Since the arrival of
Erykah Badu onto the
neo-soul scene back in 1997 with
Baduizm, commercial music stood up and took notice with an onslaught of similar artists reaching comparable peaks of mainstream success. After taking some time off for introspection and to raise her son,
Badu returned with
Mama's Gun, which is a turning point for her in many ways. Gone are the cryptic "Baduizms" that glossed all over her first release, replaced with a more honestly raw
Badu singing directly from her heart rather than her head. Sonically,
Badu wades out into adventurous territories as well. From the
Jimi Hendrix-inspired opening number to the closing ten-minute song suite, she develops fresh aspects of her sound, employing artists such as legendary
jazz vibraphonist
Roy Ayers,
jazz trumpeter
Roy Hargrove,
Stephen Marley, and
Roots drummer
?uestlove; she sought after producer
Jay Dee as well. The results are consistently tasteful, which only helps to prove once again that
Badu is miles ahead of the rest. ~ Rob Theakston
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