Day 35, Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part II (Return of the Ankh)

Stars: 2
Favorite Song: “Out of My Mind, Just in Time,” “Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY)”
Show: 5$

New Amerykah Part II (Return of the Ankh) isn’t bad. Nor is it good. It is just…nice. The grooves are funky and steady, the samples are tight, and Erykah sings just fine, but there is an obvious lack of substance. Generally, I’m okay with that, but put into the context of this project where it is stacked up against some of the best albums of all time (according to my subjective friends) New Amerykah (Return of the Ankh) just gets trampled.

Take the single “Window Seat” about wishing to go away and hide, yet wanting to be missed. For starters, this is a very immature thought; something that a spoiled child struggles with when he/she runs away from home for twenty minutes. On top of that, there isn’t a single emotionally effective lyric in the whole song. It is mostly crap like this: “I need your attention, yes. I need you next me. I need someone to clap for me…I just wanna chance to fly, a chance to cry, and a long bye bye....” Real riveting stuff.

But this album isn’t trying to be thought provoking or important. It is supposed to groove and be fun, and flowery, and mindless. And the times when Mrs. Badu is aware this is when it is most successful. “Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY)” does exactly that. It is about trying to get that paper-paper money-money, and using people to get it: “I look like a model. I do what I gotta.” The reason I give this song more credit is because the song is aware that it is complete junk, and so Erykah is able to play with it more. It is awesome in the same way that Lil’ Mamma’s “Lip Gloss” is. In fact, “Turn Me Away” would score well behind the image of a giggling 19 year old gold-digger with her bimbo friends up in her bedroom smearing layers of polyurethane lip gloss on their faces, gearing up for a big night on the town.

But when it is all said and done, you have to make a choice. Are you going to let your pretentious, intellectually driven brain get in the way of New Amerykah Part II? I say let it go and just enjoy yourself. You may find that the sexy samples and funky bass-lines help you deal with the fact that you are a “recovering undercover over-lover recovering from a love a [you] can get over.”