* Photo: Marc Baptiste * Not long ago, Grammy winner Erykah Badu was so tech-phobic that she would record only on old-school tape reels. "I didn't use ProTools or any of that stuff," she says. "The most digital things I owned were CDs." For a while, she even made vocal demos on her home answering machine. Then, in 2004, after a long creative drought, Badu was given her first laptop, its hard drive loaded with instrumental tracks from hip hop producers like Q-Tip, Madlib, and J Dilla. When her preteen son recently clued her in to GarageBand, Badu's home became a mini recording studio. "I could stand in my kitchen and go back and forth between cooking and recording," the 37-year-old singer says. "I was able to do it quick, before the idea floated away."
The new setup prompted an intensive four-month recording spree yielding more than 70 songs, grist for a trio of albums Badu aims to release this year. February's New Amerykah, Part One: 4th World War is a dense collection of autobiography and commentary recalling the op-ed R&B of early-'70s Funkadelic (check out "The Healer," a slow-burning, haunting ode to hip hop). Part Two is due out in July, and Badu plans to accessorize it with USB sticks available at her Web site and concerts. Like DVD extras, the portable drives will feature commentary on the creative process behind each track. Plus, fans will be able to update their sticks with monthly multimedia downloads — everything from live show excerpts to "me in a bathtub with Flavor Flav," she says. "I wanted to give away my materials. It's about sharing, and that's why I like this system." That said, the singer is slightly less forthcoming about the third album, a "period piece" called Lowdown Loretta Brown that's scheduled for fall release. "I don't want to introduce too much of that right now," Badu says. "I don't want Gwen Stefani stealing my shit."
play Previous: Straight to Hellboy: Translating a Dark World From Sketch to Screen Next: What the CIA Learned From Get Smart
