In the 13 years since the release of groundbreaking first album “Baduizm,” the Dallas-born entertainer has consistently done her own thing.
Using hip-hop and classic soul as her foundation, Badu has accented her music and live shows with whatever artistic movement she’s crushing on at the moment — be it religious mysticism, modern dance, science-fiction film, performance poetry or gangsta rap. She’s seemed largely unconcerned with the now or even mainstream acclaim.
That was her vibe Wednesday night when Badu, accompanied by nearly a dozen players and back-up singers, brought her “Out of Mind Just in Time” tour to Denver’s .
Following an opening by talented R&B up-and-comer , this Badu show began with a dark stage and only the low-key airy jazz keyboard of “20 Feet Tall,” the opening track off this year’s album “New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh.” A light came up only on Badu as she eased into the song’s reflective lyrics. A flute crept in next and the singer took her time getting into “Out My Mind, Just in Time.”
And then this show took off into a heady experimental jazz spectacle in which Badu brought new material and old, but none with an expected arrangement.
Her fashion on this night characterized the entertainer’s “fuck it” take on artistry. She paired a simple tee and hiked up sweats with a serape-like wrap, a big black hat akin to those worn by the Quechuas, patent leather peep-toe stilettos, and sunglasses. Some in the roughly half-full room may have hoped the bizarre layered costuming was a prelude to a reenactment of her “Window Seat” video from earlier this year.
In what was her most significant promotion of the new album, the video features Badu marching through historic Dealey Plaza in Dallas -– the site of John F. Kennedy’s assassination –- while stripping down to reveal the word “Evolve” scrawled across her back, and then ultimately crumbling onto the pavement very close to scene of that national tragedy. Badu defended the guerilla filmmaking by saying it had a clear-cut intend: to showcase the “character assassination,” especially by mainstream media, one experiences by being nude in public.
Itap that thoughtful, personal side of Badu that her fans eat up. So this audience raised protest fists with her during “The Healer/Hip-Hop,” relished her conversational tone during “Me,” bobbed heads as she sampled creative kin A Tribe Called Quest during “Umm Hmm,” and sang along during her soulful rendition of “On and On.”
Badu took creative license with her catalog on Wednesday night, and while the overall presentation wasn’t exactly mind-blowing, it was the kind of artistic melting pot that her loyal legion expects and adores.
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Elana Jefferson is an editor at The Denver Post and a longtime music fan.
John DiTirro is a Denver-based photographer and a Digital Ad Trafficker at The Denver Post. Check out .
