Erykah Badu‘s most recent project, the mixtape But You Caint Use My Phone, came out in 2015, but it’s been 15 years since she dropped a studio album. The wait for new music will soon come to an end as she’s been working on a new album that will solely be produced by The Alchemist.
Erykah tells Billboard in a new cover story that she can’t wait to complete the album, which has been taking up a huge amount of her time. With 28 years in the music business, it will only be her sixth studio album, which she credits to her being a performance artist.
“I tour eight months out of the year for the past 25 years,” Badu explains. “That’s what I do. I am a performance artist. I am not a recording artist. I come from the theater.”
“It’s the immediate reaction between you and the audience and the immediate feeling. The point where you become one living, breathing organism with people. That’s what I live for,” she continues. “It’s my therapy. And theirs, too. We’re in it together. And I like the idea that it happens only once.”
Outside of music, Erykah keeps busy with her That Badu cannabis strain collaboration with the brand Cookies, car collecting, staying in shape mentally, emotionally and physically, and continuing to build her life in Dallas.
“When I was building my house, I was making sure that I was building ramps for when I was elderly and couldn’t walk by myself,” Erykah says. “When I do my workouts, I do workouts that are conducive for picking up groceries and grandchildren and things like that.”
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