BONUS: From woke to MAGA to A.I.: Erykah Badu’s entire Ari Melber interview

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Beat with Ari Melber

Episode: BONUS: From woke to MAGA to A.I.: Erykah Badu’s entire Ari Melber interview
Date: April 13, 2026
Host: Ari Melber
Guest: Erykah Badu

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Episode Overview

In this compelling episode, Ari Melber sits down for a wide-ranging, in-depth conversation with singer, songwriter, DJ, and cultural icon Erykah Badu. The discussion explores Badu’s origin as an artistic “maverick,” her views on authenticity, the evolution and politicization of “woke,” cannabis culture, creativity across genres, and the impacts of technology and artificial intelligence on art and culture. Rich with laughter, insight, and wisdom, the conversation offers a masterclass on the intersection of art, identity, politics, and change.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Erykah Badu on Authenticity and Becoming Herself

• On being herself and not having many choices:
  • “I follow my heart. Sometimes I'm afraid and nervous, but I'm confident, so it makes me brave. My thoughts are unorthodox a lot. ... The only thing I can be is me.” (03:39)
  • Badu describes being “mutable,” able to adapt without losing her essence in different circles.
• On the pressures of early success:
  • Early acclaim didn’t change her approach, but affected those around her. She says she was careful to “pace” herself:
    • “I took my time. Cause I don't feel it's a race. My best work is still in me, so I just pace myself.” (04:51)
• On authenticity and timing:
  • “The universe really doesn't give you what you ask for. It gives you what you are, and you attract the things that you are. So, yeah, you can't really race to be something you're not.” (05:41)

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2. Art, Naivety, and Growth

• Badu reflects on her younger self, noting the naivety that came with being new to fame and easily influenced by others (06:59).
• Still, she values the “giving, very naive” person she was, and sees her evolution as a continual process.

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3. Entrepreneurship, Cannabis, and Purpose

Timestamp: 08:35–12:40

• Cannabis venture:
  • Inspired by friends and teacher Berner (of Cookies), Badu started her own cannabis line with an intentional, women-centric focus.
  • “Purpose in this line for me is to continue that conversation about women's health in the cannabinoid world, to break some of the taboos...” (09:51)
  • As a doula, Badu incorporates cannabis as plant medicine in her work, including birth and end-of-life care.
  • On legalization and disparities:
    • “[Legalization] would be one of the best things to happen for our community because we're not the people bringing it into the community in the first place, but we're taking the rap for it.” (11:32)

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4. Hip Hop, Multidisciplinarity, & Cultural Evolution

Timestamp: 12:50–16:38

• Badu celebrates hip hop as a culture and process, calling it braggadocious and confidence-building.
  • “That's where I got a lot of my confidence from being an emcee ... you can boast and brag and be a part time narcissist.” (13:11)
• Discusses how emceeing, DJing, singing, and fashion all reinforce each other in a holistic creative identity.
• Hip hop’s adaptability:
  • “Hip hop is the people. So hip hop changes with the people. As we progress and change and grow, so does it.” (14:56)

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5. Artistic Honesty & Vulnerability

Timestamp: 16:38–17:46

• Badu values artists who are “potent” enough to make you feel like witnessing their performance is almost too private (16:38).
• Art bridges humanity in ways that mere social interaction cannot.

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6. Ownership, Influence, and Reinvention

• On the digital era and generational pace changes:
  • “I appreciate being in the moment and growing with the time. ... Reinvention is the key to survival in this business.” (19:33)
  • She doesn’t cling to the past and lets go of her art once it’s released.

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7. Visual Identity, Fashion, and Album Art

Timestamp: 20:14–23:41

• Style as talismanic—her custom hats, rings, and clothing are protective and expressive.
• Discusses the iconic artwork for her album “New Amerykah, Part 1 (4th World War)”, reflecting on its visual symbolism related to occupation and cultural observation.

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8. The Evolution and Politicization of “Woke”

Timestamps: 23:58–28:37

• Badu discusses the origins of “stay woke” from her song “Master Teacher.”
• Ari and Badu examine how the term evolved—spread through activism and music, then became appropriated and politicized (25:09–25:32), invoked both by social advocates and derided by conservative politicians.
• Badu: “I think they mean black. Yeah. It's just another way to say thug or something else.” (25:51)
• On the term's transformation:
  • “Once something goes out in the world, it takes a life of its own. It's an energy of its own. ... Woke means being aware, being in alignment with nature.” (26:13–26:25)
• On documentation and legacy:
  • “That's a good push for us to document our own history ... not about right and wrong, it's just about the story.” (27:36)

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9. Culture, Criticism, and Categories

Timestamps: 28:38–33:31

• Discusses being compared to Billie Holiday and put in the “neo-soul” box.
• Badu’s unique sound was so new, people tried to categorize it awkwardly; she’s fine with comparison—but urges not to “put me in a box.”
  • “Because I'm changing and growing right now, as we speak.” (30:00)
• On the gatekeeping function of critics in the past vs. the overabundance of criticism now due to social media.

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10. Artificial Intelligence & Artistic Identity

Timestamps: 33:35–40:06

• Ari introduces Badu to ChatGPT, reads an AI-generated summary of her impact:
  • Badu: “Wow. Feel like my ancestors wrote that for real. ... 10 out of 10.” (35:47–35:56)
• AI recognizes her music as a form of resistance—Badu agrees.
• On remaining true amid commercial pressures:
  • “I believe I was ahead of my time. ... Now [fans] understand every single thing I'm saying.” (37:20)
• On being an innovator:
  • “It's part of that tax that comes with being an innovator or creator. ... And that's how the blessings keep coming: you have to accept all of the things that come with your art.” (38:44–40:05)

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11. Parenthood, Teaching, and Artistic Legacy

Timestamps: 41:16–43:13

• Raises her children mindful of “unlearning” past conditioning.
• Details the power of art as “the absence of fear,” and on integrating creativity into education and life:
  • “When you’re creating something in its truest form, you’re just creating. ... Teaching my children math through music or English through colors ... it makes a big difference.” (42:04)
  • “Our creativity in, which is something I don’t want to see young people have to do.” (42:48)

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12. Art, Inspiration, and the Hater Community

Timestamp: 43:14–45:08

• Ari theorizes that the intensity of response to artists is about the tension between inspiration and repressed creativity in others.
• Badu agrees, advising listeners to “find the thing that comes the easiest to them and master it.” (44:20)

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13. Lightning Round: Influences, Concepts, and Reflections

Timestamp: 45:17–50:46

• Words and quick thoughts on:
  • Teyana Taylor: “She’s fresh, she live, she’s my baby.” (45:24)
  • Lauryn Hill: “Angel voice ... anointed.” (45:31)
  • Busta Rhymes: “One of the most peculiarly intelligent people I’ve met.” (45:39)
  • Drake: “Changed this whole country’s idea of what R&B music should sound like by hisself.” (46:15)
  • Lil Nas X: “Very intelligent. ... He’s what freedom is.” (46:43)
  • Andre 3000: “My baby daddy ... I’m his biggest fan.” (46:54)
  • ...and several others.
• Big concepts:
  • Energy: “Everything vibrates ... it can only be exchanged.” (47:34)
  • Womb: “Inside the womb is the universe. ... The creation of everything comes from the womb.” (47:42)
  • Feminism: “The only ism I’ve messed with is baduism. But I am an advocate for anyone who is being abused.” (48:02)
  • Worst advice received: “You gotta let the other people win sometimes.” (48:33)
  • Best advice given: “Creator does not give you what you ask for, gives you what you are.” (49:08)
  • Success means: “Continuing no matter what.” (50:23)
  • Being a Maverick: “That you’re from Dallas, Texas. And I’m the only real maverick in here.” (50:33)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On authenticity:
  • “You kind of get to it when you become it.” (05:41)
• On criticism and originality:
  • “The price of originality is imitation.” (29:46)
• On ‘woke’:
  • “It just means being aware, being in alignment with nature ... not only in the political arena. That means with your health ... in your sleep.” (26:25)
• On the haters:
  • “Why do you get to be so free? ... That curdles into a hatred.” (44:05)
• On parenthood:
  • “I spent a whole lot of time trying to unlearn things that were taught to me ... I'll go back one more. And their parents.” (41:57)
• On the most Maverick thing:
  • “I am the maverick.” (50:33)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• On authenticity and growth: 03:35–05:59
• Cannabis business & women's health: 08:35–12:40
• On "woke" and its politicization: 23:58–28:37
• Discussing being boxed in as 'neo-soul': 29:00–31:13
• Artistic influence & AI summary: 33:35–36:52
• Lightning round of artists: 45:17–50:46
• Closing “Maverick” moment: 50:33

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Tone

Throughout the conversation, Erykah Badu is reflective, poetic, witty, and candid, retaining a soulful irreverence and humor. Ari Melber brings empathy, curiosity, and cultural fluency to the discussion, allowing for a conversation that moves fluidly between playful banter, philosophical inquiry, and serious reflection.

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For Listeners

This episode is a must-listen (or read) for anyone interested in art, activism, hip hop history, identity, and how creative pioneers see and shape the world—from “woke” politics to artificial intelligence. Erykah Badu’s honesty and self-possession offer both wisdom for personal growth and sharp context for understanding today's cultural landscape.

Transcript

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[MSNow Newsletter Host]

as President Trump continues implementing his ambitious agenda, follow along with the MSNow newsletter Project 47. You'll get weekly updates sent straight to your inbox with expert analysis on the administration's latest actions and how they're affecting the American people.

[Erykah Badu]

The American people are basically telling the president that they are not okay with any of this.

[MSNow Newsletter Host]

Sign up for the Project 47 newsletter at Ms. Now. Project 47

[Erykah Badu]

the universe really doesn't give you what you ask for. It gives you what you are and you attract the things that you are. So yeah, you can't really race to be something you're not.

[Ari Melber]

Revolutionary Mavericks. Welcome to Mavericks with Ari Melber. Today we are joined by a celebrated singer, DJ and really cultural icon, four time Grammy winner Erykah Badu. Thanks for being here.

[Erykah Badu]

Thanks for having me.

[Ari Melber]

I'm excited. Is there any energy or intention we should set for our conversation?

[Erykah Badu]

I think we are in alignment. We're surrounded by everything that matters. As long as we're getting this oxygen, I think we good.

[Ari Melber]

Good. Oxygen's good. Yeah. I like being outside. Usually they have us inside.

[Erykah Badu]

For you.

[Ari Melber]

We're outside. Thank you. You got a lot going on that we're going to get into.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

But just big picture, how are you feeling at this point in your life and your art and all this other business you're doing?

[Erykah Badu]

I feel exquisite. I feel excited, you know.

[Ari Melber]

Yeah, exquisite's good.

[Erykah Badu]

Looking forward to the possibilities of things.

[Ari Melber]

Do you feel like you're building off everything and I got some stuff I'm going to show you or it's all future. You got everything ahead of you.

[Erykah Badu]

I think I got everything ahead of me.

[Ari Melber]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I like that. So we talk to people who we call mavericks.

[Erykah Badu]

Okay.

[Ari Melber]

Labels can get in the way. We could call them anything.

[Erykah Badu]

Perfect.

[Ari Melber]

But you from the start that we got to meet you, at least in society, in the culture.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Really saw this independent spirit.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

So we kind of want to start from there and look at at that.

[Erykah Badu]

My name is Erykah Badu, also known as Badula Oblingara the winner is Baduism by Erykah Badu.

[Ari Melber]

Erica Badu.

[Erykah Badu]

You are my friend baby, don't worry you know that you got me.

[Ari Melber]

What you.

[Erykah Badu]

I can't use my phone.

[Ari Melber]

How did you work out being you?

[Erykah Badu]

Work out being me?

[Ari Melber]

Yeah. How'd you figure out how to be you?

[Erykah Badu]

Hmm. I don't think I have too many choices. I follow my heart. Sometimes I'm afraid and nervous, but I'm confident, so it makes me brave. My thoughts are unorthodox a lot. And I do not have the most popular opinion, as I've learned over the years. But the only thing I can be is me. And as a mutable person, I've learned to be the best me but still be able to mutate, you know, within different circles so that I don't disrupt it too much. Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

It's funny you say that. Some of the opinions may be unpopular. Yeah. Popularity changes over time.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Your work was very popular from the jump.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Battle ism, Triple Platinum and kind of immediately this excitement.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

One question I've been curious about, now I get to meet you, is.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Did that embrace, which really only endured over time, did that make it harder or easier to do your next work? How did that affect your approach?

[Erykah Badu]

It didn't affect my approach. It affects the people around you and their opinions and what they think. And if you're not careful, that will influence you or deter you from doing what you want you. You know. So I was very careful. I took my time. Cause I don't feel it's a race. My best work is still in me, so I just pace myself.

[Ari Melber]

Well, you know why life ain't a race?

[Erykah Badu]

Why?

[Ari Melber]

Because then we'd be trying to die first.

[Erykah Badu]

That's right. That's how. You know.

[Ari Melber]

That don't make no sense.

[Erykah Badu]

They lie. Somebody lying.

[Ari Melber]

I always find that funny. They say, oh, someone did this by this age. And you're sort of like, so.

[Erykah Badu]

Right.

[Ari Melber]

Because if it's something worth doing, then you do it when you get to it. Get to it, hopefully. But the racing of it means, okay, now you did it by that age. So what?

[Erykah Badu]

You kind of get to it when you become it. Because I'm finding out that the universe really doesn't give you what you ask for. It gives you what you are. And you attract the things that you are. So, yeah, you can't really race to be something you're not.

[Ari Melber]

Do you remember how old you were when you had that thought or that? Was that always with you?

[Erykah Badu]

It was always with Me, but not in those words. Yeah, yeah. I always felt it.

[Ari Melber]

So let's look at Erykah Badu around that early time on Regis and Kathie Lee. Oh, and Badouism is there. Can you define that for us?

[Erykah Badu]

The baduism experience is supposed to get you high, make you feel really good, naturally. I just have one big question about your career now. You have one of the most extraordinarily beautiful faces. Why in the world would you put hide your face on the COVID of this? You really are exquisitely beautiful. Well, thanks. I don't know, I just don't think it's really all about Erykah Badu. It's about the way that you're supposed to feel when you hear the music. It took a lot of people and a lot of energy from the Creator to bring this all together.

[Ari Melber]

How do you feel looking at her, looking at you?

[Erykah Badu]

She's so green. I think she's very special. Very gifted and very, very talented. Very giving, very naive.

[Ari Melber]

How do you see her as naive?

[Erykah Badu]

She just didn't know a lot of things, you know, and was influenced easily, you know, by other people's feelings and thoughts. So. So I had to be really careful, like I just said, to pace myself so that I wouldn't, you know, go down the wrong. If there's a wrong path. Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Well, we got another. We'll see if you remember this.

[Erykah Badu]

Okay. I want to be another example of what positivity can bring. I'm an artist. The creator has blessed me in every aspect of the word artists. I'm a dancer, singer, actress, poetess. Anything that has to do with art, you know, I live art, dress art. I guess you could say art is my religion. And to use my gifts is my gift back to the creators, same person. I still feel like that. And I mean, it's interesting looking at that because if I got like a little snatch, I could look like that again. You know that, right?

[Ari Melber]

I know that.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

I mean, I don't. I don't even think you need an adjustment. It's you.

[Erykah Badu]

I'm good.

[Ari Melber]

Yeah. So when you look at that and you see what you're doing now, you charted your own path.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Then in Covid, you stood up your own concert streaming.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

You've got this cannabis accessory line. And now new, you have your own cannabis with cookies.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

So how does that work for you? Have you tried it? What are the results?

[Erykah Badu]

I'm super excited about that. That's a long time coming. A friend, Kumail, gave me the energy to do it, you know, and. And I waited for a little while, and when I was ready, I told Berner, I'm ready now, because I wanted to do a little research because I wanted some purpose in the whole thing.

[Ari Melber]

Yeah, Berner's a sort of businessman and artist, rapper, who's involved.

[Erykah Badu]

That's correct. Berner is the owner of the Cookies franchise, the biggest growing franchise for legalized cannabis in the world right now. So, yeah, he's a perfect person to meet and be influenced by because he was a good teacher, he's a good friend, he was the plug. He gave me all of the information I needed, and I found my space, my place, my interest is women's studies and cannabis because I use it in my work.

[Ari Melber]

What does purpose mean in this line?

[Erykah Badu]

Purpose in this line for me is to continue that conversation about women's health in the cannabinoid world, to break some of the taboos and to start a new dialogue about what cannabis means in our world and in our bodies and our lives. I use cannabis a lot in my work, as a doula. And as a doula, I help babies come into the world. And I also sit at the bed, the rest bed, where people pass on. And cannabis is a really big plant medicine that we use in. In there. And I serve it as tea a lot.

[Ari Melber]

Okay.

[Erykah Badu]

So when I thought about the packaging for that B with cookies, I thought about this Persian oriental look of. Of porcelain and blue flowers. So the packaging looks like that. And I just collect things that look like that. Now it's like my new thing, you know, I collect pieces, broken pieces of art. There's a story there and there's beauty in it.

[Ari Melber]

And we've all lived through this sort of shift in part of the war on drugs, where you still got people in prisons.

[Erykah Badu]

Oh, yeah.

[Ari Melber]

For marijuana related offenses, et cetera, while we're shifting out to actually do some of this business. And it's all in flux. What does it mean to you to have people from communities that traditionally have been targeted and over incarcerated as compared to, like, white users of the same drug back when it was more criminalized?

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah, I mean, I think it should be legalized. And, you know, I don't like to give a lot of political opinions. I've learned my lesson with that. But what we do know is that there are a lot of people in jail who are very intelligent alchemists who can change chemicals into other things and properties. I believe that legalizing marijuana would be one of the best things to happen for our community because we're not the people bringing it into the community in the first place, but we're taking the rap for it. And yeah, yeah. In Texas specifically, I would like to spearhead the campaign to legalize marijuana for many reasons. One is the mass incarceration. The other reason is because I want. It's over. Marijuana is overshadowed or the use of marijuana is overshadowed by the commercial use and the medicinal use of the herb is kind of being, you know, covered over by commercial use.

[Ari Melber]

Yeah, you said you learned your lesson on politics. Maybe we'll come back to that. But on hip hop, it's like, you are so hip hop.

[Erykah Badu]

You are too.

[Ari Melber]

Respect. You're. You're also this immaculate singer. People have made. We. Look, people made all these comparisons. We can get to that. You and all these singers. But you did start as a rapper. You've worked with so many rappers. What does hip hop mean to your creativity right now?

[Erykah Badu]

Hip hop is a culture, and in that culture there is a process in which we do things. You know, first there is the music or the beat, and then the lyrics come afterwards. The other way around. It's poetry if you're writing lyrics. So it's very braggadocious. It's very confident, you know, and that's where I got a lot of my confidence from being an emcee in that arena. It's okay to boast and brag and be a part time narcissist, you know, so that gave me a lot of inspiration and confidence. Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

It's been said some don't need no part time lover But a part time narcissist.

[Erykah Badu]

Maybe, maybe, maybe, yeah, yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Do you remember your first bar?

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah, it's. Well, my name is Apples and I rock your world. I'm also known as the Gucci girl. Well, I'm super cute and plenty bad 30, 26, 36 and a half.

[Ari Melber]

Hey. Okay.

[Erykah Badu]

Do you remember your first bar?

[Ari Melber]

Who said I had a first bar?

[Erykah Badu]

You got to have a bar in you somewhere. All right?

[Ari Melber]

In high school, I had this line. I only remember, like a part of it where I. But I thought it was really great when I was a kid. Okay. But it was like, I'm the one who's deaf, but you ain't even heard.

[Erykah Badu]

Ooh, yeah.

[Ari Melber]

I was really. I was really excited.

[Erykah Badu]

That's a bar.

[Ari Melber]

If you say so.

[Erykah Badu]

It is.

[Ari Melber]

So this is my question for you. Given that you do those different things, are they just distinct creative talents and you happen to have them, which is great for you, right? Because you could DJ and you have this hip hop Part of you and then the singing voice. Everybody knows?

[Erykah Badu]

Yes.

[Ari Melber]

Or do you think they reinforce each other? Does being one of those things help you be a better dj, Help you be a better singer?

[Erykah Badu]

Probably, yeah. Because they all go together in hip hop. The. The culture of hip hop is graffiti. It's break dancing. You know, these things. It's. It's the spoken word, it's rap, it's. Did I say DJing? It's the way we dress. It's a. A language that we have. It's a full culture. And hip hop is the people. So hip hop changes with the people. As we progress and change and grow, so does it. So I think it's all something. It's all in the same pot, you know, kind of. And being creative is the nucleus of that. You know, anybody can say they're. They're a rapper or a dancer or something, but the creative part of it is what's special about it. You know, the more creative you are in a cipher, the better you are as a freestyler or a DJ or someone who could put a playlist together or a graffiti artist. You know, the more creative you are, you know, in this thing, the further you'll go. Yeah, yeah.

[Ari Melber]

It's funny because in talking conversations, they start and they end. With most people, I mean, maybe your closest friends, it feels continuous. But with most people, that's talking. Right. And humans do a lot of talking. Yeah, we talk, but we start and we end. It seems to me culture, the conversation's always ongoing. And I'm curious about that with you, because you're in this conversation with hip hop to this day. Does that in inform you and you say, oh, I want to be doing that, or that's just sort of organic and it just keeps happening.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah. I'll answer it like this. I really appreciate artists that I can feel. Doesn't matter what they're talking about. They can be talking about shaking they ass, or they can be talking about saving the world or God or health or healing, but if I believe it, that's when it's potent to me. And what hip hop or music or art period is all about is the real girth and personal energy that you're sharing. You're almost supposed to feel like you're not supposed to be seeing it when you're watching someone, when they're really honest about something. You know what I mean?

[Ari Melber]

Yeah. Because, well, that's the thing. We love society. I think most people, you know, even introverts, don't want to be alone their whole lives.

[Erykah Badu]

That's right.

[Ari Melber]

So we need society as human people, as social animals.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

But what you just said is deep. Right. When you see someone really bare their soul, you think, oh, that's so raw and true and private. It's almost like I shouldn't see it. And yet with art, it feels like art can connect us to our humanity more than just being out with people.

[Erykah Badu]

Sure. You know, I agree with that.

[Ari Melber]

Let me play you your interaction. Just. We just have back and forth.

[Erykah Badu]

Okay.

[Ari Melber]

We got you covering a song people might know in the rap game.

[Erykah Badu]

Okay.

[Ari Melber]

And then we got black rapper, artist, singer covering you.

[Erykah Badu]

Oh, I remember that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The world keeps turning. Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Oh, what a day.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah, what a day.

[Ari Melber]

What a day.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

How do you feel about that interaction?

[Erykah Badu]

I love it. You know, I love that. You know, you don't like everybody doing your stuff.

[Ari Melber]

You know who should not do bad?

[Erykah Badu]

Drake. I don't know yet. You know, I'll let you know. I don't know exactly who should not, but I feel it. I appreciate black's version of that. Yeah, yeah. And Drake was cool with mine, so I was happy about that. Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

A lot of younger artists, particularly like coming up now in this digital era. It is faster. It is more about the vibe, the energy, the mood.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Although there are still plenty of conscious artists and there's plenty of paragraphs you can find.

[Erykah Badu]

Right.

[Ari Melber]

I read that you said, well, you love the Flintstones.

[Erykah Badu]

Oh, yeah.

[Ari Melber]

But the pacing doesn't work for kids today. Uh, so how do you. How do you deal with today's pacing? Cause you seem really unthreatened by it. So a lot of people go, oh, this is new. Why can't we just love my old. It's like, you seem really open to the new pace.

[Erykah Badu]

You know what? I'm probably the opposite of that last statement you made. I appreciate being in the moment and growing with the time. You know, I think that's the key to reinvention, and reinvention is the key to survival in this business. And I'm able to. I don't know, they just made me like this. Whoever they are, you know, they made me like this. I'm just really interested in what's. What's next. You know, I'm a very futuristic, thinking human, and I don't get stuck in the past. Once I do something, it doesn't belong to me anymore. So.

[Ari Melber]

Yeah, I like that. It's like Snoop said, he can't watch his highlights at halftime. Nah, he's gotta live. I'm curious about your Aesthetic image, visual, artistic sense. You mentioned earlier, hip hop has this. And other genres have it too. Where we see. I mean, just. Is there anything you could tell me about what we're looking at right now? Cause it seems like a whole story. Wherever you want to start with the.

[Erykah Badu]

I slept in this. This is not nothing. These gold rings. These are my talismans and amulets and things, you know, These are things that just make me feel good. And they're designed. They're all custom, the things that I wear, from the hat to everything else.

[Ari Melber]

What's the hat made out of?

[Erykah Badu]

This hat is made out of resin, actually. You wanna feel it for real.

[Ari Melber]

Oh, okay. Yeah.

[Erykah Badu]

So.

[Ari Melber]

Because it looked to me almost like something that would be inside a cartoon or like. Yeah, it is a softness.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah. It's hard, though. It's made by a friend of mine, Bonna Capello. So in the jacket, Juana, subsidiary of Comme des Garcons. That's one of my favorite designers, you know, So I mix and match things. These pants were given to one of the elders in my community because I just loved him because he wore them so much. Yeah. I just mix and match things, you know, they're like I said, talismans and amulets, things that make me feel good.

[Ari Melber]

Yeah.

[Erykah Badu]

I love shape and color and things like that. Yeah, yeah.

[Ari Melber]

And that's like. So we saw you pop up on the COVID of Vogue.

[Erykah Badu]

I popped up.

[Ari Melber]

Popped up. Yeah. Pulled up. Hey, Vogue. And also sort of showing that this idea that you have to choose, that you would have to choose what they used to or sometimes still call streetwear.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Versus couture. High fashion. You seem to be like, nah, we could. We could do it all together. Yeah, yeah. And then when we look at some of your work here.

[Erykah Badu]

Yes.

[Ari Melber]

What does this mean to you visually, this album cover?

[Erykah Badu]

We're looking at New America, Part 1, Fourth World War. And I wrote that album off of the heels of watching a documentary called Fourth World War, which was about occupation all over the planet. Occupation is when the government comes in and takes some land for one reason or another, that does not belong to them or to anyone. But it's land that indigenous people built and lived on. So in this piece of art done by a good friend of mine, Emek, who. Whose father is from Israel, was a political cartoonist. His father, he became a rock poster artist. He does posters for the Grateful Dead, Beastie Boys, different people. And I met Emick, and I talked to him about my album, New America Part 1, because it was a social, political, kind of Thing. And this is what he came up with. And inside of the Afro are so many different things. You know, there are signs of the

[Ari Melber]

time, money, capitalism, needles. But then they're in her hair. Like, it's like, are they part of her or they're in her mind?

[Erykah Badu]

They're in my mind.

[Ari Melber]

Yeah.

[Erykah Badu]

Because New America Part one was me standing on an apex or standing at the top of something, observing everything. There are no solutions in this album. It's just what I've observed.

[Ari Melber]

Well, I would push you on that. May I push you on that?

[Erykah Badu]

You can push me.

[Ari Melber]

Thomas Dewey said, okay, a problem well stated is a problem half solved.

[Erykah Badu]

I understand that could be. But we did start a lot of stuff on there.

[Ari Melber]

Yeah.

[Erykah Badu]

There's a song on this particular album called Master Teacher, and in that song, Master Teacher, the chorus is I stay woke. So Stay woke was introduced to the world by way of this album, New America Part one. And I tweeted it once, Georgia Ann Muldrow actually wrote the song. She's singing with me. And I tweeted it about this group that was Detained Pussy Riot. They're this group of activists who are artists. And in my tweet, I said, free Pussy Riot and staywoke. After that, woke took off and became many things.

[Ari Melber]

Let's talk about it. You bring up that fact, which is your art.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Took this concept. Ideas and words can evolve, but it really put this out. This idea we should wake up to these problems and stay woke.

[Erykah Badu]

Sure.

[Ari Melber]

We made something for you, Eric. This is just like a minute.

[Erykah Badu]

Okay.

[Ari Melber]

But we track how you started it and how it spread and then how some on the. On the right are sort of hijacking or attacking it or giving it a different definition.

[Erykah Badu]

Sure.

[Ari Melber]

So I want to play this for you, since you bring it up, and then we could talk about it.

[Erykah Badu]

All right. Even though you go through struggle inside,

[Ari Melber]

you keep a healthy wo.

[Erykah Badu]

Everybody knows a black or white. There's creatures in every shape in the stars. Stay woke, Stay woke. It's just urging folks to pay attention, to be alert. Stay woke, baby. Wow.

[Ari Melber]

I want my coach to stay woke, but I want the other cultures that's supporting us to stay woke. Woke Fascism that will destroy our nation. We will never, ever surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die.

[Erykah Badu]

I think they mean black. Yeah. It's just another way to say thug or something else. Right.

[Ari Melber]

Mm. So you've got the opponents of this kind of using the word woke as their stand in. There's Dog whistle. They used to call it yeah.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

And how do you feel about that?

[Erykah Badu]

It is what it is. Like we said, it doesn't belong to us anymore. And, you know, once something goes out in the world, it takes a life of its own. It's an energy of its own. I can tell you what woke means.

[Ari Melber]

Please.

[Erykah Badu]

It just means being aware, being in alignment with nature. Because if you're in alignment with that, you're aware of everything that's going on. It's not only in the political arena. That means with your health, that means in your relationships, that means in your home, that means in your car, it means in your sleep.

[Ari Melber]

I like that. I haven't heard it put quite like that, but you're sort of reminding us. I mean, a big part of politics is just psychology.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Are people angry? Do they need to blame? A big part of psychology is denial.

[Erykah Badu]

Right, Right.

[Ari Melber]

You could be awake to it, or you could be asleep to it, because to be awake to it might hurt, or it might mean you have to do something to feel ethical, and people would rather not do anything.

[Erykah Badu]

That's right. That's a lack of love in there, because I believe denial is the opposite of love.

[Ari Melber]

You sound like you have equanimity or peace about people misusing it. Like, well, you can't control it.

[Erykah Badu]

Right.

[Ari Melber]

That guy we showed, Ron DeSantis or Trump or anybody's gonna use it for their purposes, you say, well, let him try, and that's that.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah. And then that's a good push for us to document our own history. You know, instead of having it documented for us. You know, we have to document what we are doing and who we are. If we care about that. You know, if we care about our children knowing the story. And it's not about right and wrong, it's just about the story.

[Ari Melber]

Well, you know, I think about that with what they sometimes call traditionally masculine energy.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Which can sometimes use anger as a way to fake a feeling of power in a bad situation. In America and around the world, the political potency of just keeping people angry is how some people corruptly hold onto power, and they're not helping the people at all.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah. I think. Yeah. They bank on our ignorance. You know, it's a big business. Our ignorance is their business.

[Ari Melber]

Yeah.

[Erykah Badu]

So.

[Ari Melber]

Yeah. So I got one more clip for you that was just interesting to see what almost was. People just trying to, like, how do you even reference bad dude? How do you. How do you put it? How do you. You know, because we. We think in categories, and we talked about briefly why you've Always transcended. But we'll show you this. This is back in the day.

[Erykah Badu]

Okay.

[Ari Melber]

Once you feel the vibration from the timbre of Erykah Badu's voice, you'll understand immediately the comparison to Billie Holiday. What is this new sound on the radio? Is it hip hop jazz or some new form of R B? And the headline says hip hop jazz. Okay, I'll give you my opinion and more importantly, we want yours.

[Erykah Badu]

Okay, tell me yours.

[Ari Melber]

Mine is when you do something that's actually truly original and different.

[Erykah Badu]

Right.

[Ari Melber]

The first thing that happens is people try to put it back. Is this a type of jazz? No. Like they try to go there. If you succeed with it.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Then you get imitators.

[Erykah Badu]

Right.

[Ari Melber]

The price of originality is imitation.

[Erykah Badu]

That's right.

[Ari Melber]

So it just seems like you almost were like pulling it out of them. But I'm curious, do you remember those receptions and there was the. The term you didn't always love. Neo soul or how do you view that now?

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah, I remember those things a little bit. Because we didn't have social media. I couldn't look back and see everything and pull up all of these things. So we were living in real time. I came off the tail of an era where you had to know a person by just the album cover and the white jumpsuit they had on. Everything that you needed to know had to come from that. That thing, which was cool. So people didn't really dig deep into people's personal lives and throw the whole person away if they cheated on their taxes or cheated on their wife or whatever it is that's immoral to society. I remember people describing my music and all that stuff. And I would be like, okay, because it's just me. And it was a little scary like, like I said, because it had never been done right. You know, I had. Those elements had never been put together in that way. We'll say it that way. And I was fine with whatever thing they came up with. But just don't put me in a box so that people will grow to expect something. Yeah. Because I'm changing and growing right now, as we speak.

[Ari Melber]

In this moment.

[Erykah Badu]

In this moment.

[Ari Melber]

Let's go.

[Erykah Badu]

Let's go.

[Ari Melber]

Well, you know when you look at the reception, right?

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Method man said, a rap critic, he talk about it while I live it.

[Erykah Badu]

Okay. He's a Pisces.

[Ari Melber]

And yet back in the day, those so called critics and tastemakers mattered more. Yeah. People said, oh, they're gatekeepers.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

They don't get it.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Then you get now Everybody's a critic online. And for some artists we hear from, that's even worse because they feel overwhelmed or they feel so overwhelmed they turn it off. So now they're back to analog. It's kind of funny how that happens. So I'm not going to throw a bunch of critics at you, but I got one quote from the same era, okay, where they say, baudu is less a descendant of Billie Holiday and Diana Ross than a comment on those predecessors, on the styles and tics that gave them their power.

[Erykah Badu]

What does that mean? It's a lot of words.

[Ari Melber]

I. Well, I'll tell you what I think it means, okay? That you're not consciously trying to carry on their traditions, but improving or commenting on. Y' all had that. Here's how we do it now, okay, I guess.

[Erykah Badu]

It's so funny, Ari. I hadn't even heard Billie Holiday before. For realism, I heard Diana Ross, okay, doing Billie Holiday.

[Ari Melber]

Then had you kind of heard some of Billie Holiday's influence after? I heard, but through Ross, Through Ross,

[Erykah Badu]

because I saw the movie Lady Sings the Blues, and through Ross, I. I thought that style was just beautiful, you

[Ari Melber]

know, because we could grab a younger listener right now. And they say, I never heard Isley Brothers, right? You say, well, you heard this big song, right? So you have.

[Erykah Badu]

Yes, you have. So when I finally heard Billie Holiday. I heard Billie Holiday in 1997. It was the same year that I came out because there was so much comparison. And when I heard her, I totally understood. You know, like, it was the timbre, it was the raspiness, it was the grit, it was the. The wrongness of it. You know, the notes weren't perfect. So I could see myself in that. And I felt like if I'm making people feel like that, then compare on, compare on. Yeah, yeah.

[Ari Melber]

If it's the right comparison.

[Erykah Badu]

That's right.

[Ari Melber]

Hell, yeah. So I got something else that's kind of special if you want. If you want to play with it.

[Erykah Badu]

Come on, let's play.

[Ari Melber]

Let's play. Have you seen any of these artificial intelligence systems, like ChatGPT?

[Erykah Badu]

What is that?

[Ari Melber]

So it's brand new, okay? One of them dropped within the last few weeks to public use. So before.

[Erykah Badu]

Now you got one, we gonna use it.

[Ari Melber]

I got it right here.

[Erykah Badu]

A piece of paper that don't look like AI.

[Ari Melber]

Okay, well, you could decide, all right? But I went into this machine today, okay? I talked to Machine about you.

[Erykah Badu]

What machine?

[Ari Melber]

This is what I'm telling you. So the artificial intelligence is basically the way that Google gives You all these links, you say, okay, I'm looking for the best hamburger in South Dallas. You get those links back.

[Erykah Badu]

Okay.

[Ari Melber]

When that first came out, everyone was like, damn right.

[Erykah Badu]

Okay.

[Ari Melber]

But now we're used to that, right?

[Erykah Badu]

Yes.

[Ari Melber]

This guy is on a different plane, okay. Because I said to him, I'm gonna tell you what I said.

[Erykah Badu]

What'd you say?

[Ari Melber]

Discuss Erykah Badu's contributions.

[Erykah Badu]

Wow.

[Ari Melber]

And this is what the artificial intelligence spit back.

[Erykah Badu]

So the algorithm pulls together.

[Ari Melber]

Yes.

[Erykah Badu]

Data from a. Okay, let's see.

[Ari Melber]

Yeah. So. And I didn't bring the computer, you know.

[Erykah Badu]

Okay.

[Ari Melber]

Show and tell. But I'm gonna read you what. What the bot.

[Erykah Badu]

Okay.

[Ari Melber]

Said based on its learning model.

[Erykah Badu]

Okay.

[Ari Melber]

And if you don't like it, you just tell us.

[Erykah Badu]

I will. All right, I'll tell him.

[Ari Melber]

Yeah, you tell him.

[Erykah Badu]

Give me his ip.

[Ari Melber]

Tell him by. All right. Quote.

[Erykah Badu]

Okay.

[Ari Melber]

Erykah Badu's work is rooted in Afrocentric and black feminist traditions, and her music critiques societal norms and constructs. She embraces her cultural heritage and celebrates blackness, also acknowledging the complexities of black identity. Badu incorporates elements of spirituality and mysticism into her music, drawing on a range of religious and philosophical traditions to explore the nature of existence and consciousness in this way. Final line. Her music can be seen as a form of resistance against dominant cultural narratives and a celebration of alternative ways of being.

[Erykah Badu]

Wow. Feel like my ancestors wrote that for real. Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Scale of 1 to 10, what would you give that?

[Erykah Badu]

10.

[Ari Melber]

10?

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah. If they had more time, you know, we'd get some more, but I think that's it.

[Ari Melber]

That's wild.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah, that's wild.

[Ari Melber]

I love it because I've been listening to you for a long time.

[Erykah Badu]

I mean, do you. What do you think about it?

[Ari Melber]

I think what struck me the most is this bot put into words a thing I felt about your music that I hadn't ever read that way. And I just read a bunch of articles by humans about you in prepping for the interview. But that last point, that the music is not only authentically independent, which I think people will always with, because it's just like, even when they do disagree, if they're honest, if they're not closed minded, it's like, that's really her.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

But the way they say that then is itself an act of resistance against the way we're being told to live. I was like, that's right. I hadn't thought about it quite like that.

[Erykah Badu]

That's deep, right? Yeah, that's how I feel exactly. And I don't I don't even think I have a song that puts that into words.

[Ari Melber]

Fire.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

All right, I got one question from them.

[Erykah Badu]

Okay. From the bot?

[Ari Melber]

Yeah, from the bot.

[Erykah Badu]

Okay.

[Ari Melber]

Are you willing to hear the bot question?

[Erykah Badu]

I'm bottin'.

[Ari Melber]

Your music explores themes of spirituality. How do you reconcile that with the more commercial aspects of the music industry?

[Erykah Badu]

I believe I was ahead of my time. I believe that the audience I was writing that music for in the 90s and 97 and 2000s, where babies are not born yet, but now they're adults and they're in the front row of my shows and they understand every single thing I'm saying. But before, the critics, you know, deemed me spiritual, weird. You know, there was a category for it. It was kind of off putting. I really didn't get a lot of endorsements because they didn't know what I was about. But the people born between 1997 and 2005, they understand exactly what I'm saying. That's how I reconcile.

[Ari Melber]

I'm gonna tell you why I love that so much. That's the art mixed with what you called earlier, the confidence, part time narcissism, the hip hop bravado. Because it's always tricky to compare artists. But yeah, Van Gogh, even Warhol at the end of his life, if you read his last diary entries, they felt the way you did about the independence.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

But they doubted themselves in their own words because of the reception of their time. Yeah, you seem to be able to combine that and be like, nah, Van Gogh, like, let it, let it.

[Erykah Badu]

He lived. So I didn't have to do that. You know, we read those words in those diary entries so that we don't have to do that. The artists who are from his tribe, there's a tribe of humans who are artists, who are tastemakers or cultural influencers or those types of things who have a lot of adverse energy coming at them at all times. Because things that people don't understand, they like to criticize or kill or kill, assassinate. Especially if it's not in this society fashion for the consumption of male entertainment. As a woman, they quickly want to destroy it, the energy of it and kill it. They're not doing it on purpose. They don't know, you know, how could they know? How can I know what I'm doing and creating at the time? So it's just the way it is. And it's part of that tax that comes with being an innovator or creator. You know, you have to take everything with it. And that's how the blessings keep coming. You have to accept all of the things that come with your art.

[Ari Melber]

I love that.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

And part of your response is to a non human bot.

[Erykah Badu]

To a non human bot. I mean, we don't know what's going on. Like, I tweeted in 2015, like, human beings don't scare me. It's the robots. Right. I'm worried about.

[Ari Melber]

I don't know if you remember. Masterpiece said something to the effect of if you bought it, bought it, right.

[Erykah Badu]

Tell me you bought it, bought it, right? Yes.

[Ari Melber]

That's for those who know.

[Erykah Badu]

That's for those who know.

[Ari Melber]

That's a dad joke for southern hip hop heads who know.

[Erykah Badu]

Don't do that no more. You shouldn't ever tell anybody your age again. Cause I feel like I'm talking to a kid from next door right now.

[Ari Melber]

You feel like I'm a kid?

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah. We're 11.

[Ari Melber]

Okay. 11's good.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Yeah.

[Erykah Badu]

So there's no more I'm a dad and I'm an old man and all of that?

[Ari Melber]

Nah, respect. Well, I'll hit you with some.

[Erykah Badu]

Picasso hit me with it.

[Ari Melber]

He said it took me four years to learn to paint like a professional impressionist and a lifetime to learn to paint pain like a child.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah, bars, bars, bars. Yeah, I love it. I feel that because as a mom raising children, a boy child and girl children, it's super important to me that I'm very careful. Mold. Being the first person to mold these minds. Because like Picasso, I spent a whole lot of time trying to unlearn things that were taught to me and taught to my parents and taught to their parents. I'll go back one more. And their parents.

[Ari Melber]

And their parents.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

How much do you think art can help disrupt our conditioning?

[Erykah Badu]

I think art is the absence of fear. Like when you're creating something, it's just if it's in its truest form, you're just creating. And I think art influences it greatly. You know, teaching my children, I was a homeschooling mom, so teaching my children math through music or English through colors, you know, it makes a big difference because it's the way our minds think and see. And when we are subjected to just the left brain activities, it stifles us a lot, you know? Is that the right word, stifle?

[Ari Melber]

Yeah, definitely. Yeah.

[Erykah Badu]

It clinches. Our ass is always clenched because we are afraid to express ourselves in a way, because we're afraid to be assassinated or alienated or single it out, you know, so we're managing our pain by holding Our creativity in which is something I don't want to see young people have to do.

[Ari Melber]

Yeah. I have a theory that the reason people have such strong reaction to artists.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Is the fact that band community is inspired because people say, man, I. I'd love to be like Badu. I could never do that. Or I couldn't walk around like that. Or. Or people wouldn't accept me if I did that. But they're actually inspired by the way you live and present and express.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

And then the hater community, which has always existed. And you said earlier about the political attack. Right, right. And hater community is, well, if I'm holding this inside, I'm sacrificing. And I've been doing that for years. It's actually unfair. It feels somehow like I took the wrong bet. Why do you get to be so free?

[Erykah Badu]

Right.

[Ari Melber]

And that curdles into a hatred.

[Erykah Badu]

Sure.

[Ari Melber]

Because sometimes I run into people where they're just like, oh, it's like these rappers and they're doing this. And I'm like, these rappers really got you mad.

[Erykah Badu]

Got you big mad.

[Ari Melber]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Erykah Badu]

I mean, there's just people, you know, they don't have enough to do. Not enough to do. And we said at the beginning of the interview, creator does not give you what you ask for. They give you what you are. They match what you are. And some of y' all ain't that. You know, if you. If this is not what you're supposed to be doing, it means that you are living someone else's dream. I believe that people should find the thing that comes the easiest to them and master it comes the easiest to you. You know, even if it's something, it's going to be useful in society in some kind of way. Even if it's someone who just knows how to clean their sneakers really well. There's a lot you can do with that creative idea of just honing into what. What you do best.

[Ari Melber]

Rapper Ransom said, hardest thing to be in this world is something you not.

[Erykah Badu]

That is true.

[Ari Melber]

And it's hard. It'll wear you down.

[Erykah Badu]

It sure will.

[Ari Melber]

You mentioned where we started. Where I would like to end is with a lightning round. In a word or a sentence. Okay. Teyana Taylor.

[Erykah Badu]

She's fresh. She live, she's my baby.

[Ari Melber]

Lauryn Hill.

[Erykah Badu]

She's live, she's fresh. I feel like Lauren has one of the most angelic voices. She's anointed as a. As a singer.

[Ari Melber]

Busta Rhymes.

[Erykah Badu]

That's my buddy. He's intelligent, he's quick, he's probably one of the most peculiarly intelligent people I've met.

[Ari Melber]

Tariq Black thought.

[Erykah Badu]

Black thought. Wordsmith. He is a machine gun when it comes to rap. Dead press, dead prayers. Fearless, brave, Real.

[Ari Melber]

Tupac.

[Erykah Badu]

Tupac underrated. Still.

[Ari Melber]

Notorious B.I.G.

[Erykah Badu]

notorious B.I.G. talented, creative, hilarious.

[Ari Melber]

Drake.

[Erykah Badu]

Drake changed this whole country's idea of what R and B music should sound like by hisself.

[Ari Melber]

By himself.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Lil Uzi Vert.

[Erykah Badu]

Lil Uzi Vert. Uzi Uzi has neon guts. He's just so happy to be here that it comes out and everything he does.

[Ari Melber]

Oof.

[Erykah Badu]

Lil Nas X. Lil Nas X. Very intelligent. Free. Yeah, he's free. He's. He's what freedom is.

[Ari Melber]

Andre 3000.

[Erykah Badu]

It's my baby daddy. And if I say anything more, it may be missing with my child support, so I'm not gonna get into that. But I'm his biggest fan.

[Ari Melber]

J Dilla.

[Erykah Badu]

J. Dilla. An angel on earth. He was an angel on earth.

[Ari Melber]

Yasin Bey.

[Erykah Badu]

Yassin Bey. Mos deaf is really most deaf in his words, in his friendship, in his craft. Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

He the most of Dave Chappelle.

[Erykah Badu]

Dave Chappelle, national treasure. We will protect him at all costs.

[Ari Melber]

Now, these are big picture. These are three conceptual ones.

[Erykah Badu]

Okay.

[Ari Melber]

Energy.

[Erykah Badu]

Energy. Everything vibrates inside of it. And it cannot be dissipated. It can only be exchanged. Womb. The womb. Inside the womb is the universe. As above, so below. The creation of everything comes from the womb. Just as it comes from the noon or the nun. See Confirmation.

[Ari Melber]

As you spoke. Words.

[Erykah Badu]

As I spoke. Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Feminism.

[Erykah Badu]

Feminism. The only ism I've messed with is baduism. But I am an advocate for anyone who is being abused.

[Ari Melber]

As an artist.

[Erykah Badu]

Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

Being sensitive about my means.

[Erykah Badu]

It means they're just that I'm very sensitive about my art and creativity because it's a part of me. It's like the fascia of who I am. Yeah.

[Ari Melber]

The worst advice I've ever gotten was

[Erykah Badu]

the worst advice I've ever gotten was Erica. You gotta let the other people win sometime.

[Ari Melber]

What kind of person told you that?

[Erykah Badu]

Somebody who wanted to win.

[Ari Melber]

The best advice I've gotten was from my grandmother.

[Erykah Badu]

She gives everybody in the family the same advice. And when I found that out, I was a little sour, but I appreciated it still. Her advice is, always keep living. It'll come to you.

[Ari Melber]

The best advice I've ever given was.

[Erykah Badu]

The best advice I've ever given was probably today when I said, creator does not give you what you ask for, gives you what you are.

[Ari Melber]

I thought it was over when I

[Erykah Badu]

Thought it was over after Window Seat, you know, because it was such a big. That's the first time I had made national news and went viral in the social media realm. I didn't know what was going to happen when I got home. You know, I thought I was going

[Ari Melber]

to go to jail because you made that video. And then there was some sort of disorderly conduct arrest, and what, you felt like you went bad. Viral.

[Erykah Badu]

I didn't know. I mean, but I learned after that that any viral is good. So whether it's bad or, you know, if it's not something like terribly morally wrong, then any press is a good press.

[Ari Melber]

Yeah, that's what they say. I knew I'd made. I knew I'd made it when I

[Erykah Badu]

knew I made it when I was on the COVID of Jet magazine 1998.

[Ari Melber]

Respect.

[Erykah Badu]

That's right. Failure means failure means giving up.

[Ari Melber]

Success means success means

[Erykah Badu]

continuing no matter what. Being a maverick means that you from Dallas, Texas.

[Ari Melber]

Hey.

[Erykah Badu]

And I'm the only real maverick in here. Do y' all understand me? Y' all see what this is right here? I'm wearing my mav's jersey right now in Dallas. Specifically, I am the maverick.

[Ari Melber]

I think there's no better way. Thank you so much, Erykah Badu.

[Erykah Badu]

Thank you. Thank you.

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