{"title":"New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBadu’s fifth studio album, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNew Amerykah Part 2 (Return of the Ankh)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is celebrating its 16th anniversary. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e–––\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOriginally, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNew Amerykah Parts 1 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003eand\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan\u003e 2\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e were a part of a singular project, titled \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLowdown Loretta Brown\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. Badu accrued instrumentation from a number of producers, whom she refers to as “scientists,” to create a mass collection of sounds. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShe recalls working with 9th Wonder, Georgia Anne “Miss One” Muldrow, and James Poyser (who accompanied her on “Otherside of the Game,” and “Green Eyes”) to bring her ideas to the forefront. In the end, she realized that the tracks had different emotions attached to them, and could be split into two separate categories. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNew Amerykah Part 1 (4th World War)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e was the socio-political left brain,” she said. “Where its counterpart, [\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNew Amerykah Part 2 (Return of the Ankh)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e] had more melodic, fluid, lighter subjects.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe artwork for the album was created by EMEK, a masterful silkscreen artist who has crafted a number of Badu’s show posters over the years. As the child of radical, free-thinking, political cartoonists, EMEK was able to connect with Badu on a visual and ideological level. “He finishes my musical sentences visually,” she shared. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhen asked about how EMEK designed the cover art for \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNew Amerykah Part 2\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, Badu said, “EMEK listened to the [album] and he just started to create. That’s how we always work \u003c\/span\u003e— he’ll listen to the song or the album...he’ll ask me things about it. He’ll ask me things for clarity that he intuits or believes.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn the cover, Badu is seen in two forms \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e—\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e as a suited being, and also as a smaller entity exiting her own mind. The suit represented the guarded person Badu had become, while the freed, tuning fork-wielding version of herself was breaking free. This polarity is indicative of the dual nature of the project itself, and can be seen in various ways throughout: Groupthink vs. Individuality, Accountability vs. Victimization, and Fear vs. Love. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"In my understanding, everything has a vibrational frequency,\" Badu said. \"I studied...scientists and philosophers. African proverbs, and Native American proverbs. Tao Te Ching philosophy. And it all kind of narrows down to the same thing.\" She believes that all things move at a vibrational frequency, and these frequencies have a profound affect on us. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"If you measure the lower tones, they vibrate a lot slower. Higher tones vibrate a lot faster,\" she shared. Emotions follow this same concept, and thus is the root, and effect of the positive and negative energies that we live out. \"Love looks like forgiveness, love looks like encouragement, honor, honesty, joy, gratitude, [and] giving. And fear looks like anger, it looks like denial, it looks like jealousy, envy, competitiveness \u003c\/span\u003e— it looks like greed.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOf course, one of the biggest cultural moments of the 2010s was the video for \"Window Seat,\" wherein Badu stripped herself of everything that did not propel her forward. \"I was brave as fuck,\" she says with a hearty laugh. \"There was no rehearsal for that, because it's something you just do...all I knew was, I was gonna drive to an area, park my car, and be documented performing a shedding of everything that did not evolve me, that's performance art.\" \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe video's closing monologue summarized the ending. \"They play it safe, are quick to assassinate what they do not understand. They move in packs ingesting more and more fear with every act of hate on one another. They feel most comfortable in groups, less guilt to swallow. They are us. This is what we have become. Afraid to respect the individual. A single person within a circumstance can move one to change. To love herself. To evolve.\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.6667px;\"\u003e\"\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSuch is the wisdom of Badu. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNew Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e was a return to Badu’s form in a sense \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— an invitation to emotional honesty in the midst of worldwide change.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"new-amerykah-pt-2-2010-cd-see-deez","title":"New Amerykah Pt. 2 (2010) CD","description":"\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e1. 20 Feet Tall\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e2. Window Seat\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e3. Agitation\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e4. Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY)\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e5. Gone Baby, Don't Be Long\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e6. Umm Hmm\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e7. Love\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e8. You Loving Me (Session)\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e9. Fall In Love (Your Funeral)\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e10. Incense\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e11. Out My Mind, Just My Time\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e12. Jump Up in the Air (Stay There)\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Badu World","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":1207934900,"sku":"EB74","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0786\/3339\/files\/IMG_5910.png?v=1768840124"},{"product_id":"agitation-lyric-hoodie-purple","title":"Agitation Lyric Hoodie - Purple","description":"\u003cp\u003eI'm going through a thang now... finna pull this thang out.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur New Amerykah Part 2 anniversary hoodie is a roomy, eggplant, hoodie that features lyrics from the third track on the album. Comes in a variety of sizes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e–––\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eColors: Purple\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Badu World Market","offers":[{"title":"Purple \/ S","offer_id":32151517462602,"sku":"","price":75.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Purple \/ M","offer_id":32151517528138,"sku":"","price":75.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Purple \/ L","offer_id":32151517560906,"sku":"","price":75.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Purple \/ XL","offer_id":32151517593674,"sku":"","price":75.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Purple \/ 2XL","offer_id":32151517626442,"sku":"","price":75.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Purple \/ 3XL","offer_id":32151517659210,"sku":"","price":75.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0786\/3339\/files\/New_Amerykah_2_Hoodie_Purple-921.jpg?v=1767721849"},{"product_id":"agitation-new-amerykah-pt-2-lyric-tee-purple","title":"Agitation (New Amerykah Pt. 2) Lyric Tee - Purple","description":"\u003cp\u003eI'm going through a thang now... finna pull this thang out.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur \u003cem\u003eNew Amerykah Part 2 \u003c\/em\u003eanniversary tee is a roomy, eggplant, cotton shirt that features lyrics from the third track on the album. Comes in a variety of sizes. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e–––\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eColors: Purple\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Badu World Market","offers":[{"title":"S","offer_id":32468669726794,"sku":"","price":45.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"M","offer_id":32468669825098,"sku":"","price":45.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"L","offer_id":32468669923402,"sku":"","price":45.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"XL","offer_id":32468670054474,"sku":"","price":45.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"XXL","offer_id":32468670152778,"sku":"","price":45.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"XXXL","offer_id":32468670185546,"sku":"","price":45.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0786\/3339\/files\/New_Amerykah_2_T_Purple-670.jpg?v=1767737079"},{"product_id":"new-amerykah-part-two-return-of-the-ankh-limited-edition-shades-of-purple","title":"Vinyl – New Amerykah Part 2: Return of the Ankh 2LP (Opaque Violet Vinyl)","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBadu's Fifth Studio Album on Limited Edition Opaque Violet Double LP!\u003cbr\u003ePart of the Limited Shades of Purple Vinyl Series.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2010, Erykah Badu announced yet another new arrival: New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh. Whereas Part One was social and political in tone, Part Two taps into the more romantic and emotional side of Badu. \"It reminds me of the days of Baduizm,\" she says. \"It's just about beats and rhymes in a cipher.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIndeed, diehard fans of Badu will love New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh and newcomers to Badu's world will be curiously intrigued by the mystique and authenticity of an artist who is totally comfortable in her own skin. Whether directing a dope music video or exposing her vulnerabilities in rhyme, Badu transcends image. Just like the Santeria priest she met in Cuba, Badu no longer tries to be, she just is.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Badu World Market","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44037619581147,"sku":"","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0786\/3339\/products\/mtlp94607__64574.jpg?v=1680190170"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0786\/3339\/collections\/New_Amerykah_Pt_2.jpg?v=1743353078","url":"https:\/\/baduworld.market\/collections\/new-amerykah-pt-2.oembed","provider":"Badu World Market","version":"1.0","type":"link"}