last Friday, I saw Erykah Badu, Mos Def, The Cannabinoids and Jay Electronica at the Paramount in downtown Oakland. I really went to see Erykah. Not that I don't respect Mos Def. I've never doubted his skills, but I just don't really enjoy his music. It's not groovey enough, not enough funk, not nearly enough soul. But when it comes to grooves, funk and soul, Erykah is the reigning queen.
She performed tracks from her new album New Amerykah Pt. 1: The Fourth World War, like "The Healer" and "Soldier", mixed in with her good-old classics, like "On & On" and "Love of my Life", and plenty of jamming on the beat machine. She started her set with the room shaking "A Milli" produced by Bangladesh, originally on Weezy's Carther III. She even mixed in some classic West Coast raps from Ice Cube.
She was wearing a simple, sleeveless red cocktail dress, and black high heels. Talk about stage presence; no one in the full house could take their eyes off her, or stop tapping their feet. Her movements are simple, clean and purposeful. Somehow, she is both down to earth and queenly. she doesn't have to prove anything, and she stays on her audience's level. Somehow, her slim frame filled the entire stage, and her energy leaked out onto Broadway.
At the end of the show, she mistakenly addressed the audience as "san francisco." The response from the oakland crowd was overwhelming. People almost rushed the stage, yelling "oakland!" She responded "God damn! well no one in here from Frisco?" we yelled back "hell no!" so she said "Well since this is Oakland make some noise! and where's Berkeley?" My cousin and I were the only ones screaming for the B-Town.
But I'll never forget her closing words. Her music and personality had the whole room open, wide open. And after her set, she explained the title of her album, why she titled it "the fourth world war." She talked about the world wide struggle to take back land from occupation. She told the story of the zapatistas in Mexico. In so many words, she concluded: "We all already know that we're in the third world war. But I see the fourth world war coming. This war won't be country against country, or the people against the power. It will be the people against the people" Here she touches her head. "As the human race, we owe it to each other and ourselves to fight the war within ourselves, conquer our personal demons. Just remember this: A smile is the most powerful thing in the world. Cause one can make a milli!" and the Cannabinoids dropped the millie beat.
