Product Description

"We are on Earth to experience the consequences of our choices," points out Erykah Badu. A singer, actor, director, songwriter, earth-mother and spiritualist, the impact of the former Erica Wright on the soul, jazz, hip-hop and blues scenes has been almost unprecedented. An artist more opposed to the radio divas that make up so much of modern R&B could hardly be imagined – Badu is talented, proud, intimidating, vulnerable and wise beyond her years, and all with only three albums behind her.
Her power, she says, is fuelled by three of life’s most basic lessons: knowledge, wisdom and understanding, observing that "Knowledge is knowing how a thing works; the wisdom is knowing how to use it and understanding is basically knowing what you’re doing with it. That’s power to me." Her story is one of strength against adversity and a self-belief that is a lesson to us all.
Joel McIver's previous books have covered diverse musical areas such as heavy metal in all its forms, with one of his biographies -- Slipknot Unmasked (2001) -- being described as "an extremely detailed and insightful book", by Hard Radio. Another work, Nu-Metal: The Next Generation Of Rock And Punk (2002) was hailed as "an essential purchase for anyone interested in the development of modern rock music" (Noise) and "Entertaining... a book all ravaged nu-metal guitar freaks will want to get their ravaged hands on" (PS2). Guitar concluded that "McIver's your man", while Q pointed to the book's "helpful mini-biographies" and Metal Hammer found it "ideal for use as a reference point". His most recent book, Ice Cube: Attitude, was reviewed in Uncut with the words: "McIver's strength... is in emphasising the provocative strength of Cube's core records... and describing their impact on America". This new Erykah Badu biography is another successful combination of detailed chronological narrative and well-balanced analysis of the issues this artist and her music raise.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #580609 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Customer Reviews

YAWN.....
The heading just about sums up my thoughts on this book. Really quite dull and everything in this books seems to be told 3rd hand. Only buy it if you are really hard up for something thing to read!

a great book
I would encourage all Erykah Badu's fans to rush out and buy this book !! A truly remarkable account of her all round talent, passion, and commitment. Joel McIver's book gives a true picture of Erykah's extremely industrious nature to all aspects of her work, and also captures the unvavering belief that Erykah has always held within herself regarding her commercial success. This storty, although not an autobiography in the artist's own words, does give numerous accounts from Erykah's close friends and family respectively, which adds to the genuine love, warmth and generosity that seems to jump out of these pages and envelop the reader.

Pretty Good
Joel McIver is perhaps best known in metal circles and wrote a fine book on Metallica, amongst others. Here he tackles this R&B icon with generally OK results. It's not a classic but there's enough in here for the passing fan intent on learning more. A pity that there wasn't some stronger interview material but for those of us who only know the story in passing this is informative and pretty good.