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Erykah Badu likes to pursue unattainable goals. Here’s why
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Erykah Badu likes to pursue unattainable goals. Here’s why

A note of Joker host Rachel Martin: Before we started recording our interview with Erykah Badu, I did what I always do with guests: I reminded Badu about the game and that this wouldn’t be a “normal interview.” She replied: “I don’t do normal interviews.”

And that certainly wasn’t the case. She sees the world differently than most people. And I don’t want to do all this, but it’s like she inhabits a different plane of existence. Things are more colorful there. Like a kaleidoscope of what is and what could be.

His music is like that too. Badu’s flagship album, Baduizmreleased in 1997, defies all the usual musical categories. To this day, his sound transcends genres. Jazz, pop, soul – yes, all or nothing. It doesn’t matter. Badu has never spoken about the characterizations others give him. She’s more expansive than that. She is a deeply spiritual person who brings people in and out of this world at the bedside of births and deaths. And she is also an actress. You can see her now in the Netflix adaptation of the August Wilson film. The piano lesson.

This Wild Card interview has been edited for length and clarity. Host Rachel Martin asks guests questions randomly selected from a deck of cards. Press Play above to listen to the full podcast or read an excerpt below.

Question 1: Is there a place you feel at home even though you haven’t lived there?

Erykah Badu: Yes. A space shuttle, for example, feels like home.

Rachel Martin: Tell me why.

Badou: I could get used to it; just like the four walls. As long as I have some activities, I’ll be fine. I think about it all the time.

Martine: Do you?

Badou: Yeah (laughs). A space shuttle for you? Yeah, that would be great.

Martine: Oh, there aren’t even any other astronauts on the space shuttle?

Badou: No, no, just me. For one.

Martine: Do you want to go somewhere or do you just want to float in space?

Badou: As long as they don’t open that door, I’m fine (laughs). We can float, we can do anything. We can ride, swim, you know, sail.

Badu performs at the 2018 Soul Train Awards in Las Vegas.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

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Getty Images

Badu performs at the 2018 Soul Train Awards in Las Vegas.

Martine: So, do you like being alone?

Badou: Yes.

Martine: Were you lucky enough to come out of your mother’s womb? Or have you learned to be alone?

Badou: I think I was lucky. I say this because I have always really appreciated him.

Martine: Was your mother okay with that? Or was she saying, “Erykah, you need to go make some friends”?

Badou: Oh yeah. I had friends, that’s for sure. Lots of them. But I still really enjoyed, especially, being alone, coming home and crawling under the dining room table after school. And it had this long fabric on it. I had all my color books, pencils, and snacks. And I just liked it. I was always doing or building something that was a secret.

Martine: Was music part of it?

Badou: Oh yeah. Well, music was the backdrop to everything in my life. That was the implication. It was the buzz of my childhood world. There was a radio that was always on in the bathroom – a small radio. It was K104 FM radio (in Dallas). It was R&B radio. And we knew all the songs, you know. Because they played it eight times a day. But music was always the common thread.

Question 2: Is there anything you dream about?

Badou: Yes. I want to get the best out of myself, because it is always in me. And I feel it. And something inside me can’t let go yet. I long for that moment where I can let go of that and give it to the world.

Martine: So you don’t feel like you’ve reached that peak yet, huh?

Badou: No not at all.

Martine: You strike me as the type of person that, even if you release this album (that you’re working on), are you going to be satisfied?

Badou: I would be satisfied with the album, yes. Each album is like a child, you know? It goes through this whole process of birth, this whole process of gestation and growth. So you really never want to let go. So each album is very, very special. But as an artist, I just want to do more every time. I appreciate what I have. But I want to do more. I want to contribute more.

Martine: But it’s accessible – isn’t it something inaccessible? Is this something accessible?

Badou: Maybe. We’ll see. But see, if I say it’s accessible, then it’s too easy. I have to believe it’s not accessible. And I’m the only one who can achieve it.

Question 3: Do you think there is more to reality than what we can see or touch?

Martine: Well, I know the answer to that question.

Badou: No, that’s not the case.

Martine: ALL RIGHT. GOOD. Do you think there is more to reality than what we can see or touch?

Badou: No.

Martine: What?!

Badou: (laughs) See, you thought you knew the answer. ALL RIGHT. Do I think there is more to reality than what we can see or touch? Absolutely. Absolutely.

Badu speaks onstage during BET's 2018 Social Awards at Tyler Perry Studio in Atlanta, Georgia.

Bennett Raglin/Getty Images

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Getty Images

Badu speaks onstage during BET’s 2018 Social Awards at Tyler Perry Studio in Atlanta, Georgia.

Martine: You work as a doula, you also sit with people who are at the end of their lives, and in these spaces it’s hard to deny that there is more to life, to reality, than what we can see or touch, because there is an energy there that we cannot see or touch as life enters and exits the world.

Badou: Yes. I mean, I don’t know – and I don’t need to know to be the welcoming committee as a doula – where they’re coming from. I just want to feel like your guide to high school. And I’m a junior and you’re a freshman, you know, and that’s what I know about school. This is what I want to share. I want to make sure that when you come to this place, the room is prepared for you. Because I believe that if you start with easy breathing, love, things that you can smell that are beautiful and music that you can hear that is beautiful and your parents are united and – even if they have problems – they take advantage of this day to come together for this most important ceremony: the day you came into the world. This is important to me as a doula. And my contract is really with the baby, you know, the unborn baby. He’s my friend, yeah? And I stay in touch with them as they grow.

Martine: So, if you’re the baby’s welcoming committee, when you sit down with people at the end of their lives…

Badou: I am the opening committee. I won’t pretend to know where they’re going, or what kind of path, portal, or vortex. I just want them to have the same experience when they come out. Easy breathing, easy heart rate. I left this realm or place with something sweet to lovingly smell, taste, or hear and I am relaxed. And I suggest there should be no fear. Let’s get to the point of not being afraid. Because you’re going to know something that we don’t know, but I think you’re going to need your breath.

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