Mama's Gun

Having been signed to Universal Records and Kedar Massenburg's Kedar Entertainment, Erykah Badu released her debut studio album Baduizm on February 11, 1997. Baduizm received unanimous critical acclaim, with numerous critics comparing Badu's vocal performance to Billie Holiday; the album went on to win the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. The album's success helped establish Badu as one of the emerging leading artists of neo soul, with author Joel McIver crediting Baduizm with introducing the term "neo soul" to mainstream audiences. While promoting Baduizm, Badu recorded the live album Live, which was released on November 18, 1997—the day Badu gave birth to Seven Sirius Benjamin. Live was another commercial success for Badu, debuting at number four on the Billboard 200.—which won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group As Massenburg resigned from his position as the senior vice president of Universal Records in favor of being appointed president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Motown in 1998, Badu transferred to Motown as well. ==Writing and recording==

(pictured) in New York City. By April 1999, Badu had begun recording ''Mama's Gun'' at her home studio in Dallas, Motown enlisted mainstream R&B producers R. Kelly and Babyface, but Badu declined the offers, stating: "I respect their music but it's not necessarily parallel to what I do". Utilizing live instruments to achieve her desired sound, Badu initially collaborated with drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, bassist Pino Palladino, and pianist James Poyser, while contributing with her own guitar and percussion, writing spontaneously as she was recording. Badu reflected on the recording process: "[We] were just all working in that space at the same time, and we were just artists who really admired one another and made sure we locked down all the rooms so nobody else could get in there, and we created our own clubhouse spaceship. I lived there. I lived in my room there, bathed out of the sink and all that kind of stuff." Badu visited J Dilla at his home in Detroit, and he told her to select a vinyl from his collection to draw inspiration from. She selected jazz-funk ensemble Tarika Blue's 1977 eponymous second and final studio album, and the pair subsequently recorded "Didn't Cha Know", employing a sample from Tarika Blue's "Dreamflower" for its background. At the last minute, Badu decided to revise the track order, Furthermore, Badu recorded an alternate form of the lead single "Bag Lady" for ''Mama's Gun'', and refrained from including the previously released Cheeba Sac Mix on the album, writing in the liner notes that "there was simply not enough room" for it. ==Musical style==

(pictured) played trumpets on "Booty" and "Green Eyes", and was credited with all horn arrangements on ''Mama's Gun''. ''Mama's Gun is primarily a neo soul album, differentiating from Baduizm by experimenting with a broad array of genres, including jazz, funk, rock, reggae, and traditional soul. Jake Barnes of Dotmusic described Mama's Gun'' as the counterweight to its predecessor: "Where her debut was light and jazzy, 'Mama's Gun' is heavy and grounded", emphasizing the opening track "Penitentiary Philosophy" as the prime example. Built on a dense arrangement of guitars and bass, "Penitentiary Philosophy" fuses 1970s funk with rock and roll. The airy lounge "Cleva" is driven by vibraphone played by Roy Ayers, which utilizes tight percussion and conspicuous horns, and steadily segues into the Rhodes piano and the Minimoog synthesizer-driven "Kiss Me on My Neck (Hesi)". Throughout the album, Badu maintains the scat singing style of her debut; with tracks such as "Booty" drawing influences from works of James Brown and Quincy Jones. and appears in a slower-paced, West African gospel and blues-influenced neo soul style, substantially differing from the up-tempo Cheeba Sac Mix used for the single. While the hip-hop-influenced Cheeba Sac Mix incorporates the sample of "Xxplosive" to a larger extent, the album version is built on the Isaac Hayes-written and produced 1971 track "Bumpy's Lament", which had served as the basis for "Xxplosive". ''Mama's Gun'' closes with a 10-minute suite "Green Eyes", split into movements "Denial", "Acceptance?", and "The Relapse". While "Denial" maintains a 1930s-influenced jazz style, "Acceptance?" and "The Relapse" feature a melancholy, piano-driven soul approach. ==Lyrical themes==

In an interview for The New York Times, Badu revealed the meaning behind the title of ''Mama's Gun'' to be a metaphor for her being protective of her son Seven: "And there's no better protection than your mama's words. That album is the gun: use those words, those feelings, to solve the problems." In her poem "The Warriors Remainder", written in the album's liner notes, Badu explained the title as representing a weapon eliminating "demons in [her] range", which Jake Barnes of Dotmusic interpreted as a remedy to pressures of her sudden fame in the aftermath of Baduizm. Lyrical themes of ''Mama's Gun'' encompass love, self-worth, and social equity. Self-help-themed "My Life" is an homage to Mary J. Blige's 1994 album of the same title, and retrospectively expresses Badu's desire to achieve eminence. Meanwhile, "Orange Moon" discusses arising from a period of anguish and finding happiness, expressing appreciation to God. ==Marketing and touring==

In July 2000, ''Mama's Gun'' was announced as indefinitely postponed, having been scheduled for a September 19 release; "Bag Lady" had already begun receiving radio airplay. "Bag Lady" was officially released as the album's lead single on August 8, and became Badu's first top-10 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 by peaking at number six, as well as her second Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs number one. Its accompanying music video was directed by Badu, and shows her accompanied by four women—including her mother Kolleen Gipson and sister Nayrok Wright—wearing colors symbolizing chakras, with Badu's red attire representing Muladhara. The song's lyrical themes are further explored in the video as the women portrayed the characters of Ntozake Shange's 1976 work For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf. ''Mama's Gun'' was ultimately announced for November 21, 2000. Prior to its worldwide release, the album was first made available in Japan on November 18, as Badu commenced the album's promotional tour in the country, simultaneously arranging live chats via BET and MSNBC's respective websites. "Didn't Cha Know" was released as the second single from ''Mama's Gun on November 27, 2000, but failed to replicate the success of its predecessor, failing to chart on the Billboard'' Hot 100 and instead reaching number 13 on its extension chart Bubbling Under Hot 100. Its accompanying music video was also directed by Badu, Badu extended the Mama's Gun World Tour with a European leg in July, before embarking on the second North American leg the following month; the tour culminated in Boston on September 3, 2001. The tour commenced in Los Angeles on October 3, and culminated in Dallas on December 10, comprising 28 shows across the US and Europe. It received widespread critical acclaim, predominantly for Badu's stage presence and multifaceted performance skills, as well as for imagery and stage design. To further celebrate the anniversary, Badu performed reinterpreted versions of "Penitentiary Philosophy", "...& On", "Time's a Wastin", "Green Eyes", and "Didn't Cha Know" alongside bassist Thundercat, and was interviewed by DJ Quik, for an episode of Spotify Anniversary, released on November 19. ==Critical reception==

Initial response On release, ''Mama's Gun'' received widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 based on reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 80, based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Badu's songwriting elicited predominant praise; Touré of Rolling Stone commended Badu for abandoning the pretensions of Baduizm in favor of equally profound but more comprehensible lyrics, Andy Gill of The Independent praised the feminist and politically conscious lyrical themes, which placed Badu "firmly apart from her less enlightened peers". Alongside songwriting, Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine hailed the "fresh hybrid" of organic grooves, live instrumentation and modern production techniques of ''Mama's Gun, Writing for NPR, Tom Moon concluded that "through improvisation, Badu has found a way to make hip-hop regain its spontaneity". Michael Paoletta of Billboard'' praised the musical style's eclecticism, hailing the album as a "rock-solid set". Rob Brunner of Entertainment Weekly, all directed praise towards Badu's nuanced and distinctive vocal performance, but were ambivalent towards the album's themes. In less laudatory reviews, Q wrote that Badu's debut had raised expectations she did not meet on ''Mama's Gun, and was included on the annual poll Pazz & Jop—at number 15 as published in The Village Voice'', and at number nine on Christgau's individual ranking. Internationally, ''Mama's Gun was included on French newspaper Libération, Icelandic newspaper Morgunblaðið, and Dutch magazine Oor''s respective annual listings of best albums. At the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards (2001), the album's lead single "Bag Lady" garnered nominations for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song, while the second single "Didn't Cha Know" received a nomination in the latter category the following ceremony. Retrospective commentary Critical acclaim persevered with retrospective commentaries on ''Mama's Gun''. Like Touré, Rob Theakston of AllMusic praised Badu's departure from complex lyricism, while complimenting the album's sonic quality and production, Ranking it among the best albums ever recorded, Entertainment Weekly reflected on the album acting as a "freethinking, all-weirdos-welcome basement confessional". Rolling Stone similarly described it as "a wildly free, deliciously ambitious song cycle", which Badu had created "out of her own hard-won truths"; the publication placed the album at number 158 on its 2020 listing The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Pitchforks Daphne A. Brooks lauded the album's themes, writing that ''Mama's Gun "turned an important page as [Badu] set out to pair songs that evoked the art of exquisite and romantically-charged lingering and hanging [...] alongside songs about being fed up with stasis, isolation, restriction and aborted dreams". Piero Scaruffi declared it inferior to Baduizm, and Colin Larkin in The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (2007). Conversely, in The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Arion Berger and Nathan Brackett listed Mama's Gun'' as Badu's best work at the time, calling it "less elliptical and less thickly textured" than its predecessor. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, edited by Robert Dimery. In 2008, Tom Moon included it in his book 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, while Entertainment Weekly listed it among the best albums released within previous 25 years. In 2009, German publication Sounds by Rolling Stone included ''Mama's Gun in its issue dedicated to "masterpieces" from each decade, spanning from the 1960s until the 2000s. The album was also included on Spins 2015 ranking "The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years", and "The 200 Best Albums of the Last 25 Years", published via Pitchfork'' in 2021. ==Commercial performance==

In the US, ''Mama's Gun debuted at number 11 on the Billboard'' 200 chart dated December 9, 2000. Released during the highly competitive Thanksgiving week, it became Badu's first release not to reach the top 10 on the chart. and would go on to spend a total of 25 weeks on the chart. In the UK, the album debuted at number 76 on the UK Albums Chart, and exited from the chart two weeks later, simultaneously peaking at number 11 on the UK R&B Albums Chart. In 2021, ''Mama's Gun'' was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of 100,000 in the UK. In Japan, the album peaked at number 24 on the Oricon Albums Chart, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) in January 2001, for shipments of 100,000 units in the country. ==Legacy==

Following its release, ''Mama's Gun'' was widely recognized as a sophomore slump regarding commercial success. Despite the commercial performance, numerous critics, such as Okayplayer's Sope Soetan and Pitchforks Daphne A. Brooks, retrospectively declared the album superior to its predecessor, Reflecting on Mama's Gun World Tour, Soetan emphasized its impact on Badu's career progression, crediting the tour with solidifying her fanbase and establishing her as a touring artist. Comparing ''Mama's Gun to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds Vol. 1'', Brooks noted that, like Hill and Scott, Badu was not willing "to sacrifice extolling narratives of black feminist self-care for ones that exposed black communal peril, trauma, and tragedy", further accentuating the influence of its feminist themes on Beyoncé's 2010s recordings. The former further credited it with extending the mainstream impact of neo soul and influencing artists such as Childish Gambino, Amy Winehouse, John Legend, Janelle Monáe, and Raheem DeVaughn. Jaelani Turner-Williams of Stereogum wrote that ''Mama's Gun'' set the foundation for the burgeoning of Afrofuturism in mainstream music throughout the 2010s, comparing Childish Gambino's "Me and Your Mama" opening his 2016 album "Awaken, My Love!" to "Penitentiary Philosophy" opening ''Mama's Gun. While interviewing Badu for The Fader in 2021, Mark Ronson revealed that Mama's Gun'' was his favorite album of its era. ==Track listing==

Notes • signifies a co-producer • signifies an additional producer ==Personnel==

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''Mama's Gun''. • Jon Adler – engineering assistance (tracks 1, 3, 5, 9, 10, and 14) • Vincent Alexander – engineering assistance (tracks 5, 10, and 13), mixing assistance (tracks 10 and 13) • Roy Ayers – additional vocals (track 5), vibraphone (track 5) • Erykah Badu – acoustic guitar (track 9), art direction, background vocals (tracks 1, 5, 6, 8, and 12), composition (all tracks), executive production, lyrical arrangement (track 14), MPC2000 (track 12), production (all tracks), songwriting (all tracks), vocals (all tracks) • Brian Bailey – composition (track 12) • Davis Barnett – viola (tracks 3 and 13) • Chris Bell – engineering (tracks 4, 6, 7, and 12) • Sam Bowie – additional photography • Robert Bradford – additional songwriting (track 2) • Leslie Brathwaite – engineering (tracks 2, 3, 5, and 10), mixing (tracks 2, 3, 5, 10, and 13) • Errol Brown – engineering (track 11) • Ricardo Brown – composition (track 12) • Chinah – background vocals (track 1) • Tom Coyne – mastering • Jason Dale – mixing assistance (track 4) • Jack DeJohnette – composition (track 8) • Vikter Duplaix – composition (track 14), production (track 14) • Russell Elevado – engineering (tracks 1, 7, and 8), guitar (track 8), mixing (tracks 1, 7, 8, 12, and 14) • Chris Gehringer – mastering • Brian Geten – mixing assistance (track 6) • Mitch Getz – engineering assistance (track 2) • Leonard Gibbs – percussion (tracks 5, 7, and 8) • Larry Gold – cello (track 13), string arrangement (tracks 3 and 13) • Ramone Gonzalez – percussion (track 12) • Mark "Exit" Goodchild – engineering (tracks 3 and 13) • Paul Gregory – mixing assistance (track 6) • Geff Grimes – engineering assistance (track 4) • Nathan Hale – composition (track 12) • Isaac Hayes – composition (track 12) • Roy Hargrove – horn arrangements, trumpet (tracks 7 and 14) • Carlos Henderson – acoustic bass (track 14) • Gino "Lock Johnson" Iglehart – drums (tracks 6, 10, 12, and 13), production (track 13) • William Jackson – engineering assistance (track 2) • Jah Born – composition (track 4), production (track 4), programming (track 4) • Jef Le Johnson – additional acoustic guitar (track 9), guitar (track 1) • D'Wayne Kerr – flute (tracks 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14) • Michael A. Knight – Appletree Cafe Inc. representation • Olga Konopelsky – violin (tracks 3 and 13) • Emma Kummrow – violin (tracks 3 and 13) • Charles Kwas – violin (tracks 3 and 13) • Braylon Lacy – bass (tracks 6, 10, 12, and 13), composition (track 10), production (track 13) • Frank Lacy – trombone (track 7) • Craig Longmiles – composition (track 12) • Steve Mandel – engineering assistance (tracks 1, 5, 7, and 8), mixing assistance (tracks 1, 7, 8, 12, and 14) • Stephen Marley – acoustic guitar (track 11), bass (track 11), composition (track 11), production (track 11), songwriting (track 11), vocals (track 11) • Shaun Martin – composition (tracks 4, 10, 12, and 13), keyboard (tracks 6, 10, 12, and 13), production (track 13) • Kedar Massenburg – executive production • Robert Maxwell – cover art photography • Shinobu Mitsuoka – engineering assistance (tracks 3–5, 8, and 9), mixing assistance (tracks 2, 3, 5, 9, and 11) • Vernon J. Mungo – engineering (tracks 2 and 8–10) • N'dambi – background vocals (tracks 6, 10, and 12), composition (track 6), songwriting (track 6) • Peter Nocello – viola (tracks 3 and 13) • Pino Palladino – bass (tracks 1, 5, and 9), composition (track 1), electric guitar (track 14), production (tracks 1 and 9) • Charles Parker – violin (tracks 3 and 13) • James Poyser – additional drum programming (track 3), ARP String Ensemble (tracks 5 and 7), associate production, clavinet (tracks 1 and 7), composition (tracks 1, 3, 5, 8, and 14), Minimoog (tracks 2, 8, and 9), organ (track 1), piano (tracks 3, 5, and 14), production (tracks 1, 3, 5, 7–9, and 14), Rhodes piano (tracks 1–5, 7–9, and 14) • Lyonel "Kay-K" Rosemond – additional A&R coordination • Jacques Schwarz-Bart – saxophone (tracks 7 and 14) • Charlene Sheppard-Duncan – personal assistance • Simone/Whitfield – design • Jon Smeltz – engineering (tracks 3 and 13) • Rob Smith – engineering assistance (track 10) • Tom Soares – engineering (tracks 1–5, 8–10, and 14), mixing (tracks 4, 6, 9, and 11) • Eric Steiner – Pro Tools (tracks 3 and 4) • Igor Szwec – violin (tracks 3 and 13) • Gregory Teperman – violin (tracks 3 and 13) • Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson – composition (track 1), drums (tracks 1, 4, 5, 7–9, and 14), production (tracks 1 and 9) • Don Thompson – additional photography • Kelly Thompson – A&R project coordination, product management • Kierstan "TNT" Tucker – A&R project coordination • Mike "Shaggy" Turner – engineering assistance (tracks 3, 8, 9, and 13) • Michael Verdes – engineering assistance (tracks 4, 6, 7, and 12) • Ward White IV – Appletree Cafe Inc. representation • Mickey Whitfield – art direction • Betty Wright – additional vocals (track 9), background vocals (track 8), composition (track 9), songwriting (track 9) • Yahzarah – additional vocal harmonies (track 11), background vocals (tracks 1, 2, 6, 10, and 12) • James "Jay Dee" Yancey – bass (tracks 7 and 8), composition (track 8), drum programming (track 3), production (tracks 2, 3, and 8), programming (track 2) • Andre "Dr. Dre" Young – composition (track 12) • Eugene "Snooky" Young – composition (track 10) • Geno "Junebugg" Young – background vocals (tracks 6, 10, and 12), production (track 13), Rhodes piano (track 12) • Krystof Zizka – engineering assistance (track 3) ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==