BIRTH OF A NEW SOUL

By CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY

When singer-songwriter Erykah Badu goes before an audience, she observes a ritual to clear away any preperformance anxiety. "I light my candle onstage," says Badu. "I create my calm where I am. I close my eyes, open them again, and I'm O.K." Badu's music is a lot like that. Her debut CD, Baduizm (Kedar Entertainment/Universal), draws from soul, jazz, blues and hip-hop--but instead of a chaotic swirl of sound, the result is a slow-burning, serene, meditative work. It will open some eyes.

Badu, 25, is part of a promising trend in pop music. Along with other neo-soul performers like Maxwell, Groove Theory and Me'Shell NdegeOcello, she is creating music that expands the boundaries of conventional R. and B., with lyrics that explore social issues (as Marvin Gaye's used to do), melodies that draw readily from jazz and blues, and wandering song structures that go beyond the standard verse-chorus-verse format. Hollywood has taken note. The sound track to the upcoming movie Love Jones (starring Larenz Tate) has a neo-soul theme. So far neo-soul hasn't demonstrated huge commercial appeal. However, through canny marketing, Badu's CD, due out Feb. 11, has generated anticipatory buzz; and her first single, On & On, is already in the Top 40. "I'm a spiritual being," says Badu. "But I'm very much in touch with reality. I'm in touch with the business side of music. I know what it takes to be successful."

Badu, whose original name was Erykah Wright (she gave herself the surname in homage to scat music), was born and raised in Dallas (she now lives in Brooklyn, New York). She studied theater at Louisiana's Grambling State University but, after deciding that "a degree is a piece of paper," left to pursue a music career. Kedar Massenburg, a 32-year-old record-company executive, heard Badu's demo tape and offered to sign her to his fledgling label, Kedar Entertainment. Says Badu: "I had several offers, but I went with him because he was young, black, very smart, and he had a vision. None of the other labels had a vision. I was afraid I'd get lost in the shuffle of a bigger label."

Building buzz for an unknown singer on a little-known label is no easy task. Massenburg started by distributing 10,000 sampler cassettes featuring Badu to nearly everyone attending last year's Soul Train Music Awards; he also sent 2,500 vinyl copies of On & On to radio stations and clubs. The producer continued his campaign by persuading D'Angelo, the critically lauded neo-soul singer he had once managed, to join Badu in a remake of the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell duet Your Precious Love for the sound track of the movie High School High. Then, a few weeks ago, Massenburg booked Badu for a four-night stand at the Soul Cafe, a chic new Manhattan soul-food restaurant co-owned by Malik Yoba, star of Fox's hip police drama, New York Undercover. Cool venue, hot singer. Word of mouth traveled fast; by the second night, crowds were being turned away.

Badu's voice isn't cuddly or cozy; it's sharp and metallic at points, wounded and sad at others. Most of the songs on Baduizm are slow, supple and subtle. Certainly, with its naked gurgling bass, feels like a wee-hours jazz improv and sounds like a love ballad; it's actually a look at the dysfunctional "love affair" America has with its black citizens. Drama, despite its title, starts placidly but later crests as Badu laments symptoms of modern life: "race relations/ segregation/ no occupation/ world inflation..."

Her new video should also give the singer a boost. The lush clip, inspired by the movie The Color Purple (one scene takes place in a jook joint), is receiving heavy play on Black Entertainment Television, and Badu, in her distinctive head wrap, cuts a sleek, striking figure. Badu hopes that she can help change what she calls the "monotonous" nature of contemporary R. and B. "I want to be the midwife to a new sound," she says. Baduizm is a gentle but firm slap that may bring neo-soul to robust life.