Celebrity Name : Erykah Badu

Celebrity Real Name : Erica Wright

Date of Birth : February 26, 1971

Birth Location : Dallas, Texas, United States

Biography of Erica Wright :
Erykah Badu (born Erica Abi Wright on February 26, 1971 in Dallas, Texas) is one of the US-American neo-soul, R&B/hip hop artist whose work crosses over into jazz. She is best known for her singles “You Got Me,” her collaboration with The Roots, as well as her own songs “Tyrone”, “Next Lifetime”, “On & On”, “Bag Lady” and “Clevah.” Influenced early on by singers such as Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Chaka Khan, (her all-time favorite artist), Erykah was taking to the local radio microphones, freestyling on the air by the age of 14.
While a dance student at Booker T. Washington High, Dallas’s art-magnet school, “MC Apples” (her high school nickname) used her freestyle rap skills as a member of a female rap duo. Not only was she known as MC Apples, but she would also no longer be known as Erica — as she felt it was a slave name — and opted to change her name by adding “Kah” to the end (rather than “Ca”), since “Kah,” connotes the inner self.
She went from Wright to Badu, as it was similar to a sound she made while scatting (incidentally, she later learned that Badu is Arabic for “to manifest truth and light”).
Once a high school graduate, Erykah went on to study theater at the historically Black college Grambling State University. Since she wanted to concentrate on music full-time, she decided to leave the university in 1993 before graduating and took on several minimum wage jobs to support herself. She even taught drama and dance to children at the South Dallas Cultural Center.
Her lyrics are highly personal urban philosophies which throw emotional challenges in the face of the listener. She weaves unusual musical influences together creating a rich texture of sound. In many aspects she remains the quintessential Hip-Hop B-Girl.
Some music journalists have labeled her Nu soul or neo soul, often comparing her to Billie Holiday in lyrical delivery and grouping her with Maxwell and D’Angelo in musical genre. She has performed with roots rock reggae musician and singer Burning Spear.
Badu has a son named Seven (b. 1997) with ex-boyfriend Andre 3000 of Outkast fame. On July 5, 2004, Badu gave birth to a daughter, Puma, in her Dallas home; the father is reportedly rapper The D.O.C..
Albums :
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* Funky Cousins (Demo) by Erykah Free
* Baduizm (1997) US #2 (3x Platinum)
* Live (1997) US #4 (2x Platinum)
* Heartache (1998)
* Mama’s Gun (2000) US #11 (Platinum)
* Worldwide Underground (2003) US #3 (Gold)

 Filmography :
* Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) as ‘Queen Mousette’
* The Cider House Rules (1999) as ‘Rose Rose’
* House of D (2004) as ‘Lady’ Bernadette Odelia Glasser
* Dave Chappelle’s Block Party (2006) as herself