To put it crudely, Erykah Badu’s “Neo-Soul” material on both
Baduizm and
Live is Jewel’s coffeehouse stuff set on rhythm and blues.
Sometimes pretentious, sometimes poignant, Badu was perfect to
headline Lilith Fair this summer. It’s obvious that
Live was released to capitalize on the tour; there’s little
new material, most of it from
Baduizm with the rest of it being extended arrangements at
the most..
Soul Music doesn’t put up sophisticated aires; the “soul” part
in Neo-Soul always sounded like the artists involved are comparing
themselves to the likes of Aretha Franklin or Chaka Khan. Badu has
that contrived feel in “Next Lifetime” and “Ye Yo”, the only two
songs sounding anywhere near Soul Music. Her cover of Khan’s “Stay”
exhibits her extraordinary voice (held in check for most of the
album) but doesn’t bring anything to the original; the voice sounds
similar, but what else?
Pretentions aside, the bare-bones synthesis of jazz and blues
makes for an experimental side of R&B hard to find nowadays.
The near-scatting of “Apple Tree” can make any no-rhythm foot
tapping to time. “On & On” uses bazaar imagery along with its
bazaar lyrics (“cipher keeps rolling like a rolling stone”) to set
the quasi-exotic mood for the rest of the album. This is not your
Billboard variety of predictable grooves and recycled lyrics;
R&B listeners are kept on the edges of their ears to catch
every innovative phrasing, which
Live has a satisfying abundance of (as there was in
Baduizm).
The standout track shows potential to this Neo-Soul thing;
“Tyrone” brings fresh air into the tepid, overused repertoire of
R&B lyrics (think Babyface) without going all artsy on us
(Missy Elliot). Terry McMillan could’ve penned the relevant,
respect-conscious piece. Too bad the studio version overdoes the
record-static effects in their atempt to make it sound ’70s
groovy.
I know I’ve said all that in the beginning of this review but I
actually like this album. Innovation is too rare in R&B to
simply ignore. For those of you who’re getting sick of Brandy’s
no-voice crooning (I couldn’t get myself to review
Never Say Never), pick up something Badu.
