Track Listing

1. Intro (World Keeps Turnin')
2. Bump It (Part 1 & 2)
3. Back In The Day
4. I Want You
5. Woo
6. The Grind - Erykah Badu, Dead Prez
7. Danger
8. Think Twice
9. Love Of My Life Worldwide - Erykah Badu, Queen Latifah, Angie Stone, Bahamadia
10. Outro (World Keeps Turnin')
11. Love Of My Life (An Ode To Hip Hop) - Erykah Badu, Common
12. Hollywood

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21915 in Music
• Released on: 2003-09-22
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds
• Running time: 60 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Worldwide Underground, the third studio album from nu-soul pioneer Erykah Badu, is both a marvel of jazz smooth sensuality and misguided genius. Without question, Badu was--and clearly still is--an original; her 1997 debut album Baduizm, a rich and unexpected fusion of soul, jazz and rootsy hip-hop, paved the way for Lauryn Hill, Jill Scott, India Arie, Macy Gray and Alicia Keys.

However, as with her last album, Mama's Gun, it's her pioneering spirit that's actually Worldwide Underground's stumbling block. The gorgeous "I Want You" is a prime example. Starting off with the simple trick of chanted notes which mutate into a fantastically sexy groove, it's the album's woozy highlight until, inexplicably, it breaks into bizarre snarling synth riffs and jazz-fusion noodling. On the one hand it's a stroke of stripped-back brilliance; on the other it's a fragmented mess. Elsewhere the barrage of influences, ideas and production add-ons, while ensuring that things are never dull, make for confused and chaotic listening. Yet with "Bump It Up" and "Danger"'s hypnotic melodies, "Woo"'s head nodding sway and a raft of smooching soul tunes like "Think Twice" and Back in the Day (Puff)" to get lost in, she still manages to mesmerise, even when she's trying way too hard. --Dan Gennoe

CD Description
Despite being classified as an EP, the near 50-minute length of WORLD WIDE UNDERGROUND makes it closer to being Erykah Badu's fourth full-length outing. Inspired by the FrustratedArtist Tour that found this Texan crisscrossing the world in 2002, Badu uses a very groove-oriented and loosely definedapproach towards these songs, thanks to the collaborative skills of her fellow members in the Freakquency team--James Poyser, Rashad "Ringo" Smith, and RC Williams.
The resultsrange from the light and sensual flow of "Back in the Day",(featuring some crisp guitar licks by Lenny Kravitz) to "Bump It" with its mix of sprinkled in hip-hop beats, lightly layered synths, and a sweet mix of harmonies by Zap Mama and Karon Wheeler. Along the way, Badu must have been digging inthe crates for inspiration, because she includes a hypnotictake on Donald Byrd's 1975 recording "Think Twice" (featuring tasty playing by trumpeter Roy Hargrove). Badu also serves up a remix of the Grammy-winning "Love of My Life Worldwide", built on the foundation of Sequence's 1979 hit "Funk YouUp", which features cameos by Queen Latifah, Bahamadia, Badu alter-ego MC Apples, and Angie Stone (the original Angie Bof Sequence).

Customer Reviews

A new direction for Erykah Badu
Erykah Badu returns with a new, fresh sound. She has swapped earth mother vibes for head nodding street cool for a welcome change of direction from the Sunday Soul of Mama's Gun. You will fall in love with the album when the first track after the intro kicks in. "Bump It" will most likely have you singing along on your first listen! Other stand-outs are "Back in the day" (When things were cool!). The infectious "Woo" born out of a crowd-moving stage track. An excellent choice of cover in Donald Byrd's "Think Twice" (woulda been nice to have Prof. Byrd play on the track, though!) and the wicked remix of "Love of My life" which is easily Badu's funkiest track. Only the odd "I want you" and "The Grind" fail to make the grade. Buy this album, it is the most soulful output from Motown since Stevie and Marvin's best work and Badu's best album yet.

Worldwide Underground - Erykah Badu
Erykah Badu, the critically acclaimed Neo-Soul diva returned in 2003 to release Worldwide Underground - originally an EP but with the addition of two UK bonus tracks, becoming an album. Worldwide Underground is an album that takes repeated listens to fully appreciate, the music being so different to Badu's previous albums.

The albums kicks off with a decent intro, before the first song: 'Bump It,' the beats on this track are excellent, great catchy song that ends in a wonderful collage of interesting, weird vocals. The next track, 'Back In The Day' is one of the album's highlights. Featuring Lenny Kravitz on the electric guitar, 'Back In The Day' is a smooth & funky soul track. Another highlight is the epic 'I Want You' - certainly the most unusual song Badu has ever recorded, but it works incredibly well, a gorgeous chill-out track that builds into something spectacular.

'Think Twice,' is the sweetest moment on the album, it's an electro/soul ballad with a great trumpet solo. On 'Love Of My Life (Worldwide),' Badu team up with Queen Latifah, Angie Stone & Bahamedia for a funky party track. Despite all these great songs, the best one on Worldwide Underground is the stunning 'Danger,' Badu's vocals are outstanding here - her most animated and the instruments are extraordinary.

The bonus track, 'Love Of My Life' won the 2003 Grammy for Best R&B song - produced by Raphael Saadiq and featuring a rap from Common. 'Hollywood,' another bonus, is also a fine song. Worldwide Underground is a strong album from Erykah Badu. With every album Badu manages to amaze. If you are new to this lady, then I suggest you purchase Baduizm first, then Mama's Gun, and then Worldwide Underground (just so that you understand where she's coming from).

Great album
This is a great album buy one of Soul's greatest Diva's. It does at times, wonder from the main thread of the song (r'n'b/soul), become a bit 'new age', before veering back onto track. For instance, track 2 starts off well but erykah then starts what can only be described as 'wailing' rather than singing about 5 minutes in, before the song ends at about 8-9 minutes. Despite this minor glitch, the rest of the tracks are superb and you'll find yourself playing this in preferebce to her other two albums at times. In fact track 3 (back in the day) has one of the best breaks I've ever heard. Overall, a worthy addition to her portfolio and a must buy.