Erykah Badu's new single "Honey" is a catchy upbeat retro funk ditty which still manages to sound contemporary. It's so joyful, no wonder it was picked as the lead-off single for her third studio album proper (though I felt her brilliant "Worldwide underground" was more than just an EP). However, those looking for more of the same on "New Amerykah part 1: World war 4" (the first of a planned trilogy) will be sorely disappointed as nothing else on the CD sounds like it. Maybe that is why "Honey" gets tucked as a hidden track at the end of the CD.

Erykah is like the Radiohead of Soul music. After her introduction to the world on the multi platinum, multi Grammy winning "Baduizm", she went off on a different tangent, largely eschewing regular song structure for loose but intricately structured musical movements, and cerebral, often indiscernible lyrics.

Her new 11 track CD is even more off kilter and uncommercial. It can best be described as a futuristic fusion of funk and jazz beamed from Mars, and I'm sure her record label Motown must have done the same head scratching it did ages ago when Marvin Gaye presented his magnum opus "What's going on" for release. To fully appreciate it, one has to put aside expectations of regular song structure and just go with the flow.

Opening cut "Amerykhan promise" sounds like the soundtrack to some seventies blaxploitation movie with alternating male narration and female harmonies set to a funky bassline and interspersed with horns. One can almost see the women with their huge afros and platforms going "I promise, I promise". "The healer/hip hop" has a haunting feel with chiming triangles, an echoing choir, and lyrics proclaiming hip hop to be "bigger than religion or the government".

The autobiographical "Me" is one of the more straightforward sounding songs (sprawling and lacking a formal chorus, as does almost every other song); muted sax gently floating against a breezy seventies Marvin Gaye sound, and deeply personal lyrics like "Had two babies, different dudes/ and thought for both my love was true ... hey, that's me.", ending in a vocals/sax duet.

"My people" is a hypnotic sounding song with a skeletal groove, gentle percussion, tribal sounding chants and sparse singing extorting black people to "keep on moving on", with a brief Martin Luther King excerpt ending it. Another more easily accessible song is "Soldier" with rumbling hip hop beats, ghostly harmonising and lyrics touching on black on black violence, Katrina and other issues, while some male vocal exclaims "Uh" and "Hah" intermittently. "The cell" is jazz fusion with semi spoken lyrics touching on a "mama hopped up on cocaine" and ending acappella.

"Twinkle" rumbles along gently with skittery beats and a constant twinkling sound, electronic effects and disembodied harmonies, the final two or so minutes of the almost seven minutes is spent with some male voice telling us of the dire state of the times (after some strange voice speaking in what sounds somewhat like South African click, or is it a transmission from Mars??) against an eerie string backdrop. Talk about off kilter!

"Master teacher" is a woozy, psychedelic sounding groove which shifts tempo midway into a lilting piano sprinkled jazz piece with subtle electronic flourishes. "That hump" is a shimmery sounding midtempo song with a creeping bassline, a chorus of sorts, and a very nice horn sprinkled Motown-like bridge. The meandering eight minute long "Telephone" is a tribute to the late producer J Dilla. "Just fly away to heaven brother, make a place for me" she sings against a gently floating jazzy backdrop (dreamy harmonies, gentle hand percussion, and fleeting horns with muted hand claps coming in towards the final two minutes).

This CD might be bewildering at first, there is simply nothing else out there that sounds like it, but it is one that with time some will go, "Oh, now I get it!" while others never will. I see this making many end of year best album lists (it's on mine already), as well as Ms Badu making some more room in her Grammy cabinet.

Erykah Badu's new CD reminds me of D'Angelo's "Voodoo" in that it exists as sonic meditation. D'Angelo's debut also had a hypnotic vibe to it, but it balanced the commercial with his vision. Then, on "Voodoo," he joined with Questlove, whose drumming skills pretty much drove the album's sound. It was an artistic statement for sure, but one has to be in a specific mood and mindset to appreciate. I'm all for artists following their vision, making an album and not trying to appease the mainstream, but an album still has to be enjoyable. The downside to artists these days is that it seems being an artist entails making low-key, rhythm-driven music that's ultra mellow and exhibits a stream-of-consciousness vibe.
That can be appreciated in doses, but, that somewhat strays from what makes music powerful. Such music, even when done well, can come off as ultra self-conscious. R.E.M. has been making such music for years, and while solid, it just feels cold.
Erykah Badu makes warm music, but this new CD seems like it will sit right next to D'Angelo's "Voodoo" as an album one can respect, but doesn't listen to that much.
I'm not saying go out and buy the latest Britney Spears slice of shallow pop, but Badu's album seems to demand too many factors to be in place to enjoy it. Even the "geniuses" in music's past offered enough balance of artistic vision and enjoyability.
Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" is held up as pure artistic vision, but it also balances his vision with a melodic sound that incorporates commercial elements.
Both Badu and D'Angelo need to clear out some of the smoky haze from their albums and offer a little something more for their fans. Sure, I understand artists do things out of their own desire and whims, and that's fine, but if you're going to put out an album, I don't think there's anything wrong in the potential audience wanting something that they can enjoy on a more topical level.
In other words, sometimes I want some "fun" with the artistry, "finger snapping" with the socially conscious message, and something more than cerebral musings over mellow, smoky vibes.
The most remembered songs and albums achieve such a balance.
And I believe Erykah Badu can achieve it again, without making "Baduizm Part Two."

Let me start off by saying I am a HUGE Erykah's fan. In a world of blandness and crappy songs, Erykah is one of those artists that will use music to challenge you. She is inspiring, different, creative, daring, unpredictable and a saver of soul music. On this record, I don't know what Erykah is trying to do. I usually love kilter and uncommercial music by Erykah...but I am really at lost with this project.

The album starts off with "Amerykhan promise". Despite its weirdness, this is one of the few tracks I dig. The song sounds like it came from a soundtrack to a 70s blaxploitation movie. Erykah is trading lines with a male narrator and the bassline and horns are blaring. This song will surely cause some religion folks to sit up because Erykah is basically saying hip hop is "bigger than religion or the government".

The song "Me" is autobiographical and deeply personal. Erykah gives us a look into her world as she confronts some of the decisions she has made in her life. This song basically tells us to accept her for who she is and nothing else because she is comfortable in her skin. The music can be described as a smooth jazz set to 70s soul.

Erykah's "Honey" is retro-contemporary funk song that sounds out of place on this strange project. It's probably the only song that is radio-friendly, which explains why it is a hidden track and is the first single.

"The cell" (jazz), "Master teacher" (psychedelic) "That hump" (crazy bassline), and "Soldier" (great message) deserves special recognition from me. However, it took MULTIPLE listenings for me to understand these songs.

As for "My people" and the other songs, I probably will never like (and trust me, I have tried). However, I don't consider this cd a lost cause. Erykah plays by her own rules and this is why I respect her so much. So I will say this to Ms. Badu, even though I am struggling with this project please keep challenging and provoking us with your music.

I was expecting a little more from Ms. Badu on this album- I was so excited that I pre-ordered it. I can appreciate the actual music, but I was looking for a little more from the lyrical side from her (well, she does actually speak, but barely sings). The whole album sounds like splices of interludes streamed together. I am going to have to screen her next album before I purchase it, to make sure there is something there worth buying.

This is the kind of work that will initially confuse and confound a lot of fans but will be hailed a masterpiece years from now. Well...I'm not waiting that long. "4th World War" is the deepest, most organically funky album Ms. Badu has produced yet and it finally does something I was beginning to lose hope of ever happening; it raises the bar! R&B is usually a big yawn to me with copycat divas, generic crooners and phony 'neo soulsters' flooding the market with a glut of pedestrian, unlistenable works, so it's extremely pleasant to hear an already established and popular artist take some risks and produce an unconventional, loosely structured, ridiculously brilliant and crafty work from deep inside her mind, by sheer will, it just works. Mind you, "4th World War" isn't just great because it's different; it's great because it covers a myriad of topics (love, hate, paranoia, depression, war, sexism, addiction, love for hip-hop, aging, maturity) at such a blinding pace and without being preachy that the happy listener feels both exhausted and exhilarated after the experience. Erykah has done it again. Don't miss this one! A Masterpiece.