It’s been 25 years since Erykah Badu released this influential and timeless neo-soul sophomore album, and to celebrate the occasion it’s been reissued with new cover art and vinyl variants and is spread across two slabs of wax.
The ambient opener “Penitentiary Philosophy” allows for Badu’s rich voice to guide Pino Palladino’s funky bass and James Poyser’s well timed clavinet. “Didn’t Cha Know” then comes with dreaminess and warmth thanks to the Minimoog, cozy programming and layered vocals.
Moving closer to the middle, “Cleva” benefits from Leonard Gibbs’ frisky percussion that suits Badu’s expressive pipes, and “Booty” places Frank Lacy on trombone and enlists the ARP String Ensemble for the animated and colorful album highlight.
Getting near the end, the distinct intimacy of “Orange Moon” welcomes Gino “Lock Johnson” Iglehart’s agile drums and D'Wayne Kerr's soothing flute to the soft gestures, but it's the scrappy drumming, Ramone Gonzalez’s inviting percussion and the many backing vocalists that make “Bag Lady” the stand out on the back half.
The final track, “Green Eyes,” starts with a retro raw recording before the grooves enter alongside Jacques Schwarz-Bart’s mature sax, well timed horns and a gentle rhythm section.
Thematically, Badu touches on love, self-worth and social equity, and genres like jazz, funk, rock and reggae are all part of the equation. Even though the album didn’t produce the numbers in sales and on the charts that her albums did (#11 on the Billboard and Platinum), fans and Badu often cite this as her most creative work and it runs parallel to albums made by Lauryn Hill and Macy Gray during this time.
This reissue comes right from the original production tapes and is the album’s first hi-res remaster. The package includes new liner notes, too, so it looks and sounds better than ever.