Black America’s favorite Queen, The Queen of Soul — is at it again, as her TRUE self. Miss Badu as I like to call her, recently sat down at the Red Bull Music Academy’s Presentation that allowed herself to humble her fans by showering them with useful words of wisdom. The presentation, called “A Conversation With Erykah Badu”, gave her an opportunity to mentor to young women and share her life’s lessons.
According to journalist Tanisha L. Ramirez, Erykah listed her lessons taught to her by mentor, friend, & producer, J Dilla. She says:
1. Evolve
“I desire to evolve in every area of my life. You have to let go of a lot of shit in order to evolve. I have a lot to get rid of. If you don’t evolve, you don’t survive.”
2. Don’t Let Labels Define Who You Are
After the naming of her “sound” as being Neo Soul by record label executive, Kedar Massenburg, Erykah stated, “people were just excited about labels at that time.” Although Erykah didn’t agree with the naming of the sound, she went with it anyway.
3. Money Don’t Come To People. Money Comes To Ideas
It was J Dilla in the 90’s that encouraged Erykah to learn how to mix her own music, sample old records, and create new songs. Sensing her initial hesitation to learn, Dilla said, “money don’t come to people. Money comes to ideas.” Just taking a wild guess, this is probably around the time she, the Queen of Soul evolved into the artist she is today.
4. Learn To Let Go
“I learned that it [art] doesn’t belong to you. It’s something that you have to nurture and mold, but it doesn’t belong to you.”
Today, Erykah is featured on Janelle Monae’s new single, “Q.U.E.E.N” — a song that encourages young women to disconnect from trends, let go of labels, and allow themselves to evolve into who they should be. Hence, a Queen.
PSLovecharliXO 