Erykah Badu这个名字源自爵士乐，Erykah Badu的原名是Erica Wright，于1972年2月26日出生在美国德克萨斯州东北部的达拉斯市。从小Erykah Badu就是收听70年代的灵魂乐以及80年代的hip-hop长大，这也在以后直接影响了她以后的音乐创作风格。后来Erykah Badu进入了艺术学校学习，在学校她开始涉足舞蹈和戏剧表演，并在长大以后成为了一名教师和兼职歌手。直到1994年她为当时名气还不是很大的D'Angelo做垫场演出的时候，她的优异表现给当时D'Angelo的经理Kedar Massenburg留下了非常深刻的印象。
Kedar Massenburg帮助Erykah Badu进入了正式歌手的行列，帮助Erykah Badu录制已故歌星Marvin Gaye和Tammi Terrell的单曲《Precious Love》，并使她和Kedar Entertainment唱片公司签约，并且在不久之后录制并发行了第一张个人专辑《Baduizm》，在专辑中她开始和著名的Hip-Hop组合the Roots以及爵士乐贝斯手Ron Carter合作，并且专辑中所有的歌曲都由Erykah Badu自己创作完成。这张专辑中的第一首单曲《On & On》很快就成为了各大排行榜的冠军单曲，并且这张专辑也很快成为了Billboard R&B专辑榜的冠军，并且在Billboard 200排行榜中名列亚军，使专辑在商业上与乐评界都获得了大丰收，重低音的效果和深情的演唱很快使她成为了Hip-Hop音乐的顶尖歌手。之后不久，Erykah Badu的一张现场专辑《Live》与歌迷见面。由于第一张专辑《Baduizm》的巨大成功，所以歌迷们对她以后的专辑期望值颇高。2000年，Erykah Badu的第二张录音室专辑《Mama's Gun》正式发行，虽然销售成绩依然出色，但是却远不如他的前两张专辑那么辉煌。2003年9月16日发行了第三张录音室专辑《Worldwide Underground》。
Erykah Badu在1997年度的第40届格莱美颁奖典礼中，凭借专辑《Baduizm》以及其中的单曲《On & On》的出色表现，独得最佳R&B专辑(Best R&B Album)和最佳R&B女歌手两项大奖(Best Female R&B Vocal Performance)，并且在两年后的第42届颁奖典礼中，凭借歌曲《You Got Me》和The Roots组合共同获得了最佳说唱组合奖(Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group)。在2003年初举行的，2002年度第45届格莱美颁奖典礼中，依靠单曲《Love Of My Life (An Ode To Hip Hop)》而获得了最佳R&B歌曲奖(Best R&B Song)。(CatCobain）
She grew up listening to '70s soul and '80s hip-hop, but Erykah Badu drew more comparisons to Billie Holiday upon her breakout in 1997, after the release of her first album, Baduizm. The grooves and production on the album are bass-heavy R&B, but Badu's langurous, occasionally tortured vocals and delicate phrasing immediately removed her from the legion of cookie-cutter female R&B singers. A singer/songwriter responsible for all but one of the songs on Baduizm, she found a number 12 hit with her first single "On & On," which pushed the album to number two on the charts.
Born Erica Wright in Dallas in 1971, Badu attended a school of the arts and was working as a teacher and part-time singer in her hometown when she opened for D'Angelo at a 1994 show. D'Angelo's manager, Kedar Massenburg, was impressed with the performance and hooked her up with the singer to record a cover of the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell duet "Precious Love." He also signed Badu to his recently formed Kedar Entertainment label, and served as producer for Baduizm, which also starred bassist Ron Carter and members of hip-hop avatars the Roots on several tracks. The first single, "On & On," became a number one R&B hit in early 1997, and Baduizm followed it to the top of the R&B album charts by March. Opening for R&B acts as well as rap's Wu-Tang Clan, Erykah Badu stopped just short of number one on the pop album charts in April. Her Live album followed later in the year. In 2000 she returned with her highly anticipated second studio album, Mama's Gun, which was co-produced by Badu, James Poyser, Bilal and Jay Dee and contained the hit single "Bag Lady." Worldwide Underground, a loose affair billed as an EP despite being longer than many full-lengths, was released in 2003. Her next step, 2008's New AmErykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War, initiated a series of planned releases across the following year.