With less than a week to go before the New York shows, we at The Run-Through are revving up for fashion month—which makes it as good a time as any to revisit one of our very favorite interviews: last year’s chat with the ethereal Erykah Badu. When Erykah joined Chioma and Chloe at the Condé Nast podcast studio in February 2023, she was dressed in a look that only she could pull off. (As Chloe described it at the time, Badu donned “an ankle-grazing embroidered Otomi coat, thigh-high caramel suede Y/Project boots, a tie-dyed shorts sweatsuit that she later revealed she had slept in, a faux fur stovepipe hat, a red knit balaclava, and a visor with a goggle-type headpiece and silver horns that evades my powers of description.
”) The March 2023 cover star also shared the contents of her doula kit and how she gets in the mood to pick an outfit. (Hint: It involves Amazon Alexa and wind chimes.) Revisit that conversation here.
Chioma Nnadi: Well. Erykah Badu: Hey. Chioma Nnadi: Ms.
Badu. Erykah Badu: Yeah. Chioma Nnadi: So good to have you in the studio with us.
Tell us how your Fashion Week has been. Erykah Badu: My Fashion Week has been eventful, successful, tiring. It's a lot of work.
I'm super grateful for it. Chioma Nnadi: I spied you across the room at Thom Browne. Erykah Badu: Oh, I didn't see you.
Chioma Nnadi: Yeah. What do you love about Thom? Erykah Badu: I love that he makes me feel like, when wanting to do something really creative and whimsical and imaginative, I would want to do it, but think I'd get in trouble for it, and he does those things that we think we'll get in trouble to do. And he's courageous and always imaginative and uninhibited.
That's what I like about him. Chioma Nnadi: Tell us what you wore that day. Erykah Badu: I wore Thom Browne that day.
Thom's look was inspired by the actual look itself. I looked at a photo of the full look, and I interpreted it in my way. Chioma Nnadi: I love the curlers.
Erykah Badu: Thank you. Chioma Nnadi: Yeah, they were really great. Erykah Badu: Thank you.
There were curlers in the original look, but they were very small, little red and blue ones, so I thought that...
Chloe Malle: You upped the ante. Erykah Badu: Yeah, just a little bit. Chioma Nnadi: Weren't they from this young designer duo in Brooklyn? Erykah Badu: Yes, Elle and Chantelle.
Chioma Nnadi: That's it. Very, very cool jewelry brand. Erykah Badu: Yeah, two very talented twin sisters, originally from Nigeria.
Chioma Nnadi: You're like a jewelry connoisseur. I feel like you always have incredible jewelry, that you have either custom made or you've commissioned. Erykah Badu: Yeah, I love it.
I think it creates, sometimes, the look. It's all you need, really, those little accents and things that enhance the silhouette, but not take away from it. Chioma Nnadi: So now, we're dying to know, how do you decide? Is it a mood thing? Is it a vibe thing? Chloe Malle: You wake up, you're naked, not necessarily, but how do you build, I feel like you're painting a picture with your clothes every day, how do you build your outfits? Erykah Badu: Yeah, that's how I feel too.
I wake up, and I do my morning ritual and I'm thinking about it the whole time. Chloe Malle: What's the ritual, do you mind me asking? Erykah Badu: I light a candle on my altar and I make a cup of tea. Chloe Malle: What kind of candle? Erykah Badu: Just a small tea light that can go out in about an hour.
Chloe Malle: Okay. Erykah Badu: Yeah. And I make a cup of tea and I turn on, I say, "Alexa, play soothing wind chimes," and she does.
Sometimes, she goes, "Your Amazon account has been suspended," but it's a mistake, obviously. So I say it again, "Alexa, play soothing wind chimes." She plays it again.
So she plays it and I open the doors and I'm thinking about what I have to do for the day. Most days, I don't have to go anywhere, but on a week like this week, my day would be a little bit different. I would wake up and I'm in a hotel room and I'm just thinking about what I have to do that day and what colors I want to create.
Or I just wear what I slept in, with a jacket, some cute boots, hat, some jewelry. There's not a lot of thought that goes into it. I would love to have a really eloquent answer, but it's grace.
Yeah, it's what it is. It happens to work. Chioma Nnadi: We very much enjoyed your cover.
Erykah Badu: Thank you. Chloe Malle: We really did. Chioma Nnadi: Yeah.
Tell us about the shoot. Erykah Badu: Oh, it was really fun. Chloe Malle: Where was it? Erykah Badu: It was Santa Monica, I believe, on the beach.
A very overcast day at first, and then, as it got to the golden hour, that's when we all became creative and expressive. The day before we were kind of pow wowing in my hotel room and talking about the looks, Alex and I. Chioma Nnadi: That's fashion editor, Alex Harrington.
Erykah Badu: And did a little test shoot on the wall, as I was just throwing things together, and some of them stuck. Some of them were things that were really cool looks, and we kept a couple of those. And Alex had some things in mind.
So it was a true collab. It was his vision and my vision, seasonings and stuff that I can add. And we did.
Chloe Malle: Were there some special pieces of your own that you kept in the shoot that you wore? Jewelry or accessories? Erykah Badu: There was a special piece we talked about for two weeks. We talked about we need to locate the perfect tattered T-shirt. Chloe Malle: Oh wow.
Chioma Nnadi: Wow. Erykah Badu: Perfect tattered T-shirt, and I'm going to wear it throughout the whole shoot. So you have to kind of find it in each photo, but it's me and Alex's own kind of- Chloe Malle: -Talisman.
Erykah Badu: Yes, exactly. And I slept in it the night before, just to get the energy going, because it guided the whole way. So it's present in some of the photos, and in other ones, you don't really see it.
But yeah. Chioma Nnadi: I love that your daughter's in there with you. There's really beautiful photos together.
Erykah Badu: Puma. Chioma Nnadi: What was it like shooting with her? Erykah Badu: Easy, just like doing everything with her. She's just easy breezy.
She's helpful, she's kind, considerate, hardworking, so she didn't mind. She's starting her career and doesn't really want to be in the limelight when it's a job for me. She's very humble.
Chioma Nnadi: She is very humble. I got that impression from her. She's very polite and lovely.
Erykah Badu: Yeah. But they asked her if she wanted to be in it, and I go, "Puma, do you want to be in this, because everybody's waiting for you? Everyone thinks that you're going to be perfect for it. Come on, please.
" "Okay." Yeah, that's how it is most of the time. Chioma Nnadi: Didn't she come with you to deliver those twins? Erykah Badu: She did.
It was almost the same thing, "Puma, come on, we got to go to this. It's going to be perfect. Everybody is waiting for you.
The babies need this." "Okay." Chloe Malle: Well, tell us about that, because I can't imagine delivering twins.
Erykah Badu: Well, this story is going to break first with you. We weren't actually there. We went for the first visit.
Chloe Malle: We should say, for anyone who doesn't know, that you are a doula. Erykah Badu: I'm a doula. Chloe Malle: Yes.
Chioma Nnadi: And Summer Walker was...
Erykah Badu: Yes, and this is my second time. Chloe Malle: Oh, I see, I see. I see.
Erykah Badu: Second time around with her. She had a daughter that I was present for the first time, two years ago. It was kind of a false alarm the first time we went, and we went back home and regrouped a little bit.
And by the time it was time to go back, we were on the way, and she said, "Well, the babies are here." Sometimes it happens like that, but there's still a tremendous amount of guidance and support they depend on. So I go afterwards and give post support if I miss a birth.
I haven't missed a birth before, because you never know how quickly it's going to happen. And luckily, we had set up a great support team. We always have a really good support team, a network, where there are people on hand.
I had other doulas who were available to help. Chloe Malle: Twins are always seems so complicated though. Oof.
Chioma Nnadi: How's she doing? Erykah Badu: She's doing wonderful. She's back in these streets and being a good mommy and working, being creative. Chloe Malle: Wow.
Chioma Nnadi: I love how you bring ritual into everything that you do. And so, tell me a little bit about what goes into your doula kit, how you set it up, the rituals, and the breathing exercises that you..
. Erykah Badu: Sure. My doula kit, I'll say, it's the kit is the whole experience, I think.
It starts when I meet a mother and we bond, and I think this is something that I can do and a family I can support. And we decide on a birthing plan. This is probably fourth, fifth month.
And ahead of time, we decide who's going to be there and what the vision is. And that changes sometime. But just to have a foundation of that.
Then I walk a mom through her nutritional package, the recommendations that are suited for good, healthy births. Then we come with our own dual ritual. For example, Teyana Taylor and I got up every morning at sunrise, and we did a meditation and prayer, using elements, fire or candle, incense for the wind, a little cup of water, and a plant or something for earth, and just to ground us and realign us with nature.
Chloe Malle: Do you usually do home births or hospital births? Erykah Badu: I usually do home births or birthing center births, but I also attend hospital births as well. It doesn't matter to me. It's no wrong way to have a baby.
It's just that you are at peace and you have the comfort that you desire, so that the breaths are easy, your heart rate is down, and the babies can come through. Chloe Malle: And your babies aren't babies anymore. Erykah Badu: My babies are not.
My youngest just turned 14, and that's a special time. Chioma Nnadi: She's an Aquarius? Erykah Badu: She is an Aquarius. She's the only Aquarius air sign in the house.
The rest of us are water. I'm Pisces and Puma's Cancer and Seven's Scorpio. So she's a regulator.
Chloe Malle: I just am in awe that so much of your family, so many of your family members work with you. Erykah Badu: Yeah. Chloe Malle: That brings new meaning to family business.
Erykah Badu: Listen, we had an intervention today. Every now and then, I'll ask for a report, "How am I doing in life?" Then they'll tell me, "Sometimes you have a tendency to zah zah zah zah. You're moving and snapping quick this week.
" They'll tell me, because they're my family members. It's my sister, I grow with her. It's my daughter, she's honest.
It's my mother. She's like, "Come on now." Chioma Nnadi: She's definitely honest.
Erykah Badu: Yeah. Chioma Nnadi: Straight shooter. Erykah Badu: And she's witty.
Chioma Nnadi: She's so funny. Erykah Badu: She's half joking, half straight, but it's like she's going to be straight with you. You're right.
My uncles, they're going to coddle me. Chioma Nnadi: That's so sweet. Erykah Badu: I get the balance of everything.
Chioma Nnadi: Wow. Erykah Badu: I get the, "You do everything right," and then, I get the, "Nah, sis, that's not it." So as long as we keep those lines of communication open and not shy away from loving each other and not put loyalty in front of it.
Chioma Nnadi: I'd love for you to share with us a little bit about Baby Erykah, when you were young and you learned to sing. What are your first memories of being, you shared a little bit with me about how hearing music, but what were your first memories of making music? Erykah Badu: My first memories are in church with my great-grandmother. The house that you were in, she also lived there and passed on there.
Chloe Malle: In Dallas. Erykah Badu: In Dallas. And my grandmother lived there and passed on there.
Chloe Malle: Wow. Erykah Badu: Now, my mother has inherited the position of the matriarch of that house. In that house, there was a grand piano or an upright piano, and it belongs to my great-grandmother, Odessa.
And she played for a church. So she would play it all the time. And it was a pretty tall, upright piano, the kind that you would see in a western movie or in a old church.
And she would kick the botThom of it while she played, to use the botThom for a kick drum. Chioma Nnadi: Oh wow. Erykah Badu: And I would sit under there and watch her foot, and I would feel it, whatever it was that you're supposed to feel.
I felt it and I always had, I didn't know if I would be a singer or anything like that, but I felt that thing, whatever that is, that the metronome, mine always finds the rhythm or the pitch of the keys or the tone of the thing. I always find it. But I didn't know I would be a singer, but that's my first understanding.
And my other grandmother bought me a piano like that, and I just pretended like I was playing like my great-grandmother. Chioma Nnadi: Did you teach yourself? Or did you take lessons? Erykah Badu: Yeah, I can't read music. Chioma Nnadi: Wow.
I will say, Erykah played me a song, I wasn't allowed to record it, but we know that your music is such a part of you too. And I know that people are eager to see what you will do next with music. How are you feeling about that? Erykah Badu: Soon come.
I feel like I've been going through a downloading period. I told you that, for the past two or three years, since a little bit before COVID, the pandemic, that sent us all into a spiral of deep thought. And I think that I'm ready to have something to say.
Chioma Nnadi: Maybe. Chloe Malle: To upload. Erykah Badu: Yeah, I'm ready.
Because I'm feeling music a lot right now. I listen to it all the time, but I'm really feeling like participating. Even though I perform live, it's a totally different feeling.
A live performance is like creating a moment. You can do that anytime, but the studio experience is perfecting a moment and yet, it's work. You get in there and you really start to craft something, and I'm ready to give that type of energy to myself.
So soon. Is that what you asked me? Chioma Nnadi: Yeah. Erykah Badu: Okay.
Yes. I'm ready to do that, I think. Chloe Malle: I was excited to learn that you actually started working at Steve Harvey's comedy club, and Chioma was telling me that you actually are quite the mischief maker and prankster.
And I was just wondering, how do you sort of integrate that into your life? Are you playing pranks on people and your family? Is April Fools a big holiday? Chioma Nnadi: I didn't mention this, but you should see the doesn't the welcome mat is really hilarious. Erykah Badu: Okay. I think that's what she meant.
Chloe Malle: Oh, I don't know about this. Chioma Nnadi: No. Erykah Badu: My welcome mat- Chioma Nnadi: -Says what? There's always a little bit of fun.
There's always a little bit of like...
Erykah Badu: Yes. It's a little mischief. Yes.
Chloe Malle: What does the welcome mat say? Erykah Badu: I got to tell you the story first. Chloe Malle: All right. Erykah Badu: People are stealing people's packages left and right, and it's like people just really feel entitled to people's things now, for some reason, it's so weird.
But people are also still scared of things, that they don't understand. So in order to deter people from stealing packages, my welcome mat says, "Steal my packages and you will die in three days' time." Chloe Malle: Now, did you make this custom? Erykah Badu: I did.
Chloe Malle: Oh wow. Chioma Nnadi: I didn't know it was custom. Erykah Badu: It was custom.
Chloe Malle: Like on Etsy? Or how does that work? Erykah Badu: It was custom from, I saw this mat company on Instagram actually. I said, "Can you make me one that say, ‘Steal my packages and you will die in three days' time,’ today?” Chloe Malle: Everyone else has their name on it. Erykah Badu: And they said, "Yeah, we can probably do that.
" Came in the mail. I was like, "Yes," put it outside and there have been no thefts on my camera. Chioma Nnadi: I'm happy to hear that.
I also know there was a word that you taught me, and it's escaping me, but I think it's a Indigenous American word. Erykah Badu: Heyoka. Chioma Nnadi: That's right.
Explain that to everybody, because I was really intrigued about it. Erykah Badu: Heyoka, the Sioux tribe describes heyoka as an empath who deeply feels everybody's emotional experiences in some way. And he is the person in the tribe who tries to make light of heavy things by using comedy as a coping mechanism, riding the horse backwards or eating a rock or making light of someone's tragedy by making a joke of it.
The whole desire is to create balance, so that we don't take ourselves in our moments so serious. Heyoka is very blunt with their opinions, and they are very curt with their statements. And they often cut people off, because they know what you're going to say and they don't have time to listen to it.
So that could be seen as rude. And people do say they're rude, but sound like I'm talking about myself. I am.
I am heyoka. I am heyoka. Yeah.
And when I read the description years ago, I felt like I fit that description, because I mean well and my energy is pure. But sometimes, people don't like the mirror up to them and they will tell you stuff like, "It's not always your job to show someone who they are and eh eh eh." And I disagree.
Who job is it? It is my job. Chloe Malle: There you go. Erykah Badu: There you have it.
Chioma Nnadi: You have so many talents. Erykah Badu: Thank you. Chioma Nnadi: We actually have a deck of tarot cards here.
Erykah Badu: Oh, okay. Chioma Nnadi: And I think it might be time for us to..
. Chloe Malle: These are very old. Chioma Nnadi: Yes.
I think they're actually in French. Are they in French? Chloe Malle: They're my father's. They're 30-year-old French tarot cards.
Chioma Nnadi: They're beautiful cards. But because I know, when I was there, your altar has all kinds of beautiful things on it, and there was a stack of cards and you pulled a card for me that was very accurate for my life at that moment. Erykah Badu: Yeah, tarot.
Are you guys into tarot at all? Chloe Malle: Yeah, I haven't had my cards read in a long time. Erykah Badu: What do you know about tarot? Chloe Malle: Well, it's getting very personal, but when I was very young, about eight or nine years old, my mother and I went to a tarot card reader on a side street in Midtown. And she read our cards, and I forget what she said about me.
But then, she looked at my mother and she pulled, it might've been the card of death, but she said, "You're going to need help very soon." And then, a year later, my father died, and so, my mother has never seen a tarot card reader since then. Chioma Nnadi: How long have you been into tarot, Erykah? Erykah Badu: Five minutes.
But I can do it. I'm new to this, but I'm not new to this. 'Stand me? I can guaran-damn-tee you that I'm going to give you a reading that's going to blow your mind, right now.
Right now. Right now. Right now.
Right now. Right now. Come spirit and give us some energy, something that we can use, something that we may learn from, grow from.
Thank you. All readers don't do this. Chioma Nnadi: So Erykah's tapping on the stack of cards with her grill, which is amazing.
Erykah Badu: That's the only stones I had available. Chioma Nnadi: I know. Erykah Badu: They're pearls in here.
You see? Chioma Nnadi: They're beautiful. I was admiring them. Erykah Badu: I'm also resourceful.
Okay, so do you have a question in mind or you just want...
Let's do, go ahead, let's do the whole thing. You have a question in mind? Chloe Malle: That's my question. I found myself recently, as I've become a parent, being concerned about the health of myself and those around me.
And I feel like there's no way to control that. But I wonder, I am constantly concerned about having health issues early. Erykah Badu: Death.
No, I'm joking. Chioma Nnadi: Don't do that, Erykah. That's not funny.
Erykah Badu: No, no, I was kidding. Hmm. Hmm.
Your card is the 10 of cups. 10 of cup says to me that, and cups represent love, in this case, you are requiring and needing overwhelming love and support. Because you do need to take some time to regenerate.
10 of cups generally says that you are you wanting more support, more love. You are willing to receive it as well. And I'm feeling that you are very much return the love, if you can just get a new battery in your back.
Chloe Malle: All right, that's very helpful. Erykah Badu: Yeah. Chioma Nnadi: That's lovely.
Tell us what you've got coming up, in brief. So basically, in Erykah's house is a whiteboard with all the projects. Chloe Malle: Oh wow.
Chioma Nnadi: And I know several have been crossed off now. How are you feeling about your to-do list? Erykah Badu: I'm almost done, usually at the beginning of the year. I don't have a manager or anything like that, so I have to be self motivated to do everything.
And it's, of course, more difficult when I'm grieving about something or having some kind of emotional reaction to something. Chioma Nnadi: Oh my God, it's your birthday coming up soon too. Erykah Badu: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, because let me tell you about those.
Chioma Nnadi: Tell me about your...
Because I know that those are big. Erykah Badu: Let me just tell you about the stuff on the board and not the feelings that go with it. Let me try to use my left brain.
Chloe Malle: Is the birthday on the board? Erykah Badu: The birthday is on the board. Chioma Nnadi: The birthday is a big thing every year. Erykah Badu: Yes, yes, yes.
Thank you. Chloe Malle: What does that look like? Erykah Badu: The birthday is an annual party that I have as a concert in a 4,000 seater venue. Kind of small.
Chloe Malle: Just always in Dallas? Erykah Badu: Always in Dallas at the same venue, The Factory. And I have it each year and I've had it each year for about 10 years now. This is going to be my 52nd birthday.
Chioma Nnadi: Oh, you look like, honestly, your skin, it's unbelievable. Erykah Badu: Yeah. Chioma Nnadi: You look so young.
Erykah Badu: I know. Chloe Malle: What's the skin secret? Chioma Nnadi: Yeah. Erykah Badu: Really? Chloe Malle: Yeah.
Erykah Badu: I use money for lotion. Chioma Nnadi: I was wondering and I never got to ask you that. Erykah Badu: That's it.
That's it. Don't tell all the girls. Chioma Nnadi: No, it's just between us.
Erykah Badu: Yes, but that's what's coming up. The birthday party is February 24th in Dallas. I'm looking forward to seeing all of my amazing friends that come out every year.
Chloe Malle: Do you have an outfit yet? Erykah Badu: I don't. I don't lay my clothes out on the bed like that. Chloe Malle: You don't lay them on your bed? Chioma Nnadi: That's a birthday.
Erykah Badu: That's the best day to just create. Chioma Nnadi: So you're just going to wake up and go into the closet and pick some out? Erykah Badu: Yes. Chioma Nnadi: Oh, you are insane.
Erykah Badu: Listen, I'm not insane. I'm telling you, I thrift. I've been thrifting this month.
I thrift a month or two before. Just get some cool pieces that I see. These rings, I found on Etsy.
Chioma Nnadi: They're great. They basically look like broken plates. They're beautiful.
They're like little porcelain. Chloe Malle: Like Chinese Mings. Chioma Nnadi: Yeah, they're so good.
Erykah Badu: The key to this whole thing is just kind of like you have tools around. It's just like, if I was a visual artist, there's no way, I know today's a day that I paint a thing, but I don't know how you imagine in your mind what you're going to do. But it's just how my mind works.
It's fun. Chioma Nnadi: Your mind is a magical thing. Erykah Badu: I think my best work is still in me, so I don't want to- Chioma Nnadi: It's definitely still in you.
Erykah Badu: -I don't want to disrespect it by trying to label it. I don't know what I'm going to do. It's like I don't, and it's fun like that.
So the birthday's coming up, which I don't know what I'm going to wear for. There's a collab I have with Cookies. Chioma Nnadi: Yep, yep.
Erykah Badu: Cookies is a cannabis brand. One of the most influential ones. Chloe Malle: Oh, I thought it was an actual cookie.
I was excited. Erykah Badu: They do have actual cookies, but you want to just take two bites of that cookie. Chloe Malle: That might not be the nurturing I need right now.
Erykah Badu: No, that might not be the cookie for you. My weed brand is called Apple Trees and his is called Cookies. So we got together to create a strain that I wanted to specifically research the relationship between cannabinoids and women.
And that's my interest. The strain we created is not just for women, but it has women in mind, the packaging, the art, some of the cannabinoids inside. Chioma Nnadi: Can you describe the packaging? You showed it to me.
Can you reveal it yet? Erykah Badu: I did reveal it today on Instagram. Chioma Nnadi: Oh, great. Okay, good.
Erykah Badu: So it looks kind of like this. Chioma Nnadi: It's beautiful. Erykah Badu: Yeah.
When I was think of thinking of packaging...
Chloe Malle: It's like blue and white Delft China, sort of Ming Dynasty China. Erykah Badu: When I was thinking of this look, I was thinking, what is the most feminine and soft thing that I can create to give to women as an offering for, "We're paying attention to you too in cannabis world?" I thought of a vase. I thought of a vase shaped like a woman, that is also a bong, that also has a vanity tray made of the same porcelain material, but trimmed in gold.
So I thought, "Wow, wouldn't that be beautiful for someone?" And that was the first thing I thought of. So I'm excited about this drop I have with Cookies. It's my first venture into the cannabis world, which sparked an idea to do a documentary about women in cannabis in the name of.
.. Chioma Nnadi: Wow, great.
Chloe Malle: No pun intended. Erykah Badu: Yeah. Chloe Malle: Sparked an idea.
Erykah Badu: It did spark an idea. And the name of the documentary will be called Pussy and Weed. Chioma Nnadi: I love it.
Erykah Badu: Yeah. Chioma Nnadi: Perfect. Chloe Malle: Wonderful.
Erykah Badu: I had a drum roll in my head. I'm sorry. Chloe Malle: I thought you were maybe having a stroke.
Erykah Badu: I was listening to the drum roll. Yes, because I was real stiff. I was waiting for the audience to quiet down.
Chloe Malle: Erykah, thank you so much. This has been the highlight of our, definitely, of our Fashion Weeks, by far. Chioma Nnadi: Yes, this is definitely the highlight of our Fashion Week.
Erykah Badu: Thank you so very much. And thank you, Vogue. Chloe Malle: One of my top favorite interviews of all time.
Chioma Nnadi: What an experience. Once you meet Erykah, you will never forget Erykah. Chloe Malle: I feel like I'm just going to listen to this interview as like ASMR to help me go to bed at night.
I feel very soothed. Chioma Nnadi: That voice, that whisper. Chloe Malle: Yeah, exactly.
Well, until next week, everyone, the Run-Through with Vogue is a production of Conde Nast Entertainment. I'm Chloe Malle. Chioma Nnadi: And I'm Chioma Nnadi.
We'll be back next week. Bye..
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