Rule No. 1 of interviewing Erykah Badu on the topic
of fashion: Do not be so simple as to presume that her
eclectic and expansive wardrobe can be contained
in a single closet. “Oh, do you mean my closets?” she
responds when asked about where she stores her
things. “My closets look like full rooms. I am a collector,
after all.” She goes on to tell me that she hasn’t gotten
rid of one piece of clothing since the mid-’90s, when
she appeared, miragelike, on the music scene as a soul
goddess in colorful head wraps and slinky dresses.
Her vast collection resides in her home city of Dallas,
where she has lived for most of her 48 years. There she
has “two big dressing rooms.” Pause. “And a few small
closets...and storage.” Pause. “And my grandmother’s
house—she doesn’t really need all that space.”
Anyone who has watched Badu’s iconic music vid-
eos or seen her perform (she still tours eight months
out of the year) knows that fashion isn’t the only thing
she collects. A creative polymath, she has a voracious
appetite for all forms of art and culture. She’s a singer,
a songwriter, a producer, a mama, an actor. She’s also
a doula for those who are coming into the world and
for those who are leaving it. Badu says she doesn’t get
much rest with this line of work and always feels
slightly delirious. She has helped deliver around 35
babies, and the last one was coaxed out only after
she gave the mother a special brew of tea, banged on
a gong, and played hard-core hip-hop. “Babies like
Wu-Tang,” she deadpans.
Her last significant release, But You Caint Use My
Phone, came out in 2015. Since then Badu has offered
R
148 InSTYLE NOVEMBER 2019
Valentino cape. Raf Simons
coat, pants, gloves, and bag.
From Badu’s collection: Jessica
Pass hair pieces, mouthpiece,
and ring. Maison Margiela
tabi boots.
EDITORS’ PICK
For more dimension, use
a cream eye shadow,
like Maybelline New York
ColorTattoo 24 Hour
Eyeshadow ($8; maybelline
.com), in place of primer,
then top with powder.