Erykah Badu isn't one to shy away from tough topics, and we've seen nude videos of her before. So the racy new video for a cover of Roberta Flack's song, First Time Ever I Saw Your Face she did with the Flaming Lips shouldn't be shocking. But oh is it ever.
Honestly, it's one of the most bizarre, twisted videos I've seen in a long time. There's blood, semen, lots of glitter, and plenty of nudity. I'm not sure if there's any message that it's supposed to be sending, but whatever it is, it gets lost in the shock. It's definitely NSFW, so if you choose to watch it (after the jump) be very careful who's around, and be prepared to be shocked.
Turns out that even Badu is shocked; she's pissed that it was released by the Flaming Lips without her approval. She took to Twitter and blasted the band's front man, Wayne Coyne, for releasing it.
It's long (what happened to 140 characters or less?), but here's an excerpt that gives you a pretty good idea how angry she is:
@waynecoyne then… perhaps, next time u get an occasion to work with an artist who respects your mind/art, you should send at least a ROUGh version of the video u PLAN to release b4 u manipulate or compromise the artist's brand by desperately releasing a poor excuse for shock and nudity that sends a convoluted message that passes as art( to some).
Even with Window Seat there was a method and thought process involved. I have not one need for publicity . I just love artistic dialogue . And just because an image is shocking does not make it art.
You obviously have a misconception of who I am artistically. I don't mind that but…
By the way you are an ass.
Yu did everything wrong from the on set .
She goes on to talk about how he breached their contract, and that it was in no way a product she would have allowed to be released. She says that while she refused to sit in the blood etc., she did have her sister, Nayrok "who is much more liberal" do so with the understanding that she would approve the end product. She said that never happened. "I never would have approved that tasteless, meaningless, shock motivated video," she stated. She ended by telling the band to kiss her glittery ass.
It's difficult to know what really went down. There's a small part of me that wonders how much of this outrage is fueled by some sort of publicity ploy. It's a gorgeous song, but I'm sure it will reach many more ears than it would have without all of this controversy.
In any case, here's the video if you want to see what the fuss is all about. Again, be WARNED: It's graphic and pretty disturbing, so watch at your own discretion.
Do you think Erykah Badu has a right to be angry about this video being released? What did you think of the video?
Image via Perez Hilton
Tie-Dye for the Fourth of July!
Mom Survives Horrific Domestic Abuse
Kim and Kanye's Baby Name Predictions!
Moms Love Birthday Parties, Too!
Comments 44
How does she have any right at all to complain about the finished product like HE wronged HER? These are all scenes SHE filmed. She was there. SHe did these things. ANd then she's mad when they come out in the video she knew she was there to film? She sounds like a moron to me.
You'd think her sister would have filled her in on what went down during the filming, so if I were her, I'd be pissed at my sister as well as the band who released the video. You can bet she'll never agree to another video appearance unless she's allowed to OK the final product.
well, that was fast. i can't even watch the video - it's been pulled from every site i've tried to look up. honestly, who cares. people do crap for shock value all the time. and erykah badu is no stranger to controversy, so while she might be angry if there was a true breach of contract, i have a hard time believing she would think something's too 'over the top' until the disapproval comes in from outside sources...
(again, this is all without seeing the full video, just a few screengrabs. angry artists sure can get stuff off the internet fast - why is it so hard for me to remove those drunk spring break pictures from 1997?!?
wow she is going to have glitter in her hoo-ha for yrs. her next baby might be covered in the stuff.
WTF did I just watch O.0??
I'm willing to say/bet that Wayne Coyne/Flaming Lips didn't do anything they didn't think they had approval for. Anyone who knows anything about him and his band knows that their lives are pretty much an open book and he also is adept at reading contracts. I would guess that if there is an issue it was a "verbal" misunderstanding, however a sane person would think that if Wayne/Flaming lips were notorious for breaking their word why would these other stars keep collabrating with them? She appears to be the first to have issue. BTW Wayne Coyne tweeted picks of glitter on his lips saying that he had "kissed her ass" hahahahahaha pretty funny. And IMHO, without some shock and publicity she is not really a household name......yet.............hahahahaha
Other than the gooey stuff looking kinda gross, there wasn't really anything shocking about it. I've seen worse. I can understand why she would be upset if she wasn't prepared for the nudity to be made public, but she should have thought of that before filming.