PEAK BADU
New York magazine|September 11 - 24, 2023
She's an ICONOCLAST who fills arenas, an ONLINE SCRAPPER who just wants to hide from the world, a FASHION WEEK STANDOUT who rejects the notion that clothes should DEFINE YOU. Come join a four-hour phone call with ERYKAH BADU.
CASEY GERALD
PEAK BADU

She stood alone atop a black staircase before a megascreen that had all night projected many curious symbols-digital mitochondria, ancestral totems, a beetle-but would soon show a giant moon. Till then, it was just her. Just her and me, just thousands of Mes watching their own private Her. It was late July in Dallas, in the blunt-filled dark of the American Airlines Center, during one of the hottest summers we'll ever experience until next summer. Time had come for Erykah Badu to sing "Orange Moon.

From the keyboard trickled pools of ascending notes, and under those keys crickets chirped softly. Everything was very still, everything was the memory of your first great summer lover-then she nosedived into the first lines:

I'm an orange moon

I'm an orange moon

Reflecting the light of the sun

The drums locked in. Three background singers oohed on cue. Then Badu's voice-which some compare to Billie Holiday's, though she compares it to a clarinet-pulled us through the song, from her album Mama's Gun. It's a tale of a man who'd spent so many, many, many nights all alone because his light was too bright. Until, one day, he turned to her. He saw his reflection in her. He smiled at her. He said to her: "How good it is."

Their tale went on, and soon it was Badu realizing "how good it is," sweetly singing "how good he is," wailing "how God is." Nearby, a few entranced listeners were on their feet, just some of the thousands she played to during her 25-city Unfollow Me tour this summer. One sister held her hand high in praise, in "yes," as she swayed, and soon Badu's eyes were back up on the megascreen in double. The moon returned, bigger and oranger, and the crickets and keys brushed up against each other in pace with Badu's aching voice, musing howgoooditisss, so many different ways and wonderings, until she landed, softly, finally, on a solitary syllable, 000000000.

This story is from the September 11 - 24, 2023 edition of New York magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the September 11 - 24, 2023 edition of New York magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM NEW YORK MAGAZINEView All
LIFE AS A MILLENNIAL STAGE MOM
New York magazine

LIFE AS A MILLENNIAL STAGE MOM

A journey into the CUTTHROAT and ADORABLE world of professional CHILD ACTORS.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
THE NEXT DRUG EPIDEMIC IS BLUE RASPBERRY FLAVORED
New York magazine

THE NEXT DRUG EPIDEMIC IS BLUE RASPBERRY FLAVORED

When the Amor brothers started selling tanks of flavored nitrous oxide at their chain of head shops, they didn't realize their brand would become synonymous with the country's burgeoning addiction to gas.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
Two Texans in Williamsburg
New York magazine

Two Texans in Williamsburg

David Nuss and Sarah Martin-Nuss tried to decorate their house on their own— until they realized they needed help: Like, how do we not just go to Pottery Barn?”

time-read
3 mins  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
ADRIEN BRODY FOUND THE PART
New York magazine

ADRIEN BRODY FOUND THE PART

The Brutalist is the best, most personal work he's done since The Pianist.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
Art, Basil
New York magazine

Art, Basil

Manuela is a farm-to-table gallery for hungry collectors.

time-read
4 mins  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
'Sometimes a Single Word Is Enough to Open a Door'
New York magazine

'Sometimes a Single Word Is Enough to Open a Door'

How George C. Wolfein collaboration with Audra McDonald-subtly, indelibly reimagined musical theater's most domineering stage mother.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
Rolling the Dice on Bird Flu
New York magazine

Rolling the Dice on Bird Flu

Denial, resilience, déjà vu.

time-read
5 mins  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
The Most Dangerous Game
New York magazine

The Most Dangerous Game

Fifty years on, Dungeons & Dragons has only grown more popular. But it continues to be misunderstood.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
88 MINUTES WITH...Andy Kim
New York magazine

88 MINUTES WITH...Andy Kim

The new senator from New Jersey has vowed to shake up the political Establishment, a difficult task in Trump's Washington.

time-read
6 mins  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
Apex Stomps In
New York magazine

Apex Stomps In

The $44.6 million mega-Stegosaurus goes on view (for a while) at the American Museum of Natural History.

time-read
1 min  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025