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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Shaad D'Souza

‘I’m an ever-changing vessel’: Erykah Badu on defying definition, life as a birth and death doula and her first album in 11 years

Close up of a woman in a suit with straight, shoulder-length hair
‘I denounced my throne’ … Erykah Badu. Photograph: Adraint Bereal

Erykah Badu needs the lights down low. The singer, producer, actor and registered doula shuffles into a private room at London’s Soho hotel and quietly asks for some changes to the atmosphere: lights dimmed, soft seat. A green juice would be great.

As it turns out, Badu was out last night with Dave Chappelle, sitting with the comedian at a grand piano and playing songs into the wee hours. She looks mischievous when she thinks about the impromptu party, but declines to go into detail about what, exactly, went on. Instead, the 55-year-old smiles at me, eyes wide, her gold teeth glinting in the low light: “Oh yes,” she says slowly and quietly, like some kind of mysterious warlock. “It was a late one …”

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