00:00Hi Essence Family, this is Yolanda Sanguini, Entertainment Editor at Essence.com.
00:14We're here with the amazing Erika Badu for a special edition of Coffee Talk.
00:19Hello Erika.
00:20Hi.
00:21How are you?
00:23I'm exquisite.
00:24So we're here celebrating the Wild Rabbit and the concept of living life to the fullest
00:31and never settling.
00:32What has been the greatest driving force for all your, you know, your ambition and all
00:37the things that you've done?
00:39The biggest driving force?
00:41It may sound odd, but my fears have been my biggest driving force.
00:46When I know they're there, it helps me to conquer them one at a time.
00:51You just seem to like, you just go out and you do it.
00:56I do, but you know, that's called bravery, I think.
00:59The fear is still there.
01:01But I get the bravery from my mother.
01:03You know, she instilled in me that I couldn't lose and everything that I would do would be
01:09fine and okay and satisfactory to her.
01:14So that's the bravery part.
01:16I think we all have fears whether we use the bravery to fight through them to get past
01:26them.
01:27I think it's up to us.
01:29Do you consider yourself successful?
01:31Yeah, absolutely.
01:33I have many successful things that I've done that I'm proud of.
01:37Have there been moments where you have ever doubted some of the decisions you've made?
01:41Sure.
01:42Many times, you know, but only when I'm messing around in my mind.
01:50But when I come out here with you and everything, there's nothing to fear.
01:55There's nothing.
01:56It's just books and the mic and you and the chairs.
02:00And so I think that when I stay in my mind too much, we're in time traveling, the future,
02:07the past and all that, then I doubt.
02:10But if I come out here, there's nothing that I can't make happen.
02:15And you know, just talking about the rabbit of the past, and you know, recently we heard
02:19about you being banned from performing in Malaysia and you handled that with incredible gracefulness.
02:26Can you tell me what you've learned about yourself and that whole situation?
02:31It was very short lived.
02:33It was something that happened really quickly.
02:35I respect people's religions and lifestyles to the fullest and did everything that I could
02:43to make sure that I respected Islam.
02:48And for some reason, a picture of me with photos of a la tattoos that I used for one of my campaigns got,
03:00you know, into the press.
03:02The reason why they banned the concert or cut the concert off was because they didn't want
03:09people to be upset and people who were wanting me there and people who were not,
03:14they didn't want them to be in conflict.
03:16I have total respect for that because that's not why I do what I do.
03:20I do what I do so people will feel good and feel some sort of peace, some sort of anger,
03:26whatever they need personally.
03:28But if it's going to cause some conflict between people, then I agree.
03:33We should not do the show.
03:34We're waiting for another album and I know your group Cannabinoid.
03:38You said you may have an album coming out in the last quarter of 2012.
03:44Well, the Cannabinoid, we have an album coming out last quarter.
03:50It's a group of scientists, producers.
03:54They're not musicians, they're producers.
03:56And we create impromptu on stage.
04:00We're just making up things as we go along.
04:03We remake some of my songs, we make up some new songs.
04:06We do some older material, but for the most part it's laptops, drum machines, and digital material.
04:13Period. Digital equipment. Period.
04:15And I think it's really ill.
04:18It's an ill concept and we have a lot of fun doing it.
04:21And those guys have been with me from the beginning.
04:23The producers of On and On, Apple Tree, Danger, No Love, from Baduism all the way to now.
04:32These guys have been with me and I hope that Essence gets to meet the Cannabinoids.
04:37Maybe invite you to one of the shows and you can kind of see how it feels.
04:42You can't really talk about it, you gotta feel it.
04:45And I have an album, my own album coming out.
04:482012?
04:492012.
04:50Oh wow.
04:51You know what's ill to me is that Baduism recently celebrated 15 years.
04:56Yeah.
04:57Came out February 11th, 1997.
04:59I'll be there.
05:01I remember everything about that year.
05:04I've never had another year like that.
05:06It was the year I met Love of My Life, one of them.
05:11Got pregnant.
05:12He was my first son.
05:13The album came out.
05:15Single came out.
05:16I won about 15 awards across the board.
05:20At the end of the year, November 18th, my son was born and my second album came out.
05:24Called Tyrone was all over.
05:26I mean I've never had another year like that.
05:28And I think that's the year, you know, that for all the work that I've done in the past and that I will do, that was my reward.
05:40And I see it as that.
05:41And it's also my motivation to encourage other people to chase their wild rabbits, chase their dreams.
05:51Thank you so much for joining us today, Erica.
05:54Thank you so much.
05:55In essence, my name is Erica Badu.
06:00Also known as Badula Oblengada.
06:03Also known as Cerebellum.
06:05Also known as Analog Girl in the Digital World.
06:07Also known as She Eel.
06:09Also known as Manuela Maria Mexico.
06:12Also known as Fat Belly Bella.
06:14And you're watching Essence.
06:17The power is in you.
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