Home > Detroit Music > CD Review > Erykah Badu, 'New Amerykah, Part One (4th World War)'

Backstory: Erica Wright has been in the performing arts since she was a tender four years old, but it was only when she became Erykah Badu that she transformed into a supernova. After three straight platinum efforts, including 1997's "Baduizm" and 2000's stellar "Mama's Gun," she relaxed with 2003's so-called EP, "Worldwide Underground," while preparing for this dizzying mash of satire, soul and conscience. It's almost indefinable, which is to say it is patented Badu. Recognize!

Why you should care: Badu is the Beatles of soul music. One second she's bringing flawless pop craftsmanship that turns heads, the next she's concocting left-field psychedelic masterpieces like this effort's "Amerykahn Promise," a disorienting collage of spoken word comedy and unrepentant funk. She is the preeminent artist worth money for those who think R&B has turned into a digital wasteland of vocal showoffs and auto-tuned nightmares.

Verdict: "Part One" of Badu's reported two-part postmodern tome—the sequel, "New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh," is rumored to be set for a 2008 as well—is simply stunning. The spaced-out mantra "My People" marries Badu's angelic pipes with Madlib's narcotic beats. "The Healer" is a spirited defense of the sound that has defined the 21st century so far—"Hip-hop is bigger than religion," she sings, "bigger than government"—while "Soldier" is an activist call-to-arms hop-scotching across the Nation of Islam, Katrina and more with Badu's trademark frankness. Even the bonus track "Honey," the only true-blue top 40 single present and accounted for, is a blast of Curtis Mayfield soul that could galvanize dance floors.  

X-Factor: Badu is literally a mother of hip-hop. Her son Seven Ate was fathered by OutKast's Andre 3000, while her daughter Puma Rose was sired by the D.O.C.

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