Erykah Badu on D’Angelo, Radical Empathy, Marilyn Manson, Love & Hip-Hop

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 23:56:23 +0000

Last month, the singer and songwriter Erykah Badu stopped by Popcast, The New York Times music show, for a wide-ranging conversation about her reign as one of music’s most idiosyncratic and spiritual figures, plus: her early days and kinship with D’Angelo & Questlove, radical empathy for society's villains, love and hip-hop.

Then, she treated The Times’ newsroom to a very special live performance, featuring a new track and songs from her classic albums “Baduizm,” “Mama’s Gun” and “Worldwide Underground.”

04:40 Early days
11:11 D’Angelo, QuestLove and other early collaborators
21: 45 Touring vs. recording
29:45 Being a muse to André 3000, Jay Electronica & others
32:15 Dating & family
35:00 Her social media prowess
36:57 Radical empathy and righteousness
42:50 “Stay woke”
45:23 Working as a doula, for birth and death
49:20 Breathwork with Jon and Joe
51:10 Popcast Lightning Round!
52:30 Self-doubt
56:50 DMs
58:20 Snack time (Popcast’s worst snack!?)
01:03:50 Newsroom performance preview

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