked a country fiddle tune with a long history, entitled " Ida Red ". The resulting " Maybellene " was not only a number three hit on the R&B charts in 1955, but also reached into the top 30 on the pop charts. Alan Freed , who had moved to the much larger market of New York City in 1954, helped

2822-529: A non-African American artist into a music category known for being created by blacks. Nat King Cole , also a jazz pianist who had two hits on the pop charts in the early 1950s (" Mona Lisa " at number two in 1950 and " Too Young " at number one in 1951), had a record in the top five in the R&B charts in 1958, " Looking Back "/"Do I Like It". In 1959, two black-owned record labels, one of which would become hugely successful, made their debut: Sam Cooke 's Sar and Berry Gordy 's Motown Records . Brook Benton

2988-497: A primarily African-American clientele. Freed began referring to the rhythm and blues music he played as "rock and roll". In 1951 Little Richard Penniman began recording for RCA Records in the jump blues style of late 1940s stars Roy Brown and Billy Wright . However, it was not until he recorded a demo in 1954 that caught the attention of Specialty Records that the world would start to hear his new uptempo funky rhythm and blues that would catapult him to fame in 1955 and help define

3154-493: A quintet consisting of a vocal quartet with accompanying guitarist, sang a distinctive-sounding combination of blues and gospel. They had the number five hit of the year with " Don't You Know I Love You " on Atlantic. Also in July 1951, Cleveland, Ohio DJ Alan Freed started a late-night radio show called "The Moondog Rock Roll House Party" on WJW (850 AM). Freed's show was sponsored by Fred Mintz, whose R&B record store had

3320-399: A release of a new mixtape, but like the aforementioned mixtape, remains unreleased. In a publication on Vulture , Badu announced she was slowly making progress on her sixth studio album. Badu held her annual "Still Boomin'" sold-out birthday bash concert at The Bomb Factory on February 26, 2016, marking her second performance at the venue since its grand opening 11 months earlier. The event

3486-415: A saxophone-section riff) on his own 1949 disc "Country Boy" and subsequently helped make it the most over-used rhythmic pattern in 1950s rock 'n' roll. On numerous recordings by Fats Domino , Little Richard and others, Bartholomew assigned this repeating three-note pattern not just to the string bass, but also to electric guitars and even baritone sax, making for a very heavy bottom. He recalls first hearing

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3652-682: A show for D'Angelo in 1994 in Fort Worth , leading to record label executive Kedar Massenburg signing her to Kedar Entertainment. Her first album, Baduizm , was released in February 1997. It spawned four singles: " On & On ", " Appletree ", " Next Lifetime " and " Otherside of the Game ". The album was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Her first live album, Live ,

3818-695: A sold-out performance with 8,000 seats. Roads were clogged for seven hours. Filmmakers took advantage of the popularity of "rhythm and blues" musicians as "rock n roll" musicians beginning in 1956. Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Big Joe Turner, the Treniers , the Platters , and the Flamingos all made it onto the big screen. Two Elvis Presley records made the R&B top five in 1957: " Jailhouse Rock "/" Treat Me Nice " at number one, and " All Shook Up " at number five, an unprecedented acceptance of

3984-454: A song a flavor." Morton also once boasted, "Tony Jackson and myself were using scat for novelty back in 1906 and 1907 when Louis Armstrong was still in the orphan's home." Don Redman and Fletcher Henderson also featured scat vocals in their 1925 recording of "My Papa Doesn't Two-Time No Time" five months prior to Armstrong's 1926 recording of "Heebie Jeebies." It was Armstrong's February 1926 performance of "Heebie Jeebies," however, that

4150-694: A special appearance on the sitcom Girlfriends . In 2008, Badu became the face of fashion designer Tom Ford White Patchouli fragrance. Ford, longtime friends with Badu, considered her the best choice for the campaign. "I have always considered her a true beauty ... she just fits", says Ford. In late December 2013, it was announced that Badu would become the face of Givenchy 's 2014 Spring collection. Badu made her New York Fashion Week debut alongside designer Kerby Jean-Raymond in 2016, styling for his Pyer Moss collection titled "Double Bind." Erykah Badu and Kerby Jean-Raymond titled this collection after Gregory Bateson 's idea Double bind . Badu called this collection

4316-407: A strong sexual connotation in jump blues and R&B, but when DJ Alan Freed referred to rock and roll on mainstream radio in the mid-1950s, "the sexual component had been dialed down enough that it simply became an acceptable term for dancing". The great migration of Black Americans to the urban industrial centers of Chicago, Detroit, New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and elsewhere in

4482-614: A studio recording of a previously unreleased and untitled song that has been dubbed Money Can't Buy Me Love by fans. On June 2, 2019, Badu teased the release of a new song which she performed live at Barcelona's Primavera Sound Festival, tentatively titled The Work (The Way She Sees) . The following day on June 3, 2019, Badu released a new single titled Tempted , a cover of Tempted by Squeeze in collaboration with instrumentalist James Poyser . This song marks her first official single since Phone Down in 2015. In September, Badu confirmed her plans to release her sixth studio album "soon" via

4648-478: A triplet or shuffle feel to even or straight eighth notes. Concerning the various funk motifs, Stewart states that this model "...   is different from a time line (such as clave and tresillo) in that it is not an exact pattern, but more of a loose organizing principle." Johnny Otis released the R&B mambo "Mambo Boogie" in January 1951, featuring congas, maracas, claves, and mambo saxophone guajeos in

4814-486: A version of " Stagger Lee " at number one and " Personality " at number five in 1959. The white bandleader of the Bill Black Combo, Bill Black , who had helped start Elvis Presley's career and was Elvis's bassist in the 1950s, was popular with black listeners. Ninety percent of his record sales were from black people, and his " Smokie, Part 2 " (1959) rose to the number one position on black music charts. He

4980-484: A world-wide hit with the song " Scatman (Ski Ba Bop Ba Dop Bop) " in 1994. Vocal improviser Bobby McFerrin 's performances have shown that "wordless singing has traveled far from the concepts demonstrated by Louis Armstrong, Gladys Bentley, Cab Calloway, Anita O'Day, and Leo Watson." Vocal bass is a form of scat singing that is intended to vocally simulate instrumental basslines that are typically performed by bass players. A technique most commonly used by bass singers in

5146-589: Is 'Longhair's Blues Rhumba,' where he overlays a straightforward blues with a clave rhythm." Longhair's particular style was known locally as rumba-boogie . In his "Mardi Gras in New Orleans", the pianist employs the 2–3 clave onbeat/offbeat motif in a rumba boogie " guajeo ". The syncopated, but straight subdivision feel of Cuban music (as opposed to swung subdivisions) took root in New Orleans R&;B during this time. Alexander Stewart states that

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5312-501: Is a neo soul album, that incorporates funk , soul , and jazz styles. The album has been viewed by critics as a women companion to neo soul artist D'Angelo 's second album Voodoo (2000), which features a similar musical style and direction. Worldwide Underground followed in the same vein as Badu's previous efforts: the album is neo-soul and prominently incorporates hip hop and funk elements, while also featuring an unconventional musical structure. New Amerykah Part One has

5478-466: Is an esoteric concept album with sociopolitical themes and mostly downbeat subject matter, featuring more impersonal topics and social commentary than on Badu's previous work. Its subject matter deals with social concerns and struggles within the African-American community, exploring topics such as institutional racism , religion, poverty, urban violence, the abuse of power, complacency, cultural identity , drug addiction, and nihilism . Badu has said that

5644-455: Is an attempt to blend African American and Afro-Cuban music. The word mambo , larger than any of the other text, is placed prominently on the record label. In his composition "Misery", New Orleans pianist Professor Longhair plays a habanera-like figure in his left hand. The deft use of triplets is a characteristic of Longhair's style. Gerhard Kubik notes that with the exception of New Orleans, early blues lacked complex polyrhythms, and there

5810-438: Is considered the turning point for the medium. From the 1926 recording of "Heebie Jeebies" arose the techniques that would form the foundation of modern scat. In a possibly apocryphal story, Armstrong claimed that, when he was recording "Heebie Jeebies" with his band The Hot Five , his sheet music fell off the stand and onto the ground. Not knowing the lyrics to the song, he invented a gibberish melody to fill time, expecting

5976-649: Is credited with coining the term "rhythm and blues" as a musical term in the United States in 1948, the term had been used in Billboard as early as 1943. However, the company's first list of songs popular among African Americans was named Harlem Hit Parade ; created in 1942, it listed the "most popular records in Harlem ," and is the predecessor to the Billboard RnB chart. “Rhythm and Blues” replaced

6142-590: Is often cited as a precursor to rock and roll or as one of the first records in that genre. In a later interview, however, Ike Turner offered this comment: "I don't think that 'Rocket 88' is rock 'n' roll. I think that 'Rocket 88' is R&B, but I think 'Rocket 88' is the cause of rock and roll existing". Ruth Brown , performing on the Atlantic label, placed hits in the top five every year from 1951 through 1954: " Teardrops from My Eyes ", "Five, Ten, Fifteen Hours", " (Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean " and " What

6308-750: Is often cited as the first modern song to employ scatting, there are many earlier examples. One early master of ragtime scat singing was Gene Greene who recorded scat choruses in his song "King of the Bungaloos" and several others between 1911 and 1917. Entertainer Al Jolson scatted through a few bars in the middle of his 1911 recording of "That Haunting Melody." Gene Greene's 1917 "From Here to Shanghai," which featured faux-Chinese scatting, and Gene Rodemich 's 1924 "Scissor Grinder Joe" and "Some of These Days" also pre-date Armstrong. Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards scatted an interlude on his 1923 "Old Fashioned Love" in lieu of using an instrumental soloist. One of

6474-465: Is soul food in its truest form. Soul food means to feed the soul. And to me, your soul is your intent. If your intent is pure, you are pure." Badu splits her time between her hometown and Fort Greene, New York . Rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues , frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B , is a genre of popular music that originated within the African-American community in

6640-486: Is the term for the 10th-born child. After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts , Badu went on to study theater at Grambling State University , a historically black university . She left the university in 1993 before graduating, to focus more fully on music. During this time, Badu took several minimum-wage jobs to support herself. She taught drama and dance to children at

6806-457: The Billboard charts and number one on the U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums . Baduizm ' s commercial and critical success helped establish Badu as one of the emerging neo soul genre's leading artists. Her particular style of singing drew many comparisons to Billie Holiday . Baduizm was certified three times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America , Gold by

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6972-785: The Billboard Hot 100 and at number one on the Hot R&;B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The second single "Danger" reached number 82 on the Hot 100 and number 27 on the Hot R&;B/Hip-Hop Songs, while the third single "Back in the Day (Puff)" peaked at number 62 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Badu received four further Grammy nominations for the album. She also contributed to Zap Mama 's album Ancestry in Progress (2004), adding her vocals to

7138-794: The Mama's Gun World Tour . The tour started in North America on February 10 in Cleveland, Ohio at the Allen Theatre. After the release of Mama's Gun and "Love of My Life", Badu suffered writer's block . On September 16, 2003, she released her third studio album, Worldwide Underground . The album was more jam-oriented than any of her prior releases, and Badu said that the album was designed to be "one continuous groove." Upon its release Worldwide Underground met with some criticism for its loose, unconventional structure and songwriting, but

7304-475: The 2015 , 2016 and the 2017 Soul Train Music Awards . Within two months of the release of But You Caint Use My Phone in 2016, Badu announced a follow-up mixtape titled This $ hit Too Easy was to be released; however, this mixtape hasn't surfaced. The same year, Badu released new three tracks on SoundCloud, including Trill Friends , Thru It All and Come See Badu . On January 24, 2018, she announced

7470-606: The American Music Awards ; Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "On & On" and Best R&B Album for Baduizm at the Grammy Awards ; Outstanding New Artist and Outstanding Female Artist at the NAACP Image Awards ; Favorite Female Soul/R&B Single for "On & On", Favorite Female Soul/R&B Album for Baduizm and Favorite New R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist for "On & On" at

7636-770: The British Phonographic Industry and the Canadian Recording Industry Association . The album produced four singles; the lead single " On & On " was released in December 1996, and reached number 12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts and the UK Singles Charts , as well as making an appearance on the New Zealand charts. The album and lead single also gave Badu her first nomination and win at

7802-514: The Deep Ellum venue's grand opening. The sold-out show also featured fellow Dallas native, singer-songwriter Sarah Jaffe . In early October, Badu released a remix of Drake's single " Hotline Bling ", and later released a mixtape, But You Caint Use My Phone , on November 27, 2015, making it available for digital download and streaming exclusively through Apple Music . After one week of exclusive release on iTunes , But You Caint Use My Phone

7968-433: The Grammy Awards , where "On & On" won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and the album won Best R&B Album . Badu recorded her first live album, Live , while pregnant with Seven, and the release of the recording coincided with his birth. The album was released on November 18, 1997 and reached number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number one on the U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums . The album

8134-571: The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs . Upon release New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) received universal acclaim from critics. In the United States, the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 125,000 copies in its first week. It was Badu's best opening week since her debut album Baduizm in 1997. It also entered at number two on the Billboard Top R&;B/Hip-Hop Albums . According to Nielsen Soundscan, New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) sold 359,000 copies in

8300-619: The NPR video series Tiny Desk Concerts , released a new episode featuring Erykah Badu and her band performing live. The same day, NPR released the What's Good with Stretch & Bobbito podcast episode featuring a fresh interview with Erykah Badu where she spoke of being a certified Doula , her inherited sense of humor from her mother, stand-up comedy, her avoidance of print interviews after her 2008 experience being misquoted, and Prince. On November 7, while hosting NTS series Sound of Color Badu debuted

8466-614: The Nation of Gods and Earths and her exploration of her African heritage. The songs in her album Baduizm express her personal take on life. Her philosophy is influenced by African ideology, African-centered and Five Percent theologies, and Southern African-American folk traditions. Mama's Gun has a confessional lyrical theme, covering themes of insecurity, social issues, and personal relationships. Worldwide Underground contains minimalist songwriting concerning hip hop culture , love, ghetto life, and gang culture. New Amerykah Part One

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8632-687: The Soul Train Music Awards . In 2000, Badu received two nominations and won one, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the Grammy Awards. In 2003, Badu received twelve nominations and won two, including Video of the Year for "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)" at the BET Awards and Best Urban/Alternative Performance for "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)" at the Grammy Awards. In 2008, Badu received eleven nominations and won two, including Best Director for "Honey" at

8798-480: The Soulquarians and noted bassist Pino Palladino . A remix of one of the album's songs, " Bag Lady ", was issued as the first single and topped the R&B charts for seven weeks. The album was well-received, with the lyrical content winning notices from many publications. Reviewers found some of her lyrics hard to decipher on her initial releases. Despite not charting as high as her first two albums, Mama's Gun

8964-714: The Swiss Albums Top 100 . In the Netherlands, the album entered at number 25 and spent seven weeks on the Mega Album Top 100 . In Poland, it reached number nine and spent eight weeks on the Polish Albums Chart . The album's highest international charting was number five in Sweden, where it charted for seven weeks. During 2008 and 2009, Badu embarked on two world tours. The Vortex Tour (2008)

9130-528: The bonus track "Real Thang". The album's digital release on the iTunes Store featured the song's "Tumbling Dice Remix" as a bonus track. New Amerykah Part One was also released as a double vinyl LP on March 11, and on USB stick format. The album's lead single , "Honey", was released on December 11, 2007. It reached number 88 on the US Billboard Hot 100 , on which it spent three weeks. The song also charted at number 22 and spent 17 weeks on

9296-617: The boogie-woogie rhythms that had come to prominence during the 1940s. Jordan's band, the Tympany Five (formed in 1938), consisted of him on saxophone and vocals, along with musicians on trumpet, tenor saxophone, piano, bass and drums. Lawrence Cohn described the music as "grittier than his boogie-era jazz-tinged blues". Robert Palmer described it as "urbane, rocking, jazz-based music ... [with a] heavy, insistent beat". Jordan's music, along with that of Big Joe Turner , Roy Brown , Billy Wright , and Wynonie Harris , before 1949,

9462-441: The bop era of the 1940s, more highly developed vocal improvisation surged in popularity. Annie Ross , a bop singer, expressed a common sentiment among vocalists at the time: "The [scat] music was so exciting, everyone wanted to do it." And many did: Eddie Jefferson , Betty Carter , Anita O'Day , Joe Carroll , Sarah Vaughan , Carmen McRae , Jon Hendricks , Babs Gonzales , Mel Torme and Dizzy Gillespie were all singers in

9628-408: The conga drum , bongos , maracas and claves . According to John Storm Roberts , R&B became the vehicle for the return of Cuban elements into mass popular music. Ahmet Ertegun , producer for Atlantic Records , is reported to have said that "Afro-Cuban rhythms added color and excitement to the basic drive of R&B." As Ned Sublette points out though: "By the 1960s, with Cuba the object of

9794-529: The "best vocal improviser jazz has ever had," and critics since then have been in almost universal agreement with her. During this 1930s era, other famous scat singers included Scatman Crothers —who would go on to movie and television fame —and British dance band trumpeter and vocalist Nat Gonella whose scat-singing recordings were banned in Nazi Germany . Over the years, as jazz music developed and grew in complexity, scat singing did as well. During

9960-443: The 1800s with the popularity of the Cuban contradanza (known outside of Cuba as the habanera ). The habanera rhythm can be thought of as a combination of tresillo and the backbeat . For the more than a quarter-century in which the cakewalk , ragtime and proto-jazz were forming and developing, the Cuban genre habanera exerted a constant presence in African American popular music. Jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton considered

10126-552: The 1920s and 1930s created a new market for jazz, blues, and related genres of music. These genres of music were often performed by full-time musicians, either working alone or in small groups. The precursors of rhythm and blues came from jazz and blues, which overlapped in the late-1920s and 30s through the work of musicians such as the Harlem Hamfats , with their 1936 hit "Oh Red", as well as Lonnie Johnson , Leroy Carr , Cab Calloway , Count Basie , and T-Bone Walker . There

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10292-494: The 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to African Americans, at a time when "rocking, jazz based music ... [with a] heavy, insistent beat" was becoming more popular. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, the bands usually consisted of a piano, one or two guitars, bass, drums, one or more saxophones, and sometimes background vocalists. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate

10458-461: The 1970s renewed interest in bop scat singing, and young scat singers viewed themselves as a continuation of the classic bop tradition. The medium continues to evolve, and vocal improvisation now often develops independently of changes in instrumental jazz. During the mid-1990s, jazz artist John Paul Larkin (better known as Scatman John ) renewed interest in the genre briefly when he began fusing jazz singing with pop music and electronica , scoring

10624-568: The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. Kazakh neo-soul singer Dequine mentioned Erica in her freestyle " Fresh&Clean ", calling the singer her mother. Badu has also ventured into acting. She made her debut as a supporting role in the 1998 film Blues Brothers 2000 , playing Queen Mousette. The film gained mostly mixed to negative reviews from film critics and was considered a commercial failure. Badu made her second appearances in The Cider House Rules (1999), where she played

10790-671: The 2005 run. The festival was relaunched briefly in 2006 with Kelis opening the show and comedian Mo'Nique hosting the festival. 2006 was its final year. The festival had plans to expand into Europe and Asia, but this did not come to fruition. The Summer Tour was a concert tour in 2006 by Badu. The tour started on June 10, in Knoxville, TN, with three shows in the U.S., and resumed in July for several shows in Europe. Badu co-headlined on dates in August with Jill Scott and Queen Latifah at

10956-416: The African-American history and experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy, as well as triumphs and failures in terms of societal racism, oppression, relationships, economics, and aspirations. The term "rhythm and blues" has undergone a number of shifts in meaning. In the early 1950s, it was frequently applied to blues records. Starting in the mid-1950s, after this style of music had contributed to

11122-656: The April issue cover of EQ magazine and was featured in issues of Nylon , Playboy , Rolling Stone , Entertainment Weekly , Time Out New York , Spin , Vibe , Paste , and People , among others. Badu performed at a surprise midnight show on March 31, 2010 at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. The internet-only promotional single "Jump up in the Air (Stay There)", featuring Lil Wayne and Bilal ,

11288-661: The BET Awards and Best Direction in a Video for "Honey" at the MTV Video Music Awards . Overall, Badu has won 16 awards from 59 nominations. Although she disputes the term, Erykah Badu has been dubbed "the first lady of neo-soul" and "the queen of neo-soul". Baduizm ' s commercial and critical success earned Erykah Badu popularity at the time and helped establish her as one of the emerging neo soul genre's leading artists. Along with D'Angelo 's Brown Sugar (1995) and Maxwell 's Urban Hang Suite (1996),

11454-558: The CEO of LaFace Records , was responsible for some of R&B's greatest successes in the 1990s in the form of Usher , TLC and Toni Braxton . Later, Reid successfully marketed Boyz II Men . In 2004, 80% of the songs that topped the R&B charts were also at the top of the Hot 100. That period was the all-time peak for R&B and hip hop on the Billboard Hot 100 and on Top 40 Radio. From about 2005 to 2013, R&B sales declined. However, since 2010, hip-hop has started to take cues from

11620-550: The Chords ' " Sh-Boom " became the first hit to cross over from the R&B chart to hit the top 10 early in the year. Late in the year, and into 1955, " Hearts of Stone " by the Charms made the top 20. At Chess Records in the spring of 1955, Bo Diddley 's debut record " Bo Diddley "/" I'm a Man " climbed to number two on the R&B charts and popularized Bo Diddley's own original rhythm and blues clave-based vamp that would become

11786-595: The Cleftones , and the Spaniels with Illinois Jacquet 's Big Rockin' Rhythm Band. Cities visited by the tour included Columbia, South Carolina; Annapolis, Maryland; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo, New York; and other cities. In Columbia, the concert ended with a near riot as Perkins began his first song as the closing act. Perkins is quoted as saying, "It was dangerous. Lot of kids got hurt". In Annapolis, 50,000 to 70,000 people tried to attend

11952-663: The Day (Puff)", with the first becoming her second song to reach the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #9. The album was certified gold by the RIAA. Badu's fourth album, New Amerykah Part One , was released in 2008. It spawned two singles: " Honey " and " Soldier ". New Amerykah Part Two was released in 2010 and fared well both critically and commercially. It contained the album's lead single " Window Seat ", which led to controversy. Badu's voice has been compared to jazz singer Billie Holiday . Early in her career, Badu

12118-573: The Jewish writer, music publishing executive, and songwriter Arnold Shaw , during the 1940s in the US, there was generally little opportunity for Jews in the WASP -controlled realm of mass communications , but the music business was "wide open for Jews as it was for blacks". Jews played a key role in developing and popularizing African American music, including rhythm and blues, and the independent record business

12284-654: The Moon " live in Berlin, she quotes over a dozen songs, including " The Peanut Vendor ," " Heat Wave ," " A-Tisket, A-Tasket ," and " Smoke Gets in Your Eyes ." Improvisational singing of nonsense syllables occurs in many cultures, such as diddling or lilting in Ireland, German yodeling , Sámi joik , and speaking in tongues in various religious traditions. Although Louis Armstrong 's 1926 recording of " Heebie Jeebies "

12450-460: The Moon ", for instance, use the same tempo , begin with a chorus of a straight reading of the lyric, move to a "specialty chorus" introducing the scat chorus, and then the scat itself. Will Friedwald has compared Ella Fitzgerald to Chuck Jones directing his Roadrunner cartoon —each uses predetermined formulas in innovative ways. The deliberate choice of scat syllables is also a key element in vocal jazz improvisation. Syllable choice influences

12616-538: The Music Dies (2005), and Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2006). She is reported to have a leading role alongside Mos Def in the upcoming indie film, Bobby Zero , which tells a story of a struggling couple, who hit rock bottom after Mos Def's character gives up his artistic dream to pursue an advertising corporate job to live on. She also appeared in scenes of the music video of Miko Marks' 2006 recording "Mama" and Common's video for " The Light ," as well as making

12782-461: The New Orleans sound. Robert Palmer reports that, in the 1940s, Professor Longhair listened to and played with musicians from the islands and "fell under the spell of Perez Prado's mambo records." He was especially enamored with Afro-Cuban music. Michael Campbell states: "Professor Longhair's influence was   ... far-reaching. In several of his early recordings, Professor Longhair blended Afro-Cuban rhythms with rhythm and blues. The most explicit

12948-481: The R&B sound, choosing to adopt a softer, smoother sound that incorporates traditional R&B with rappers such as Drake , who has opened an entire new door for the genre. This sound has gained in popularity and created great controversy for both hip-hop and R&B as to how to identify it. In 2010, the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame was founded by LaMont "ShowBoat" Robinson . According to

13114-559: The South Dallas Cultural Center. Working and touring with her cousin, Robert "Free" Bradford, she recorded a 19-song demo, Country Cousins , which attracted the attention of Kedar Massenburg . He set Badu up to record a duet with D'Angelo , "Your Precious Love", and eventually signed her to a record deal with Universal Records . Baduizm , Badu's debut album, was released in early 1997. The album met with critical and commercial success, debuting at number two on

13280-566: The Sugar Water Festival. After receiving her first computer as a Christmas gift, Badu began communicating with and receiving music from Questlove, Q-Tip and J Dilla, among others. She later began to use her laptop as a mini recording studio to construct various backing tracks for songs, which led to the album's primary recording sessions at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. In 2007 Badu was said to have three albums in

13446-598: The United States by early 2010. Erykah Badu performed at the 10th annual Voodoo Experience in New Orleans the weekend before Halloween 2008. In the United Kingdom, the album charted at number 55 on the UK Albums Chart , on which it spent one week. In France, it debuted at number 49 and spent 11 weeks on the French Albums Chart . In Switzerland, it debuted at number 10 and spent six weeks on

13612-518: The age of 14, Badu was freestyling for a local radio station alongside artists such as Roy Hargrove . In her youth, she had decided to change the spelling of her first name from Erica to Erykah, as she believed her original name was a " slave name ". The term " kah " signifies the inner self. She adopted the surname "Badu" because it is her favorite jazz scat sound; also, among the Akan people in Ghana , it

13778-568: The album debuted at number 36 on the Top 100 and at number five on the R&B Top 50 chart. New Amerykah Part Two achieved moderate chart success in international markets, peaking within the top 50 in several countries, including Norway, Poland, Switzerland, Sweden, and Denmark. During March 2010, Badu promoted the album through television performances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon , The Wendy Williams Show , Chelsea Lately , Jimmy Kimmel Live! , and Good Day New York . She also appeared on

13944-535: The album discusses "religion, [...] poor families, the undermining of the working class, the so-called minority", Lyrically, New Amerykah Part Two is more personal than its predecessor, focusing on themes of romance and relationships. Badu has described its sound as "very analog". Badu is inspired by "stimulating" experiences. She was also influenced greatly by her music teacher Ms. Goodman, who encouraged her to take up music. Badu also takes influence from her grandmother and her religious views which Erykah described as

14110-414: The album had sold 394,000 copies domestically. On October 28, 2003, Worldwide Underground was certified gold in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America , following sales in excess of 500,000 copies in the United States. According to Nielsen SoundScan , the album has sold 609,000 copies in the United States. Its first single, "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip Hop)", peaked at number nine on

14276-415: The album has been recognized by music writers for beginning neo soul's popularity and helping the genre obtain commercial visibility at the time. Erykah Badu's song "Master Teacher" popularized the expression stay woke in the meaning of to continue to be "self-aware, questioning the dominant paradigm and striving for something better." In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Badu at number 115 on its list of

14442-417: The album received generally positive reviews from critics. Commercially the album fared well and debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart in the week of October 4, 2003, selling 143,561 copies in its first week. Ultimately spending 11 weeks on the Billboard 200, it also entered at number two on Billboard ' s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and spent 30 weeks on the chart. By December 2003,

14608-475: The album was met with general acclaim from critics. The album debuted at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 110,000 copies in its first week. It also entered at number two on Billboard ' s R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. In the United Kingdom, New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh) debuted at number 56 on the UK Albums Chart and at number nine on the R&;B Albums Chart . In Canada,

14774-439: The article said that rock and roll combined R&B with pop and country music. Fats Domino was not convinced that there was any new genre. In 1957, he said, "What they call rock 'n' roll now is rhythm and blues. I've been playing it for 15 years in New Orleans". According to Rolling Stone , "this is a valid statement ... all Fifties rockers, black and white, country born and city bred, were fundamentally influenced by R&B,

14940-721: The artists volunteered their time to help with the charity. As an outreach for B.L.I.N.D., Erykah traveled to Africa in February 2003, where she worked with children affected by AIDS and poverty. Badu has also received the Key to the City of Dallas and been recognized in Philanthropy Magazine for her efforts in community service. On February 20, 2020, Badu opened an online store named Badu World Market. Badu World Market features bespoke clothing, apothecary goods, musical merchandise, clothing accessories, and more. She also began selling

15106-401: The backbeat (two-side). The " Bo Diddley beat " (1955) is perhaps the first true fusion of 3–2 clave and R&B/rock 'n' roll. Bo Diddley has given different accounts of the riff's origins. Sublette asserts: "In the context of the time, and especially those maracas [heard on the record], 'Bo Diddley' has to be understood as a Latin-tinged record. A rejected cut recorded at the same session

15272-531: The band split up in 1969. Another American GI , Jimmy James , born in Jamaica, moved to London after two local number one hits in 1960 with The Vagabonds, who built a strong reputation as a live act. They released a live album and their studio debut, The New Religion, in 1966 and achieved moderate success with a few singles before the original Vagabonds broke up in 1970. White blues rock musician Alexis Korner formed new jazz rock band CCS in 1970. Interest in

15438-468: The black popular music of the late Forties and early Fifties". In 1956, an R&B "Top Stars of '56" tour took place, with headliners Al Hibbler , Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, and Carl Perkins , whose " Blue Suede Shoes " was very popular with R&B music buyers. Some of the performers completing the bill were Chuck Berry, Cathy Carr , Shirley & Lee , Della Reese , Sam "T-Bird" Jensen,

15604-554: The blues would influence major British rock musicians, including Eric Clapton , Mick Taylor , Peter Green , and John Mayall , the groups Free and Cream adopted an interest in a wider range of rhythm and blues styles. Scat singing Though scat singing is improvised, the melodic lines are often variations on scale and arpeggio fragments, stock patterns and riffs , as is the case with instrumental improvisers. As well, scatting usually incorporates musical structure . All of Ella Fitzgerald 's scat performances of " How High

15770-510: The character of Rose Rose. The film fared well both critically and commercially, with Badu receiving numerous awards and nominations including a win at the 2000 Black Reel Awards for best supporting actress as well as nominations for Screen Actors Guild Awards and Satellite Awards . In 2004, Badu returned to the screen playing Lady/Bernadette in House of D . Badu also had small roles in Before

15936-698: The charts. Well into the 21st century, the term R&B continues in use (in some contexts) to categorize music made by black musicians, as distinct from styles of music made by other musicians. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, the bands usually consisted of piano, one or two guitars, bass, drums, and saxophone. Arrangements were rehearsed to the point of effortlessness and were sometimes accompanied by background vocalists. Simple repetitive parts mesh, creating momentum and rhythmic interplay producing mellow, lilting, and often hypnotic textures while calling attention to no individual sound. While singers are emotionally engaged with

16102-410: The common term " race music ", a term coined by Okeh producer Ralph Peer based on the common self description by the African American press as “people of race.” The term "rhythm and blues" was then used by Billboard in its chart listings from June 1949 until August 1969, when its "Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles" chart was renamed as "Best Selling Soul Singles". Before the "Rhythm and Blues" name

16268-496: The credit away, since I know better. The first man that ever did a scat number in history of this country was a man from Vicksburg, Mississippi, by the name of Joe Sims, an old comedian. And from that, Tony Jackson and myself, and several more grabbed it in New Orleans . And found it was pretty good for an introduction of a song." Lomax : "What does scat mean?" Morton : "Scat doesn't mean anything but just something to give

16434-404: The cut to be thrown out in the end, but that take of the song was the one released: "I dropped the paper with the lyrics—right in the middle of the tune. . . And I did not want to stop and spoil the record which was moving along so wonderfully . . . So when I dropped the paper, I immediately turned back into the horn and started to scatting . . . Just as nothing had happened . . . When I finished

16600-614: The development of rock and roll , the term "R&B" became used in a wider context. It referred to music styles that developed from and incorporated electric blues , as well as gospel and soul music . By the 1970s, the term "rhythm and blues" had changed once again and was used as a blanket term for soul and funk . In the late 1980s, a newer style of R&B developed, becoming known as " contemporary R&B ". This contemporary form combines rhythm and blues with various elements of pop , soul, funk, disco , hip hop , and electronic music . Although Jerry Wexler of Billboard magazine

16766-755: The early 1950s, more white teenagers started to become aware of R&B and began purchasing the music. For example, 40% of 1952 sales at Dolphin's of Hollywood record shop, located in an African-American area of Los Angeles, were to whites. Eventually, white teens across the country turned their musical taste toward rhythm and blues. Johnny Otis , who had signed with the Newark, New Jersey–based Savoy Records, produced many R&B hits in 1951, including " Double Crossing Blues ", "Mistrustin' Blues" and " Cupid's Boogie ", all of which hit number one that year. Otis scored ten top ten hits that year. Other hits include " Gee Baby ", "Mambo Boogie" and "All Nite Long". The Clovers ,

16932-472: The early New Orleans jazz scene. ) In this manner, soloists like Louis Armstrong became able to double as vocalists, switching effortlessly between instrumental solos and scatting. Scat singing also resembles the Irish/Scottish practice of lilting or diddling, a type of vocal music that involves using nonsensical syllables to sing non-vocal dance tunes. Scat singing can allow jazz singers to have

17098-405: The early female singers to use scat was Aileen Stanley , who included it at the end of a duet with Billy Murray in their hit 1924 recording of " It Had To Be You " (Victor 19373). Jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton credited Joe Sims of Vicksburg, Mississippi , as the creator of scat around the turn of the 20th century. In a conversation between Alan Lomax and Jelly Roll Morton, Morton recounted

17264-408: The existence—even in the earliest recorded examples of scatting—of free improvisation by the vocalist. It is therefore more likely that scat singing evolved independently in the United States. Others have proposed that scat singing arose from jazz musicians' practice of formulating riffs vocally before performing them instrumentally. (The adage "If you can't sing it, you can't play it" was common in

17430-408: The figure – as a bass pattern on a Cuban disc. In a 1988 interview with Palmer, Bartholomew (who had the first R&B studio band), revealed how he initially superimposed tresillo over swing rhythm: I heard the bass playing that part on a 'rumba' record. On 'Country Boy' I had my bass and drums playing a straight swing rhythm and wrote out that 'rumba' bass part for the saxes to play on top of

17596-575: The foundation for R&B in the 1940s, cutting one swinging rhythm & blues masterpiece after another". Other artists who were "cornerstones of R&B and its transformation into rock & roll" include Etta James, Fats Domino , Roy Brown, Little Richard and Ruth Brown. The "doo wop" groups were also noteworthy, including the Orioles , the Ravens and the Dominoes . The term "rock and roll" had

17762-414: The high complexity of scatting at the same time, in harmony. An example is their version of " It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) ." The Boswell Sisters' "inventive use of scat singing was a source for Ella Fitzgerald ." As a young girl, Fitzgerald often practiced imitating Connee Boswell's scatting for hours. Fitzgerald herself would become a talented scat singer and later claimed to be

17928-410: The history of scat: Lomax : "Well, what about some more scat songs, that you used to sing way back then?" Morton : "Oh, I'll sing you some scat songs. That was way before Louis Armstrong's time. By the way, scat is something that a lot of people don't understand, and they begin to believe that the first scat numbers was ever done, was done by one of my hometown boys, Louis Armstrong. But I must take

18094-521: The idiom. Free jazz and the influence of world musicians on the medium pushed jazz singing nearer to avant-garde art music. In the 1960s Ward Swingle was the product of an unusually liberal musical education. He took the scat singing idea and applied it to the works of Bach, creating The Swingle Singers . Scat singing was also used by Louis Prima and others in the song " I Wan'na Be Like You " in Disney's The Jungle Book (1967). The bop revival of

18260-771: The late 1980s and early 1990s, hip-hop started to capture the imagination of America's youth. R&B started to become homogenized, with a group of high-profile producers responsible for most R&B hits. It was hard for R&B artists of the era to sell their music or even have their music heard because of the rise of hip-hop, but some adopted a "hip-hop" image, were marketed as such, and often featured rappers on their songs. In 1990, Billboard reintroduced R&B to categorize all of Black popular music other than hip-hop. Newer artists such as Usher , R. Kelly , Janet Jackson , TLC , Aaliyah , Brandy , Destiny's Child , Tevin Campbell and Mary J. Blige enjoyed success. L.A. Reid ,

18426-424: The lyrics, often intensely so, they remain cool, relaxed, and in control. The bands dressed in suits, and even uniforms, a practice associated with the modern popular music that rhythm and blues performers aspired to dominate. Lyrics often seemed fatalistic, and the music typically followed predictable patterns of chords and structure. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American experience of pain and

18592-637: The medium in his 1935 opera Porgy and Bess . Following the success of Armstrong's "Heebie Jeebies," a number of popular songs featured scat singing. In June 1927, Harry Barris and Bing Crosby of bandleader Paul Whiteman 's " The Rhythm Boys " scatted on several songs including " Mississippi Mud ," which Barris had composed. On October 26, 1927, Duke Ellington 's Orchestra recorded " Creole Love Call " featuring Adelaide Hall singing wordlessly. Hall's wordless vocals and "evocative growls" were hailed as serving as "another instrument." Although creativity must be shared between Ellington and Hall as he knew

18758-681: The old Savannah. It's a killer! Although originating in the metropolis at the mouth of the Mississippi River, New Orleans blues, with its Afro-Caribbean rhythmic traits, is distinct from the sound of the Mississippi Delta blues. In the late 1940s, New Orleans musicians were especially receptive to Cuban influences precisely at the time when R&B was first forming. The first use of tresillo in R&B occurred in New Orleans. Robert Palmer recalls: New Orleans producer-bandleader Dave Bartholomew first employed this figure (as

18924-514: The pattern is only half a clave ). Tresillo is the most basic duple-pulse rhythmic cell in Sub-Saharan African music traditions , and its use in African American music is one of the clearest examples of African rhythmic retention in the United States. The use of tresillo was continuously reinforced by the consecutive waves of Cuban music, which were adopted into North American popular culture. In 1940 Bob Zurke released "Rhumboogie",

19090-412: The pitch, articulation , coloration, and resonance of the performance. Syllable choice also differentiated jazz singers' personal styles: Betty Carter was inclined to use sounds like "louie-ooie-la-la-la" (soft-tongued sounds or liquids) while Sarah Vaughan would prefer "shoo-doo-shoo-bee-ooo-bee" ( fricatives , plosives , and open vowels ). The choice of scat syllables can also be used to reflect

19256-420: The popular feel was passed along from "New Orleans—through James Brown's music, to the popular music of the 1970s," adding: "The singular style of rhythm & blues that emerged from New Orleans in the years after World War II played an important role in the development of funk. In a related development, the underlying rhythms of American popular music underwent a basic, yet generally unacknowledged transition from

19422-498: The quest for freedom and joy, as well as triumphs and failures in terms of relationships, economics, and aspirations. One publication of the Smithsonian Institution provided this summary of the origins of the genre in 2016. "A distinctly African American music drawing from the deep tributaries of African American expressive culture, it is an amalgam of jump blues, big band swing, gospel, boogie, and blues that

19588-523: The rawer Memphis soul sound for which Stax became known. In Jamaica, R&B influenced the development of ska . In 1969, black culture and rhythm and blues reached another great achievement when the Grammys added the Rhythm and Blues category, giving academic recognition to the category. By the 1970s, the term "rhythm and blues" was being used as a blanket term for soul , funk , and disco . In

19754-425: The record I just knew the recording people would throw it out . . . And to my surprise they all came running out of the controlling booth and said—'Leave That In.'" Armstrong's "Heebie Jeebies" became a national bestseller and, consequently, the practice of scatting "became closely associated with Armstrong." The song would serve as a model for Cab Calloway , whose 1930s scat solos inspired George Gershwin 's use of

19920-505: The record become popular with white teenagers. Freed had been given part of the writing credit by Chess in return for his promotional activities, a common practice at the time. R&B was also a strong influence on rock and roll . A 1985 article in The Wall Street Journal , titled, "Rock! It's Still Rhythm and Blues" reported that the "two terms were used interchangeably" until about 1957. The other sources quoted in

20086-706: The rhythms of their raps. Tajai of the group Souls of Mischief states the following in the book How to Rap : "Sometimes my rhythms come from scatting. I usually make a scat kind of skeleton and then fill in the words. I make a skeleton of the flow first, and then I put words into it." The group Lifesavas describe a similar process. Rapper Tech N9ne has been recorded demonstrating exactly how this method works, and gangsta rapper Eazy-E used it extensively in his song " Eazy Street ." Some writers have proposed that scat has its roots in African musical traditions . In much African music, "human voice and instruments assume

20252-1122: The same improvisational opportunities as jazz instrumentalists: scatting can be rhythmically and harmonically improvisational without concern about the lyric. Especially when bebop was developing, singers found scat to be the best way to adequately engage in the performance of jazz. Scatting may be desirable because it does not "taint the music with the impurity of denotation." Instead of conveying linguistic content and pointing to something outside itself, scat music—like instrumental music—is self-referential and "d[oes] what it mean[s]." Through this wordlessness, commentators have written, scat singing can describe matters beyond words. Music critic Will Friedwald has written that Louis Armstrong's scatting, for example, "has tapped into his own core of emotion," releasing emotions "so deep, so real" that they are unspeakable; his words "bypass our ears and our brains and go directly for our hearts and souls." Scat singing has never been universally accepted, even by jazz enthusiasts. Writer and critic Leonard Feather offers an extreme view; he once said that "scat singing—with only

20418-488: The singers scat variations on the word "avocado" for much of the recording. In addition to such nonsensical uses of language, humor is communicated in scat singing through the use of musical quotation . Leo Watson, who performed before the canon of American popular music, frequently drew on nursery rhymes in his scatting. This is called using a compression. Similarly, Ella Fitzgerald's scatting, for example, drew extensively on popular music. In her 1960 recording of " How High

20584-479: The song "Heaven for the Sinner" from Bonobo 's album The North Borders . Badu featured on Janelle Monáe 's first single from her second studio album, The Electric Lady , "Q.U.E.E.N." The song premiered on SoundCloud and was made available for download purchase at the iTunes Store on April 23, 2013. The song peaked at 47 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. In May 2013, Badu announced she

20750-408: The sound of rock 'n' roll. A rapid succession of rhythm and blues hits followed, beginning with " Tutti Frutti " and " Long Tall Sally ", which would influence performers such as James Brown , Elvis Presley , and Otis Redding . Also in 1951, the song Rocket 88 was recorded by Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm at a studio owned by Sam Phillips with the vocal by Jackie Brenston . This song

20916-560: The sounds of different instruments. The comparison of the scatting styles of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan reveals that Fitzgerald's improvisation mimics the sounds of swing-era big bands with which she performed, while Vaughan's mimics that of her accompanying bop -era small combos. Humor is another important element of scat singing. Bandleader Cab Calloway exemplified the use of humorous scatting. Other examples of humorous scatting include Slim Gaillard , Leo Watson , and Bam Brown's 1945 song "Avocado Seed Soup Symphony," in which

21082-544: The style of performance he wanted, Hall was the one who was able to produce the sound. A year later, in October 1928, Ellington repeated the experiment in one of his versions of " The Mooche ," with Getrude "Baby" Cox singing scat after a muted similar trombone solo by Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton . During the Great Depression , acts such as The Boswell Sisters regularly employed scatting on their records, including

21248-461: The swing rhythm. Later, especially after rock 'n' roll came along, I made the 'rumba' bass part heavier and heavier. I'd have the string bass, an electric guitar and a baritone all in unison. Bartholomew referred to the Cuban son by the misnomer rumba , a common practice of that time. Fats Domino's " Blue Monday ", produced by Bartholomew, is another example of this now classic use of tresillo in R&B. Bartholomew's 1949 tresillo-based "Oh Cubanas"

21414-487: The term "R&B" as a synonym for jump blues . However, AllMusic separates it from jump blues because of R&B's stronger gospel influences. Lawrence Cohn , author of Nothing but the Blues , writes that "rhythm and blues" was an umbrella term invented for industry convenience. According to him, the term embraced all black music except classical music and religious music , unless a gospel song sold enough to break into

21580-509: The tour ended in Dallas, Texas on October 16. During the second U.S. leg, Badu was featured as a special guest co-headliner on hip-hop artist Mos Def 's "Ecstatic Tour" on select September dates. " New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh) ", Badu's fifth studio album, was released March 30, 2010, on Universal Motown in the United States. It was released in Japan on April 14, 2010. Upon release

21746-541: The track "Bandy Bandy." Badu embarked on the "Worldwide Underground Tour" in 2004. The U.S. trek kicked off February 3 in New Orleans and ran through the winter and spring with supporting act Floetry joining the tour February 5 in Houston . The Roots made a special opening act appearance at the February 11 show in Los Angeles. Badu resumed the tour during the fall with additional dates in America and Europe. In 2005, she

21912-476: The tresillo/habanera rhythm (which he called the Spanish tinge ) to be an essential ingredient of jazz. There are examples of tresillo-like rhythms in some African American folk music such as the hand-clapping and foot-stomping patterns in ring shout , post-Civil War drum and fife music, and New Orleans second line music. Wynton Marsalis considers tresillo to be the New Orleans "clave" (although technically,

22078-490: The two-celled timeline structure was brought into the blues. New Orleans musicians such as Bartholomew and Longhair incorporated Cuban instruments, as well as the clave pattern and related two-celled figures in songs such as "Carnival Day", (Bartholomew 1949) and "Mardi Gras In New Orleans" (Longhair 1949). While some of these early experiments were awkward fusions, the Afro-Cuban elements were eventually integrated fully into

22244-728: The use of music, dance, theater and visual arts. The organization's first endeavor was to establish a base of operations. Erykah chose to renovate and reopen the Black Forest Theater in South Dallas . The Black Forest serves as a community center, bringing people together in order to celebrate the art and culture of south Dallas. The Black Forest's stage is equipped for shows and performances, and has hosted both free and fundraising concerts by music artists including Prince, Snoop Dogg , Jill Scott , Musiq Soulchild , Dead Prez , Talib Kweli and Questlove from The Roots. All of

22410-473: The video for her song " Window Seat ", at Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas , the site of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy . She wrote on her Twitter feed that the video "was shot guerrilla style, no crew, 1 take, no closed set, no warning, 2 min., Downtown Dallas, then ran like hell." The team did not acquire permission or permits from the city. In the video, Badu shed her clothes as she walked along

22576-633: The works for release during 2007 and 2008. " Honey ", a new single produced by 9th Wonder , was leaked online in November 2007. The fourth studio album, New Amerykah Part One , was released by Universal Motown Records , in the United States on February 26, 2008, Badu's 37th birthday. It was released in European countries on February 29, in Australia and the United Kingdom on March 3, and in Japan on March 12. Both Japanese and Australian editions contain

22742-427: Was a "very specific absence of asymmetric time-line patterns ( key patterns ) in virtually all early-twentieth-century African American music   ... only in some New Orleans genres does a hint of simple time line patterns occasionally appear in the form of transient so-called 'stomp' patterns or stop-time chorus. These do not function in the same way as African timelines." In the late 1940s, this changed somewhat when

22908-486: Was a judge for the 4th Annual Independent Music Awards, to support independent artists' careers. Badu co-founded the Sugar Water Festival with Queen Latifah and Jill Scott . The trek played to amphitheaters and arenas in the United States during the summer of 2005 and 2006. It began in 2005 as an event to bring awareness to health issues to African-American women. British duo Floetry opened shows during

23074-731: Was a tour in support of New Amerykah Part One . The U.S. tour kicked off May 4 in Detroit, MI, ending on June 15 in Albuquerque, NM. The second leg of tour reached Europe on June 25, in Copenhagen, Denmark . Badu toured across Europe playing shows that included an itinerary for the month of July. Several more shows were added throughout August in the U.S. The Jam Tour was a summer music concert tour in 2009. The tour started in March; Badu played dates across North America twice and Europe, and

23240-630: Was a very nasty dance". Also in 1949, a new version of a 1920s blues song, " Ain't Nobody's Business " was a number four hit for Jimmy Witherspoon , and Louis Jordan and the Tympany Five once again made the top five with " Saturday Night Fish Fry ". Many of these hit records were issued on new independent record labels, such as Savoy (founded 1942), King (founded 1943), Imperial (founded 1945), Specialty (founded 1946), Chess (founded 1947), and Atlantic (founded 1948). African American music began incorporating Afro-Cuban rhythmic motifs in

23406-416: Was also increasing emphasis on the electric guitar as a lead instrument, as well as the piano and saxophone . R&B originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. In 1948, RCA Victor was marketing black music under the name "Blues and Rhythm". In that year, Louis Jordan dominated the top five listings of the R&B charts with three songs, and two of the top five songs were based on

23572-497: Was another platinum-selling success, and "Bag Lady" was nominated for a Grammy Award. By 2000, Badu was in a romantic relationship with fellow Soulquarian Common . The two released " Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop) " as a collaboration on the Brown Sugar soundtrack. "Love of My Life" hit #9 on the pop charts, topped the R&B listings, and in 2003 Badu was awarded her fourth Grammy Award for it. In 2001 Badu embarked on

23738-600: Was arrested. Badu said the video was a protest against " groupthink " and was inspired by Matt and Kim 's music video "Lessons Learned." Badu has also said she has "no regrets". In 2011 Badu appeared on Flying Lotus 's fourth album, Until the Quiet Comes . Badu appeared on the debut album by the supergroup Rocketjuice and The Moon , which was released in March 2012 and the album Black Radio by Robert Glasper . In 2013, Badu appeared on "Treehome95" from Tyler, The Creator 's second studio album, Wolf as well as on

23904-400: Was at the top of the R&B charts in 1959 and 1960 with one number one and two number two hits. Benton had a certain warmth in his voice that attracted a wide variety of listeners, and his ballads led to comparisons with performers such as Nat King Cole , Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett . Lloyd Price , who in 1952 had a number one hit with " Lawdy Miss Clawdy ", regained predominance with

24070-458: Was being called soul music , and similar music by white artists was labeled blue-eyed soul . Motown Records had its first million-selling single in 1960 with the Miracles ' " Shop Around ", and in 1961, Stax Records had its first hit with Carla Thomas 's " Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes) ". Stax's next major hit, The Mar-Keys ' instrumental " Last Night " (also released in 1961), introduced

24236-523: Was born in Dallas, Texas . Her mother raised her, her brother Eevin, and her sister alone after separating from their father, William Wright Jr. The children's maternal and paternal grandmothers often helped look after them. Badu began singing and dancing at the age of four at the Dallas Theater Center and The Black Academy of Arts and Letters (TBAAL) under the guidance of her godmother, Gwen Hargrove, and uncle TBAAL founder Curtis King. By

24402-507: Was certified two times platinum by RIAA for shipments of over two million copies. The album's lead single, " Tyrone ", was released in October 1997 and became another R&B hit single. "Tyrone", lyrically, is a song chiding a selfish, cheap, and inattentive boyfriend. Badu also collaborated with the Roots (who had previously handled production duties on a number of tracks on Baduizm ) on their breakthrough 1999 release Things Fall Apart . She

24568-422: Was definitely such a thing as rhumba blues ; you can hear Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf playing it." He also cites Otis Rush , Ike Turner and Ray Charles , as R&B artists who employed this feel. The use of clave in R&B coincided with the growing dominance of the backbeat , and the rising popularity of Cuban music in the U.S. In a sense, clave can be distilled down to tresillo (three-side) answered by

24734-537: Was dominated by young Jewish men who promoted the sounds of black music. British rhythm and blues and blues rock developed in the early 1960s, largely as a response to the recordings of American artists, often brought over by African American servicemen stationed in Britain or seamen visiting ports such as London, Liverpool, Newcastle and Belfast. Many bands, particularly in the developing London club scene, tried to emulate black rhythm and blues performers, resulting in

24900-584: Was featured on the song " You Got Me ", by The Roots and American women rapper Eve. Co-written by Jill Scott , the song peaked at 39 in the U.S. and 31 in the UK. The song went on to win The Roots and Badu a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 1999. After taking some time off to raise her child, Badu returned in 2000 with Mama's Gun . The album was characterized as more organic in sound than her previous studio album, and primarily produced by

25066-468: Was hosted by Badu's close friend Dave Chappelle and featured a surprise appearance by André 3000 of the duo Outkast . Badu enlisted Dallas' local hip hop acts Zach Witness and Cameron McCloud as her supporting acts, after collaborating with Witness earlier that year at his home studio. In 2016, Badu also starred as Turquoise in the film The Land . For the film, Badu also released the title track The Land , which featured rapper Nas. On August 15, 2018,

25232-419: Was initially developed during a thirty-year period that bridges the era of legally sanctioned racial segregation, international conflicts, and the struggle for civil rights". The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame defines some of the originators of R&B, including Joe Turner 's big band, Louis Jordan's Tympany Five, James Brown and LaVern Baker. In fact, this source states that "Louis Jordan joined Turner in laying

25398-448: Was instated, various record companies had already begun replacing the term "race music" with the term "sepia series". "Rhythm and blues" is often abbreviated as "R&B" or "R'n'B". In the early 1950s, the term "rhythm & blues" was frequently applied to blues records. Writer and producer Robert Palmer defined rhythm & blues as "a catchall term referring to any music that was made by and for black Americans". He has also used

25564-455: Was not her intention to insult the memory of the late President John F. Kennedy (JFK): "My point was grossly misunderstood all over America. JFK is one of my heroes, one of the nation's heroes. John F. Kennedy was a revolutionary; he was not afraid to butt heads with America, and I was not afraid to show America my butt-naked truth." Coodie and Chike , directors of the "Window Seat" video, said they had bail money ready during filming in case Badu

25730-527: Was once told that "a lot of those stations still think you're a black group because the sound feels funky and black." Hi Records did not feature pictures of the Combo on early records. Sam Cooke 's number five hit " Chain Gang " is indicative of R&B in 1960, as is pop rocker Chubby Checker 's number five hit " The Twist ". By the early 1960s, the music industry category previously known as rhythm and blues

25896-423: Was recognizable for her style, which often included wearing very large and colorful headwraps . She was a core member of the Soulquarians . As an actress, she has played a number of supporting roles in movies including Blues Brothers 2000 , The Cider House Rules and House of D . She also has appeared in the documentaries Before the Music Dies and The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 . Erica Abi Wright

26062-585: Was referred to as jump blues . Then, Paul Gayten , Roy Brown, and others had had hits in the style now referred to as rhythm and blues. In 1948, Wynonie Harris's remake of Brown's 1947 recording " Good Rockin' Tonight " reached number two on the charts, following band leader Sonny Thompson 's "Long Gone" at number one. In 1949, the term "Rhythm and Blues" (R&B) replaced the Billboard category Harlem Hit Parade . Also in that year, " The Huckle-Buck ", recorded by band leader and saxophonist Paul Williams ,

26228-399: Was released March 24, 2010 by Badu as a free download online. It spent three weeks on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, peaking at number 87. On Wednesday, February 9, 2011, Vimeo .com released a new video for "Gone Baby, Don't Be Long", directed by Flying Lotus. The video was tweeted by Badu herself and friend and associated music act Questlove from the Roots . On March 13, 2010, Badu filmed

26394-504: Was released in November 1997 and was certified double platinum by the RIAA. Her second studio album, Mama's Gun , was released in 2000. It spawned three singles: " Bag Lady ", which became her first top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at #6, " Didn't Cha Know? " and " Cleva ". The album was certified platinum by the RIAA. Badu's third album, Worldwide Underground , was released in 2003. It generated three singles: " Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop) ", "Danger" and "Back in

26560-404: Was released on Badu's official website in January 2010. RC Williams, Badu's musical director, said that a music video for the track was shot in Dallas. The album's first official single, " Window Seat ", was released by Badu through a downloadable link on her Twitter page. The song peaked at number 16 on Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The album's second single, "Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY)",

26726-630: Was released the following month with proceeds from its sales going to participating musicians in financial hardship from the pandemic. In December 2022, she featured on a track titled "Yun" on RM's debut studio album Indigo . Badu's work draws from R&B , 1970s soul, and 1980s hip hop , and became associated with the neo soul subgenre in the 1990s along with artists like D'Angelo . For her musical sensibilities, she has often been compared to jazz great Billie Holiday . Badu's has been described as an experimental R&B singer, and her work explores contemporary forms of soul and hip hop . Mama's Gun

26892-491: Was released to other digital retailers and streaming services on December 4, 2015. The mixtape was released without the knowledge of her label Universal , due to Badu sending the record straight to iTunes. It also marked Badu's first release under her own record label, Control Freaq. But You Caint Use My Phone received generally positive reviews from critics and debuted at number 14 on the Billboard 200 , selling 35,000 equivalent album units in its first week. Badu also hosted

27058-523: Was the number one R&B tune, remaining on top of the charts for nearly the entire year. Written by musician and arranger Andy Gibson , the song was described as a "dirty boogie" because it was risque and raunchy. Paul Williams and His Hucklebuckers' concerts were sweaty riotous affairs that got shut down on more than one occasion. Their lyrics, by Roy Alfred (who later co-wrote the 1955 hit " (The) Rock and Roll Waltz "), were mildly sexually suggestive, and one teenager from Philadelphia said "That Hucklebuck

27224-464: Was titled only 'Rhumba' on the track sheets." Johnny Otis 's "Willie and the Hand Jive" (1958) is another example of this successful blend of 3–2 claves and R&B. Otis used the Cuban instruments claves and maracas on the song. Afro-Cuban music was the conduit by which African American music was "re-Africanized", through the adoption of two-celled figures like clave and Afro-Cuban instruments like

27390-575: Was working with producer Flying Lotus, who she met via MySpace years ago; they later met in L.A. at guitarist Steve Wilson's house. In 2015, Badu appeared on "Rememory", a song from Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment's album Surf . In July 2015, Badu released a free mixtape of her favorite recordings, describing the set as "carefully and lovingly selected high frequency tones for the soul." The mixtape features mostly vintage funk, soul and jazz songs. On March 26, 2015, Erykah Badu performed at The Bomb Factory in her hometown, Dallas , Texas , for

27556-452: Was writing her next project, but not placing a time constraint on it. In July 2014, Badu revealed she was still working on the album and had been recording in April in Africa where she was "laying down drum tracks". Badu also said that prior to her trip to Africa she would have meetings with her record label to set a deadline for the album. Later that year Badu expanded on the album, stating she

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