Badu X Aiko review: A tiny slice of Queen Erykah, but Aiko’s the real star

R&B royalty: Erykah Badu performs live
Getty Images for Essence
Thomas Hobbs10 June 2019

When Erykah Badu dropped her debut Baduizm in 1997, it was a quantum leap for R&B. But even a crowd of her biggest supporters begin to sigh when there’s no sign of the neo-soul legend 80 minutes after her designated start time.

Things get tense when a desperate hype-man tries to fill dead air with a competition in which crowd members sing Badu songs to win a backstage pass. People have paid £75 and deserve to see the real thing so boos ring out.

By the time Badu, whose giant hat and psychedelic mask make her look like the Babadook’s funky cousin, takes to the stage, only 40 minutes before the 11pm curfew, she boldly plays IDM and deep cuts that only loyalists really recognise.

It’s a ballsy move. To be fair, the 48-year-old has a valid excuse for being so late: her 21-year-old son — Seven, whose father is Outkast’s André 3000 — has been involved in a car crash, though not badly injured. Sadly, the delay takes the eccentric edge right out of Badu’s performance, as she’s forced to run too quickly through crowd pleasers such as On And On.

The real star is 31-year-old Jhené Aiko, showing off a hypnotically beautiful falsetto while floating around the Hawaiian themed stage like a young Joni Mitchell. When she coos: “We should just get naked” from chill anthem Bed Peace the whole arena sings it back. A new half-rapped, half-sung empowering bop about “being triggered” by the face of an ex suggests Aiko’s upcoming third album could well be something special.

It’s just a shame we got such a tiny slice of Queen Erykah.

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1/10

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