Erykah Badu Biography

Fast Facts

• Established B․L․I․N․D․, Beautiful Love Incorporated Non-Profit Development, which provides community development via music and the arts for inner-cities areas of Dallas
• Studied theater at Grambling State University
• Earned her love of dance after performing with the Dallas Theatre Centre alongside her mother as early as four-years-old
• Quote: "[on her relationship with James Poyser] "James Poyser is my studio husband․ What I mean by that is, I don't do an album without him being present․ We are partners, production-wise․ There's no deal-breaker in that marriage․""
• Quote: "[on working with James Poyser] "It's fun working with him, because he can read my mind, and I can read his․ I don't read music․ I never have․ Yet I can describe what I'm trying to hear․ He is able to bang it out․ He's able to do that․""
• Released her debut album in 1997 which would debut number two on the Billboard charts
• Signed with Universal Records after producer Kedar Messanburg set her up to duet with D'Angelo
• Is the subject behind ex-boyfriend Andre Benjamin's Outkast song, "Mrs․ Jackson"
• Named the face of Tom Ford's White Patchouli fragrance in 2008
• Changed the spelling of her name from Erica Wright to Erykah, meaning 'inner-self' and Badu, the sound of her favorite jazz scat