Erykah Badu was at the forefront of neo-soul music when she released her 1997 album Baduizm. Since then, her loyal followers have been convinced that she’s some sort of magical creature — and it has nothing to do with her soulful vocals. Rumors about the Dallas native’s effect over men has been discussed for years.
We were able to find out more about her allure and what really drives her exes crazy. And believe it or not — the mother of three says it has nothing to do with her skills in the bedroom.
Here’s how Erykah Badu makes men go crazy.
Leading with her emotions
She could surely serenade any of her love interests with her soothing voice. But from an early age, Erykah received the most attention for her unruly behavior. Her mom told OkayPlayer website that upon visiting Erykah’s classroom one day, she noticed her daughter’s desk was pulled up right next to the teacher’s desk. Her mom thought Erykah must have been the teacher’s pet, but she soon found out her daughter was the class clown who was always getting in trouble.
When she wasn’t cracking a joke, she was mesmerizing people with her beauty. Her mom told OkayPlayer website Erykah got her lovely hazel eyes from her “fine-a*s daddy.”
When she entered the dating world, she decided to lead with her emotions, her feelings, and her thoughts. She told Vulture magazine when she meets someone new, she looks into their eyes and connects with their spirit and with their struggle. We wouldn’t be surprised if that tactic was one of the reason’s Erykah Badu makes men go crazy. Just ask André 3000 of Outkast…
Meeting André 3000
During a Red Bull Music Academy talk, Erykah explained she and André met at an NYC nightclub. Erykah remembers the day she got pregnant so vividly, it was February 11th. And in November 1997, she gave birth to their son, Seven Benjamin.
At the height of their relationship, André was in the process of finding his true self. Fresh off the release of Outkast’s second studio album ATLiens, Erykah reportedly helped him make a style transition. He eventually ditched the jerseys and baggy pants in favor of more eclectic clothing.
The couple collaborated on various projects, including André playing Erykah’s love interest in the music video for “Otherside Of The Game.” And in September 1998, Outkast released the album Aquemini, which features Erykah on the track “Liberation.”
I’m sorry, Ms. Jackson
No amount of sweet music could save this relationship, so they decided to go their separate ways. Erykah told The Telegraph they didn’t break up over cheating. In fact, she said infidelity isn’t even a deal-breaker for her but she understands that men “have a need to chase.”
Perhaps her ideas about intimacy led to the end of their romance. She told The Telegraph she doesn’t require physical intimacy and she doesn’t have a very high libido. Instead, she prefers companionship. All she wanted was a partner she could depend on, love, and grow with.
André poured his heart out in the Grammy award-winning song “Ms. Jackson.” In the track, he addresses Erykah’s mom and apologizes for things going wrong. He also promises to remain in his son Seven’s life, as he raps: “And yes I will be present on the first day of school and graduation.”
Erykah wasn’t so amused. She told Rap Radar the song “hit kind of a sore spot.” She refused to listen to it for a while, partially due to rapper Big Boi’s verse where he says things like: “Let her know her grandchild is a baby and not a paycheck.”
Years later André would address their relationship once again in the song, “A Life In The Day Of Benjamin André.” He said they were young, in love, and just having fun. At one point, he raps: “No regrets, no abortion, had a son.
Erykah and André are both ‘nuts’
Erykah has continued to collaborate with André, and they have maintained a pleasant co-parenting relationship as well. André told Vibe they like to joke with one another, they chat on the phone all the time, and he considers her to be like “a cool sister.” Their son Seven describes his parents as “nuts,” but their friendship is proof that after all these years, André has nothing but the utmost respect for Erykah.
How were they able to move on without any hard feelings or resentment? Erykah told The Breakfast Club , André is her best friend because her power doesn’t lie between her thighs, it lies between her ears. She considers herself to be the best listener and that’s clearly one of the many ways Erykah Badu makes men go crazy.
In Cuba with Common
With no hard feelings or lingering resentment in her first serious relationship, Erykah was ready to move on. In 2000, she started dating the rapper Common. He took her on an illegal trip to Cuba because he wanted her to get a Santería reading. Years later she couldn’t remember the results of the reading, but joked that maybe the practitioner told her: “Don’t get with Common.”
He was head-over-heels for her and called Erykah his first true love. Just like in her last relationship, she and Common collaborated on music together including the songs, “The Light” and “Love of My Life.”
Common told People magazine that Erykah taught him how to speak his mind and be the man he always wanted to be. And just like her ex André, Common’s clothing choice began to change once he started dating Erykah. He told The Combat Jack Show the singer definitely inspired him to give up the baggy clothes and start wearing crochet pieces.
Under Erykah’s spell, he started to do things he had never done for someone else. For example, he got down on his hands and knees to help Erykah plant a vegetable garden for an Essence magazine photoshoot. He later said he went a little too far in an attempt to make her happy but, he wanted to join in on something that made her really happy. In the interview, he also expressed how nervous he was to talk about their romance because their relationship was so sacred to him.
Common couldn’t accept the breakup
While Common was completely infatuated, the feeling wasn’t mutual. Erykah confirmed to The Breakfast Club they were starting to grow apart and they hadn’t seen each other in a little while. She told Common she needed space, but he wouldn’t accept it. She said she tried to break up with him multiple times, and she finally put an end to things in 2002.
Radio host DJ Envy joked that it’s hard to break up with a light-skinned person. Erykah agreed and added: “You try to break up with some guys and they act like it never happened.” She also said Common couldn’t accept the fact that it was over.
The rapper told People magazine he was in a haze following their break up and it was hard for him to eat at times. Surprisingly, he jumped right into another relationship shortly after. When that relationship ended, he was forced to get some therapy to help him heal.
When asked about the power of the “Badu Box,” Common joked with The Combat Jack Show that Erykah’s lady parts can take a man to “another universe.” On a more serious note, he said it wasn’t even about Erykah’s moves in the bedroom. He stated, “It’s just something that’s kind of spirit-wise where you’re like, ‘This woman got something else.’”
Moving on again
Erykah moved on and began dating rapper The D.O.C. We can’t confirm when they started dating, but their daughter Puma was born in 2004. It’s also unclear when they broke up. But by 2006, she was dating Jay Electronica and gave birth to another daughter named Mars in February 2009.
In 2010, when Vibe magazine asked if she was single, she refused to answer the question. However, she took to her Twitter that same year to say she and Jay had separated three years prior, which meant they broke up years before she gave birth to their daughter.
Shutting down The D.O.C.
Erykah Badu makes men go crazy, and The D.O.C. is proof of that. In 2011, he gave an interview to the Dallas Observer that really ticked Erykah off.
He gave the publication all the private details about Erykah’s Dallas home. He spoke about how enchanted he was by her, and how he hoped to film a reality show that would end with the two of them tying the knot on the final episode.
After the interview was published, Erykah’s team fired back in a statement that shut down the reality show idea. The statement also stated there was “no romantic dynamic” between Erykah and D.O.C. and she wasn’t interested in marrying him. The statement ended by wishing D.O.C. the best, both “spiritually and professionally.”
MTV caught up with D.O.C. at the red carpet of the BMI Awards and asked for his thoughts about her camp’s statement. He said perhaps he went too far with the whole reality show idea, but he was in denial that the statement was actually dictated by Erykah herself. He added “I love Erykah, Erykah loves me. I don’t need no rings to love her.”
Was she the other woman?
Next up was producer Carl Jones, the man behind Black Dynamite and The Boondocks. They met sometime around 2014 when Erykah was asked to do voiceover work for Black Dynamite. There was just one little problem: Carl was allegedly married. His wife was reportedly right by his side when Erykah was completing the voiceover project.
In 2015, Carl couldn’t stop tweeting about Erykah. He shared countless selfies of the neo-soul artist and proclaimed his love for her. A source told The Jasmine Brand that the father of three immediately fell for Erykah. They started secretly dating, up until 2015 when Carl began expressing his love for Erykah on Twitter. Their alleged affair reportedly led to the end of Carl’s marriage.
In a since-deleted 2017 Instagram post, Erykah joked that her new relationship was her fourth time falling in love. Considering all photos of Carl have been wiped from her Instagram, it’s safe to assume this romance had run its course.
She reconnected with a familiar face in 2019 when she and her ex-boyfriend Common performed at the Black Girls Rock show. They sparked dating rumors, but as of this article, it appears that Erykah is single.
Her secret weapons
It’s hard to deny that Erykah Badu makes men go crazy. She has men leaving their wives, and Common hasn’t been right ever since he caught a whiff!
But the R&b singer is perplexed by the media’s interest in her love life. She told Vulture magazine she finds it odd that she gets blamed for taking rappers to the sunken place. However, she has some advice for the ladies on how to get a man to fall at their feet.
Erykah swears by drinking raw organic cranberry juice to make her lady parts sweet and to promote a strong and healthy womb and bladder. As far as any spicy tricks in the bedroom, she reiterated to The Breakfast Club that intimacy isn’t a big deal to her. Erykah told the radio show when it’s time to get to it, she prefers regular missionary because “it’s good for your intestines, the gallbladder, and the liver, and the spleen.”
In 2020, she launched a new incense on her official website that mimics the smell of her privates. She told 10 magazine she hasn’t worn undergarments in years, so she took a few pairs of her old underwear, cut them into little pieces, burned them, and used the ashes as part of the fragrance. The scent reportedly sold out almost immediately, proof that the allure surrounding her whole aura will never fade away.
Erykah is clearly having fun with the urban legend that she makes men lose their minds. But it’s hard to deny that there’s something alluring and captivating about the neo-soul queen.
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