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}} Erykah Abi Wright (born Erica Abi Wright; February 26, 1971), better known by her stage name Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, activist, and actress. Badu's career began after opening a show for D'Angelo in 1994 in her hometown; record label executive Kedar Massenburg was highly impressed with her performance and signed her to Kedar Entertainment.〔 Her first album, ''Baduizm'', was released on February 11, 1997.〔 〕 It spawned three singles: "On & On", "Next Lifetime" and "Otherside of the Game". The album was certified triple Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).〔(【引用サイトリンク】work=RIAA )〕 Badu's first live album, ''Live'', was released on November 18, 1997 and was certified double Platinum by the RIAA.〔 Badu's second studio album, ''Mama's Gun'', was released on October 31, 2000.〔 〕 It spawned three singles: "Bag Lady", "Didn't Cha Know?" and "Cleva". The album was certified Platinum by the RIAA.〔 Badu's third album, ''Worldwide Underground'', was released on September 16, 2003.〔 〕 It generated two singles: "Danger" and "Back in the Day (Puff)". The album was certified Gold by the RIAA.〔 Badu's fourth album, ''New Amerykah Part One'', was released on February 26, 2008.〔 〕 It spawned two singles: "Honey" and "Soldier". ''New Amerykah Part Two'' was released in 2010 and fared well both critically and commercially. It contained the album's lead single "Window Seat", which led to controversy. Musically her work includes elements from R&B, hip hop and jazz.〔 She is best known for her role in the rise of the neo soul subgenre. She is known as the "First Lady of Neo-Soul" or the "Queen of Neo-Soul". Early in her career, Badu was recognizable for wearing very large and colorful headwraps. For her musical sensibilities, she has often been compared to jazz great Billie Holiday. She was a core member of the Soulquarians. As an actress, she has played a range of supporting roles in movies including ''Blues Brothers 2000'', ''The Cider House Rules'' and ''House of D''. She also speaks at length in the documentaries ''Before the Music Dies'' and ''The Black Power Mixtapes.'' ==Early life== Erykah Badu was born Erica Abi Wright in Dallas, Texas on February 26, 1971. Her mother raised her, her brother Eevin, and her sister Nayrok alone after their father, William Wright Jr., deserted the family early in their lives. To provide for her family, the children's paternal grandmother often helped to look after them while Badu's mother, Kolleen Maria Wright (née Gipson), worked as an actress in theatrical productions. Influenced by her mother, Badu had her first taste of show business at the age of four, singing and dancing with her mother at the Dallas Theater Center. By the age of 14, Badu was free-styling for a local radio station alongside such talent as Roy Hargrove. In her youth, she had decided to change the spelling of her first name from Erica to Erykah, as she believed her original name was a "slave name." The term 'kah' signifies the inner self. She adopted a surname of ''Badu'' because it is her favorite jazz scat sound; also, among the Akan people in Ghana, it is the term for the 10th-born child. Upon graduating from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Badu went on to study theater at Grambling State University, a historically black university. To concentrate on music full-time, she left the university in 1993 before graduating, and took on several minimum-wage jobs to support herself. She taught drama and dance to children at the South Dallas Cultural Center. Working and touring with her cousin, Robert "Free" Bradford, she recorded a 19-song demo, ''Country Cousins'', which attracted the attention of Kedar Massenburg. He set Badu up to record a duet with D'Angelo, "Your Precious Love," and eventually signed her to a record deal with Universal Records.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Erykah Badu」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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