’97 Tyrone would get collect calls from payphones and cryptic messages from beepers, compare that to the Tyrone of today, the one who lives in the age of cellphones and social media. Tyrone wouldn’t get a phone call but would watch as your girlfriend embarrassingly kicks you out into an Uber via Snapchat. Then Tyrone would laugh as Twitter turns the ordeal into a meme, his friend’s face being replaced by the infamous crying Michael Jordan. It was a different time, a different era, a lot can change in two decades.Ī lot did change, but Erykah Badu has been here for all the bright mornings and dark nights. Happy Anniversary to one of the best neo-soul albums ever made.Aged and ageless might be the perfect way to describe how she has survived all these years in the music industry without a single metaphorical or literal wrinkle. I mean, a song that starts with “I’m gettin’ tired of your shit, you don’t never buy me nothing” and whose second verse is “Now every time I ask you for a little cash, you say no but turn right around and ask me for some ass” is ALWAYS gonna stand the test of time. The other thing that makes “Tyrone” such a memorable song is the wicked humor Badu uses to humiliate her man. No heartbreak or tears, just “get your shit” and get the fuck out. “Tyrone” is still iconic - it really should be seen as one of the direct precursors of some of Beyoncé’s most feminist songs, like “Irreplaceable” and “Sorry”: a woman fed up and kickin’ her man’s ass to the curb. She and the band made it up on stage at a London concert, and says to the audience: “Now keep in mind I’m an artist and I’m sensitive about my shit.” As if she didn’t know the single was fire… And she was able to speak directly to her audience as in “Reprise,” where she explained the Afrocentric philosophy that made “On and On” such a dope, unique song.īut the best thing about this album was the new single she dropped right before Live was released: “Tyrone,” which is still one of Badu’s most memorable - and definitely her most badass - songs.
Not only did she musically improvise on the live versions of her hits “On and On” and an extended version of “Next Lifetime,” where Badu and all three backup singers got to show off their scatting chops, but she was free to cuss and not worry about radio censorship. Badu has long been known for her eccentric, outsized persona, and the improvisatory nature of a live recording perfectly suited her, propelling this album to platinum status. I think the Live album was at least as important, and maybe more, than Baduizm because of the unique advantages of a live concert. Rarely does a live concert album match the brilliance and popularity of a studio album, but that’s what Erykah Badu’s Live did when it was released on November 18, 1997, just nine months after the debut of her first and iconic album, Baduizm.
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