Erica Wright of Dallas, Texas (born February 26, 1971), better known as Erykah Badu, is an African-American R&B / hip hop artist probably best known for "You Got Me," her collaboration with The Roots, as well as her own songs "Tyrone," "Next Lifetime," "On & On," and "Clevah."
Some music journalists have labeled her nouvelle-soul or neosoul, often comparing her to Billie Holiday in lyrical delivery and grouping her with Maxwell and D'Angelo in musical genre. Badu dropped her "slave name" "Erica Wright" in favor of "Badu," which she reports as Arabic for "to manifest truth."
She also performed with roots rock reggae musician and singer Burning Spear.