She taught drama and dance to children at the South Dallas Cultural Center. Concentrating on music full-time, she left the university in 1993 before graduating and took on several minimum wage jobs to support herself. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Badu went on to study theater at the historically black college Grambling State University. Badu is her favorite jazz scat sound and is also an African name for the 10th born child used for the Akan people in Ghana. In her early youth, she decided to change the spelling of her name from Erica to Erykah, as she firmly believed her original name to be her slave name. īy the age of 14, Erykah was free-styling for a local radio station alongside such talent as Roy Hargrove. Erykah Badu was the owner of Focal point in Dallas, Texas. Influenced by her mother, Erykah had her first taste of show business at the age of 4, singing and dancing with her mother at the Dallas Theatre Centre. To provide for her family, the children's grandmother often helped looking after them while Erykah's mother, Kolleen Maria Wright ( née Gipson), performed as an actress in theatrical productions. Her mother raised her, her brother Jabbada, and her sister Nayrok alone after their father, William Wright Jr., deserted the family early in their lives. Video:Erykah Badu - On & On-0 Early life Įrykah Badu was born Erica Abi Wright in Dallas, Texas on February 26, 1971. She also speaks at length in the documentaries Before the Music Dies and 'The Black Power Mixtapes'. She was a core member of the Soulquarians, and is also an actress having appeared in a number of films playing a range of supporting roles in movies such as Blues Brothers 2000, The Cider House Rules and House of D.

For her musical sensibilities, she has often been compared to jazz great Billie Holiday. She is known as the 'First Lady of Neo-Soul' or the 'Queen of Neo-Soul'.Įarly in her career, Badu was recognizable for wearing very large and colorful headwraps. She is best known for her role in the rise of the neo soul sub-genre. Her work includes elements from R&B, hip hop and jazz. Visit Raw Pages for more that need doing!Įrica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), better known by her stage name Erykah Badu Template:IPAc-en, is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter, record producer, activist and actress. See: Editing a JazzSkool Page for instructions. This is the raw source file and needs to be edited, verified, and reformatted.

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