Erykah Badu: New Amerykah Part Two - Return of The Ankh (2LP, purple vinyl) [MOTOWN]

Why you'll love it

This limited edition spreads the album across two purple LPs in a gatefold jacket. It debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with 110,000 copies in its first week.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Purple vinyl
• Gatefold jacket
• Limited edition

About the album

Questlove gave Erykah Badu her first computer one Christmas, and her son Seven showed her how to turn it into a studio. Working from home in Dallas on GarageBand, swapping beats over iChat with Questlove, Madlib, 9th Wonder and J Dilla, she wrote more than 75 songs and split them across a planned series of New Amerykah albums.

Part Two is the warm, loose, analogue half, all grooves and romance where Part One was dense and complex. "Window Seat" floats on a gentle Questlove and James Poyser groove, "Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY)" reworks a Sylvia Striplin groove, and "Gone Baby, Don't Be Long" bounces along on a Madlib beat. J Dilla's "Love" and "Umm Hmm" keep it deep, "Fall in Love (Your Funeral)" glides, and the closing suite, split into movements here, sprawls beautifully. Much of it was finished at Electric Lady Studios in New York.

Badu recorded her vocal for "Window Seat" in the shower to get a tunnel sound, which is the finest excuse for a long shower we've ever heard.

Also at Kops: more Erykah Badu on vinyl · browse Hip Hop / R&B

Tracklist

Listen

On Control Freaq / Motown, a reissue of the 2010 album.