Erykah Badu Teases New Music & Stops Show To Shout Out ASL Interpreter At Essence Fest

I don’t think Erykah Badu can be anything but unequivocally and unapologetically herself. If there has ever been a moment of pretense throughout her over 30-year career, I haven’t seen it. And I, like so many other millennial Black girls, have been paying attention. For over 30 years, Badu has been a constant source of authenticity in an industry that tries to diminish Black women who dare to be themselves. This weekend at the 2025 Essence Festival Of Culture, Badu’s individualism and particular brand of candor-you-can’t-teach was on full display. 

"Is nothing sacred?" Badu asked, after hilariously calling in a fan who she saw “put her purse on the stage and start looking for her keys.” That was just one instance when Badu paused her flawless soulful vocals to interact with the crowd. In a moment now going viral, Badu gave love to the festival’s American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter, Cheyenne Atkins, who was positioned just to the side of the safe with her image projected on screens to the crowd. Now that Black American Sign Language (BASL) is in the news because Sinners will be the first film to stream in the language, it felt like a fitting and timely exchange. A few songs into her set, Badu glanced up at the screens, gestured to Atkins and pointed out how she was interpreting her band’s uptempo, bass‑heavy musical interludes. And let me tell you, nobody could have interpreted Badu's band in this way but a Black woman doing BASL.

Philadelphia native Atkins has been an ASL interpreter at Essence Fest the past two years, according to NOLA.com. “But, she said after her remote collaboration with Badu, ‘I’ve never had to break it down before,’” Keith Spera for NOLA.com reports. Badu and Atkins’ interaction was a welcome moment of recognition between two Black women owning their respective performances.

As Badu warmly acknowledged Atkins’ unexpected, fluid, and expressive movements, it was a small gesture, but it resonated deeply. I love watching competent Black women kill it at their jobs! It felt like Badu and Atkins were speaking not just through sound, but through intention and energy (ignoring the interruption from Essence Fest host and actor, Anthony Anderson). 

There were other candid moments when Badu spoke directly to the audience, like when she jokingly admonished the crowd for sitting down during the beginning of her set. “Right now Imma do one of my favourite songs, [but]  it’s not going to be ‘Tyrone’ because y’all were sitting down at the beginning and I’m vindictive so I’m punishing you for sitting down,” she said to laughs. Badu, of course, is referring to her 1997 classic (and my go-to karaoke song) “Tyrone (Live)”. Badu relented after cheers from the crowd and turned to her band and said, “If we do do it, let’d do it fast as fuck” before launching into a sped-up rendition of her fan-favorite hit. As someone who has heard the song about a million times and knows every run, every adlib and every “shhhiiit”, it was refreshing to hear a new version of one of my favorite jams. 

Badu brought her familiar electric yet soft spoken energy on stage and she took those vibes backstage when she hit the press room after her set. Dressed in “what I wore to the airport,” the artist revealed that she doesn’t have a stylist. “I enjoy doing my own hair and makeup, clothing, my stage setup, writing the songs, playing the instruments. I enjoy that very, very much. It’s all about of the art of who I am.” she told the room of onlooking press. 

Erykah Badu’s multifaceted art has sustained a career that most artists can only dream of. And there’s more coming. Badu recently released "Next to You," her first new single in over a decade. Produced by acclaimed hip‑hop maestro The Alchemist, the track blends her warm, introspective neo‑soul vocals with a soulful, bass‑heavy, Mobb Deep‑sampling beat—opening a lush portal into what promises to be her first full-length studio album since New  Amerykah Part Two. 

“I came up with the concept because I hadn’t produced an album in awhile … It’s just fun and a chance to evolve and keep expressing who I am in my talent.”Badu also mentioned her mysterious upcoming record Abi & Alan, slated for this summer, which continues the sonic partnership with The Alchemist and will be showcased on her joint "Luv Iz" / "Abi & Alan Tour" across Japan and North America, according to Pitchfork.

We're halfway through the year and so when I asked Badu what she was leaving behind in the first half of 2025, she delivered a word I think we can all take into the next 6 months. "[I'm leaving behind] a little more doubt," she said after a long pause. "A little more doubt... in every area. I'll tell you what, I'm not going to let fame let me miss my train."

At the end of the press room, as Badu was wrapping to go watch her friend Jill Scott perform, she thanked every journalist (mostly a room of Black folks) for our questions and took off the towering hat she was wearing to reveal her natural hair pulled up in small a high braid. It was another dose of realness you rarely see from artists in her position.

I left the night feeling at once electrified and centered. That's the Erykah Badu effect. She wasn’t just performing at Essence Fest, she was guiding us through a neo‑soul revival, building a generational bridge. In one transcendent night, she honored her past, embraced her present, and invited us all into her future.