WERS 88.9 fm - Album Review: Erykah Badu - Return of the Ankh

By Brianna Gittens on 5.31.10

Erykah Badu follows her 2008 release, New Amerykah, Pt. 1 with Return of the Ankh, which dropped this past March.This album, which combines styles ranging from neo-soul to contemporary, does not stray from the soulful sound that first got Badu noticed, like her early single “Bag Lady,” off of 2000’s Mama’s Gun.

As on her previous albums, Badu wrote all of the songs on Ankh herself. Her unique songwriting style combined with her old school vocals (think Billie Holiday meets Chaka Khan) create an ethereal feel without the auto-tuning commonly found in artists of her genre. She has a naturally melodic yet powerful voice that shines through on all of her tracks. On the standout, “Turn Me Away (Get Munny),” the beat has been sampled from the popular Junior Mafia hit “get Money,” which pulled from Sylvia Striplin’s “You Can’t Turn Me Away.” Badu simultaneously captures the spirit of both tracks in her rendition, linking old school R&B and hip-hop with jazz and soul. Additional highlights include lead single “Window Seat,” along with the strong “Gone Baby,” “Don’t Belong,” and “Fall in Love (Your Funeral).” The latter is a no minced words demand on a potential suitor, in which Badu commands, “You better go back the way you came, wrong way, if you stay prepare to have your shit rearranged the way I say.”

Two of the album’s tracks were composed with the help of producer James Poyser, who has worked with artists Mariah Carey, Talib Kweli, D’Angelo and Musiq Soulchild, to name a few. This collaboration with Poyser may have helped Badu’s album hit the #4 spot on Billboard’s Top 200 chart.

Overall, Return of the Ankh is soulful and classically Erykah Badu—and fans of her previous work will certainly rank this album among her best.