Badu rocks the Verizon Center

Halfway through singer Erykah Badu’s third song Saturday night, a subdued Verizon Center crowd seemed to still be searching for the rhythm the eclectic Grammy winner was putting out. Looking over her microphone, she spotted a pair of security guards walking toward a group of six women who had drifted from their seats to the steel barricades in front of the stage. The music stopped immediately.

“Can you please let them stay?” she asked. “It’s important.”

Whether to stick up for her fans, bend the stadium seating dynamic more toward her will, inject energy after a late start, or all three, the interjection prompted a roar of approval from the crowd.

The moment set the stage for the rest of the night: Badu, powerful on stage in a gray fedora, brilliantly colored shawl and puffy, studded pajama suit, drawing in turns ecstatic roars and muffled cheering as the crowd grappled with her high-concept art.

A critical darling, the Dallas-born Badu has always been a little bit difficult to categorize. She rose to prominence in the late 90s, drawing comparisons to Billie Holliday in duets with artist D’Angelo under a genre dubbed “neo-soul,” a high-consciousness mixture of R&B and soul. For much of her career she has been known for her soulful, genre-bending work, her voluminous afro and large, colorful head wraps, and her high-profile relationships with artists such as Andre 3000, of Outkast, and Common.

Now 45 and a mother to three after a career that began in the late 90s, Badu delivered a loose performance heavy on messages about romance, personal growth and motherhood.

“I just wanna change... to grow,” she sang. “Wanna know I love you so.”

She also tossed in doses of silliness. Nearly every song ended with her pointing to the ceiling accompanied by exaggerated cymbal rolls. After one long song, she admitted, “Hold up, I’m about to pass.. out.” Late in the show, she introduced a drum soloist as her son with Andre 3000, Seven. Then she laughed: “That’s not Seven. I play [around] too much!”

It was also a night of black pride. Organizers held a moment of silence for Muhammed Ali prior to Badu’s concert in memory of his efforts on behalf of black people. Later in the show, Badu exhorted the audience, “Say it loud! [black and proud] Say it loud! [black and proud]”

Comedian Rickey Smiley ably warmed up the crowd prior to Badu’s arrival, riffing on topics of black life and admonishing men who took cell phone photos of him. He also teased other attendees. “I like white people who hang around black folks,” he said. “They got soul and good credit.”

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