| Ancestry in Progress | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 2004 | |||
| Genre | Afropop, soul, hip hop | |||
| Label | Luaka Bop/V2 Records [1] | |||
| Producer | Marie Daulne, Anthony Tidd, Richard Nichols | |||
| Zap Mama chronology | ||||
| ||||
Ancestry in Progress is an album by Zap Mama, released in 2004. [2] [3] Marie Daulne, Zap Mama's leader, deemed the music "Afropean". [4]
The album peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's World Albums chart. [5]
The album was mostly recorded in Philadelphia, where Daulne worked with musicians associated with the Roots. [6] [7] It contains contributions from Talib Kweli, Erykah Badu, Questlove, Bahamadia, and Common. [8] [9] Daulne sings in French and English, while also employing chants from Pygmy music. [10]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [11] |
| Robert Christgau |  [1] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [12] |
| Philadelphia Daily News | B+ [8] |
| Rolling Stone | [13] |
| USA Today | [7] |
Exclaim! thought that "'Bandy Bandy', with Erykah Badu, stands out because of its polished immediacy." [14] The Baltimore Sun determined that "Daulne blends the ancient (her trademark pygmy onomatopoeic vocal techniques and chants) with the present (smoothed- out, atmospheric grooves)." [6]
The New York Times concluded: "Half of the album comes across simply as neo-soul with a Belgian accent. But the other half—especially 'Show Me the Way'—meshes Zap Mama's dizzying, ping-ponging vocal polyphony with pithy hip-hop beats and a pan-African assortment of guitar curlicues." [15] The Sydney Morning Herald opined: "Singing in both French and English, she's a breathy African Bjork one minute, an operatic Afro-funk diva the next." [16] Rolling Stone considered that "despite rap cameos and world-beat sound effects, the grooves are as bland as bad neosoul, and the songs sound like bundles of self-consciously eclectic singing." [13]
AllMusic wrote that "this is far more an urban recording, where urban pop and nu-soul are informed by worldbeat esthetics rather than the other way around." [11]
Erica Abi Wright, known professionally as Erykah Badu, is an American singer and songwriter. Influenced by R&B, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut album Baduizm (1997), placed her at the forefront of the neo soul movement, earning her the nickname "Queen of Neo Soul" by music critics.
Baduizm is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Erykah Badu. It was released on February 11, 1997, by Kedar Records and Universal Records. After leaving university in order to concentrate on music full-time, Badu then began touring with her cousin, Robert "Free" Bradford, and recorded a 19-song demo, Country Cousins, which attracted the attention of Kedar Massenburg. He set Badu up to record a duet with D'Angelo, "Your Precious Love," and eventually signed her to a record deal with Universal. Recording sessions for the album took place from January to October 1996 in New York City, Philadelphia, and Dallas.
Neo soul is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contemporary R&B. Heavily based in soul music, neo soul is distinguished by a less conventional sound than its contemporary R&B counterpart, with incorporated elements ranging from funk, jazz fusion, hip hop, and African music to pop, rock, and electronic music. It has been noted by music writers for its traditional R&B influences, conscious-driven lyrics, and strong female presence.
Mama's Gun is the second studio album by American singer Erykah Badu. It was recorded between 1999 and 2000 at Electric Lady Studios in New York and released on November 21, 2000, by Motown Records. A neo soul album, Mama's Gun incorporates elements of funk, soul, and jazz styles. It has confessional lyrics by Badu, which cover themes of insecurity, personal relationships, and social issues. The album has been viewed by critics as a female companion to neo soul artist D'Angelo's second album Voodoo (2000), which features a similar musical style and direction. Critics have also noted that while Badu's first album Baduizm contained its share of cryptic lyricism, Mama's Gun is much more direct in its approach, and places the artist in a subjective position more than its predecessor.
James Jason Poyser is an American songwriter, record producer, musician and current member of the hip hop band The Roots.
"You Got Me" is a song by American hip hop band The Roots, featuring vocals from Erykah Badu and Eve, then known as Eve of Destruction, who raps the second verse but does not appear in the music video. The track was released as a single from the band's fourth studio album, Things Fall Apart (1999), in January 1999.
Marie Daulne is a Belgian singer.
Dana Nicole Amma Williams, is known professionally as YahZarah, is a Ghanaian American singer and music producer. She is known for radio hits "Wishing" and "Why Dontcha Call Me No More". In 1997, she began her career as a background singer for Erykah Badu.
"On & On" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Erykah Badu, released on December 10, 1996, by Kedar Records and Universal Records as the lead single from Badu's debut studio album, Baduizm (1997). It was written by her with JaBorn Jamal. A neo soul song, it features teachings of the Five-Percent Nation in its lyrics. A commercial success, it spent two weeks atop the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, while peaking at number 12 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart.
7 or Seven is an album by Zap Mama, released in 1997 on Luaka Bop Records.
I made music on Seven the same way as on the other albums. I only used acoustic instruments... I'm looking for instruments that have vocal sounds, forgotten instruments like the guimbri... The first and second albums were about the voice, what came before. This album is about introducing those sounds into modern, Western life.
Zap Mama is a Belgian performer, composer, lyricist, activist, video artist and ethno-vocal therapist born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, raised in Belgium. Zap Mama sings polyphonic and afro-pop music, a harmonic music with a mixture of infused African vocal techniques, urban, hip hop with emphasis on voice. In order to explore and discover the vast world of oral tradition music. She travels throughout Africa, learning, exchanging and sharing information about healing songs, lullabies, mourning, and practising polyphony with griots (bards), Tartit tuareg women, Dogons, Peulhs, Pygmies, Mangbetus, Zulus and others.
Bill Fishman is an American film director, whose work includes the cult film Tapeheads, starring Tim Robbins and John Cusack, as well as the film version of the TV classic Car 54, Where Are You? He won an award at the 1999 New York International Independent Film & Video Festival and has also directed numerous music videos for such artists as The Ramones, Georgia Satellites, Hank Williams Jr., Suicidal Tendencies and Moloko.
New Amerykah Part One is the fourth studio album by American R&B singer-songwriter Erykah Badu. It was released on February 26, 2008, by Universal Motown following Badu's hiatus from recording music due to writer's block. In returning from the hiatus, she received music from several hip hop producers over the Internet and recorded demos of her vocals using the GarageBand software on her laptop. Most of the album was then recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City.
New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh) is the fifth studio album by American recording artist Erykah Badu, first released on March 30, 2010, through Universal Motown. Collaborating with several hip hop producers over the Internet, Badu conceived 75 songs set to be split over three albums with New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) (2008) being the first. The album was recorded primarily at Electric Lady Studios in New York City.
The Frustrated Artist Tour was a club and theater tour by American R&B singer Erykah Badu. During the summer of 2002, Badu at the time was getting writer's block from penning songs for her album Worldwide Underground. Hoping to find inspiration, she set out on a 2-month trek of theaters and small clubs, with additional dates added through the summer until December. During this tour, Erykah had the chance to showcase new songs from the album, "Danger", "I Want You", "Woo" and "Back in the Day (Puff)". A new song "Dear Misery" was performed well as hits.
The Mama's Gun World Tour was a concert tour and the second by American R&B singer Erykah Badu in support of her multi-platinum selling album Mama's Gun. The tour started in North America on February 10, in Cleveland, Ohio at the Allen Theatre. Badu will perform two nights each in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Chicago.
"Q.U.E.E.N." is a song by American recording artist Janelle Monáe featuring the singer Erykah Badu. It was released on April 23, 2013, as the lead single from Monáe's second studio album, The Electric Lady. Stylized in the form of question and response, each line of the song has Monáe expressing her thoughts on subjects ranging from sexuality to religion. Prince, a mentor to Monáe, called the music video for "Q.U.E.E.N." the best music video of 2013.
But You Caint Use My Phone is a mixtape by American singer Erykah Badu. It was released on November 27, 2015, by Motown and Control Freaq. Following the release of New Amerykah Part Two (2010), Badu embarked on a five-year hiatus, during which she traveled to Africa in an attempt to record new music, though this never surfaced. After receiving a remix of "Bag Lady" from producer Zach Witness, Badu contacted him in order to record with him. Shortly thereafter, the pair met again and went to Witness's home in Dallas, Texas, and worked in his bedroom studio, where they recorded the mixtape in 11 days. The mixtape features appearances from rapper ItsRoutine and André 3000.
A Ma Zone is an album by the group Zap Mama, released in 1999. The group supported the album with a North American tour. The first single was "Rafiki".