Wikipedia

Mama's Gun

For the British band, see Mamas Gun.

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.[1] It has confessional lyrics by Badu, which cover themes of insecurity, personal relationships, and social issues.[2] 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.[3][4][5] 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.[6]

Mama's Gun
Studio album by
Erykah Badu
ReleasedNovember 21, 2000
Recorded1998–2000
StudioElectric Lady, New York City
Genre
Length71:50
LabelMotown/Puppy Love
Producer
Erykah Badu chronology
Live
(1997) 		Mama's Gun
(2000) 		Worldwide Underground
(2003)
Singles from Mama's Gun
  1. "Bag Lady"
    Released: August 8, 2000
  2. "Didn't Cha Know?"
    Released: November 28, 2000
  3. "Cleva"
    Released: April 17, 2001

The album contains the single "Bag Lady", Badu's first top 10 Billboard hit, which was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and for Best R&B Song. The song "Didn't Cha Know?" was also nominated for Best R&B Song. The album features substantial contributions from several members of the Soulquarians outfit, of which Badu was a member. It also features guests such as soul singer Betty Wright and trumpeter Roy Hargrove. Mama's Gun was met with generally positive reviews from critics. It was less commercially successful than Baduizm, receiving Platinum certification in the US. Rolling Stone magazine named it one of the Top 10 Albums of 2000.

Background edit

Following Badu signing to Universal Records, she released her debut studio album Baduizm, in early 1997. The album was met with critical and commercial success, debuting at number two on the Billboard charts and number one on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[7][8] Baduizm's commercial and critical success helped establish Badu as one of the emerging neo soul genre's leading artists.[9] Her particular style of singing drew many comparisons to Billie Holiday.[10] Baduizm was certified three times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, Gold by the British Phonographic Industry and the Canadian Recording Industry Association. [11] [12] [13] Badu recorded her first live album, while pregnant with Seven, and the release of the recording coincided with his birth.[14]

Recording edit

 
The album was recorded at the Electric Lady Studios.

After the success of Baduizm and Live, Badu took a short break to tend to her role as a mother to her newborn child, Seven, whom she had with her partner at the time, André Benjamin.[15] She returned to collaborating with Questlove of The Roots. The frequency of their collaborations led to her becoming a member of the Soulquarians - a collective formed of like-minded musicians, singers and rappers including Questlove, D'Angelo, Jay Dee, and Common (with whom she had previously worked in 1997). Unfortunately, by the time the songs for her follow-up album had begun to materialize, her spousal relationship with Benjamin had already broken down. Badu used the experience as inspiration for several of the songs that she would write, most notably "Green Eyes".[16] Another event, the murder of Amadou Diallo by New York City Police, serves as the basis for the song "A.D. 2000".[17]

As with other Soulquarian collaborations, the majority of the album was recorded at Electric Lady, Jimi Hendrix's personal recording studio, which was also used to create several landmark albums by David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, and John Lennon. Other studios include Dallas Sound Lab and Palmyra Studios in her hometown of Dallas, TX. The sessions were informal, and took place simultaneously with D'Angelo's Voodoo, Common's Like Water for Chocolate, and Bilal's 1st Born Second, resulting in impromptu collaborations and a distinctive sound that can be found among the three albums.[18] Renowned recording engineer, Russell Elevado, who was responsible for the mixing of all four albums, has stated that he used older techniques and vintage mixing gear in order to achieve the warmth found in older recordings. While most current recording techniques involve the use of hi-tech digital equipment, Elevado employed the use of analog equipment including vintage microphones and recording to tape.[citation needed]

Release and reception edit

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic80/100[19]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [20]
Boston Herald    [21]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[3]
The Guardian     [22]
Los Angeles Times    [23]
Pitchfork9.4/10[24]
Q     [25]
Rolling Stone     [2]
Uncut     [26]
The Village VoiceA[27]

Mama's Gun was released by Motown Records on November 21, 2000, and received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 80, based on 16 reviews.[19] Rolling Stone magazine's Touré said Badu abandoned the pretensions of Baduizm in favor of equally profound but more comprehensible lyrics.[2] In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau wrote that she improved her ability as a composer on Mama's Gun and also took note of her lyrics: "Maybe her sources are autobiographical, but she’s here to inspire all black-identified women and the men who admire them."[27] The A.V. Club's Keith Phipps praised her lyrical themes and the album's "deceptively simple arrangements, a lovely breakup suite ('Green Eyes'), and near-infinite replay value".[28] PopMatters critic Wayne Franklin found the record compelling in its personal scope of Badu's psyche, calling it "a definite work of art, destined to remain in heavy rotation for some time to come".[29]

Although most reviews were favorable, Mama's Gun was not as successful with consumers and critics as Baduizm had been;[30] Q wrote that Badu's debut had raised expectations she did not meet on Mama's Gun, while Entertainment Weekly said it was plagued by "a reactionary pseudo-sophistication that too often substitutes good taste for good tunes."[3][25] According to Badu in an interview a few months after the album's release, "it has sold 1.4 million in the US. So no, it didn't sell as much ... although creatively I feel like this is a better piece of work." She felt disappointed at first about its commercial performance, but was encouraged by the response from listeners at her concerts: "When I started to tour again and saw all the people show up who knew the words, it was confirmation that the work is not always for commercial success. It's also for spiritual upliftment."[30]

At the end of 2000, Mama's Gun was voted the 15th best album of the year in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics published by The Village Voice.[31] Christgau, the poll's supervisor, ranked it ninth best on his own year-end list.[32] The Times named it the ninth best record of the year.[citation needed] It was also ranked ninth by Rolling Stone,[33] while Jon Pareles named it the year's fifth best album in his list for The New York Times.[34] The newspaper's Ben Ratliff later said Mama's Gun and D'Angelo's Voodoo were "the great neo-soul records of 2000".[35] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[36] In the 2020 reboot of their list of 'The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time', Rolling Stone ranked Mama's Gun at number 158.[37]

Track listing edit

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Penitentiary Philosophy"
  • Badu
  • Poyser
  • Thompson[a]
  • Palladino[a]
6:09
2."Didn't Cha Know?"Badu
3:58
3."My Life"
  • Badu
  • Poyser
  • Badu
  • Poyser
  • Jay Dee[a]
3:59
4."...& On"
  • Jah Born
  • Badu
3:34
5."Cleva"
  • Badu
  • Poyser
  • Badu
  • Poyser
3:45
6."Hey Sugah"
Badu0:54
7."Booty"Badu
4:04
8."Kiss Me on My Neck (Hesi)"
5:34
9."A.D. 2000"
4:51
10."Orange Moon"
Badu7:10
11."In Love with You" (featuring Stephen Marley)
  • Badu
  • Marley
5:21
12."Bag Lady"
Badu5:48
13."Time's a Wastin'"
  • Badu
  • Martin
6:42
14."Green Eyes"
  • Badu
  • Poyser
  • Duplaix
10:04
2001 re-issue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
15."Bag Lady" (Cheeba Sac Radio Edit)
  • Badu
  • Martin
  • Hayes
  • Young
  • Bailey
  • Longmiles
  • Brown
  • Hale
Badu4:11
2002 Dutch edition bonus disc
No.TitleWriter(s)Producers(s)Length
1."Tyrone" (live)
  • Badu
  • Norman Hurt
 3:55
2."Hollywood"
Badu5:35
3."Drama"
  • Badu
  • Tyallen Macklin
  • Badu
  • Bob Power
6:04
4."Your Precious Love" (featuring D'Angelo)
4:40
5."Bag Lady" (Basement Boys Afrocentric Mix)
  • Badu
  • Martin
  • Hayes
  • Young
  • Bailey
  • Longmiles
  • Brown
  • Hale
Basement Boys (remix)8:22
6."Bag Lady" (Enhanced video)
  • Badu
  • Martin
  • Hayes
  • Young
  • Bailey
  • Longmiles
  • Brown
  • Hale
Badu4:08
7."Didn't Cha Know" (Enhanced video)Badu
  • Jay Dee
  • Badu
4:03

Notes

  • ^[a] indicates a co-producer.

Personnel edit

Musicians edit

Horns arranged by Roy Hargrove:

  • Flute – D'Wayne Kerr (6, 8, 10, 12, 14)
  • Saxophone – Jacques Swarzbart (7, 14)
  • Trumpet – Roy Hargrove (7, 14)
  • Trombone – Frank Lacy (7, 14)

Strings on tracks 3 and 13, arranged by Larry Gold:

  • Violins: Charlie Parker Jr., Emma Kummrow, Gregory Teperman, Igor Szwec, Olgo Konopelsky, Charles Kwas (13 only)
  • Violas: Davis Barnet, Peter Nocella
  • Cello: Larry Gold (13 only)

Production edit

  • Executive producers: Erykah Badu, Kedar Massenburg
  • Recording engineers: Tom Soares (1–5, 8–20, 14), Chris Bell (4, 6, 7, 12), Russell Elevado (1, 7, 8), Leslie Brathwaite (2, 3, 5, 10), Vernon J. Mungo (2, 8, 10), Jon Smeltz and Mark Goodchild (3, 13), Errol Brown (11)
  • Mixing Engineers: Tom Soares (4, 6, 9, 11), Russell Elevado (1, 7, 8, 12, 14), Leslie Brathwaite (2, 3, 5, 10, 13)
  • Assistant engineers: Jon Adler (1, 3, 5, 9, 10, 14), Steve Mandel (1, 5, 7, 8, 12, 14), Shinobu Mitsuoka (2–5, 8, 9, 11), Mike Turner (3, 8, 9, 13), Michael Verdes (4, 6, 7, 12), Vincent Alexander (5, 10, 13), Mitch Getz and William Jackson (2), Krystof Zizka (3), Jason Dale (4), Brian Geten and Paul Gregory (6), Rob Smith (10)
  • Erik Steiner – Pro-Tools (3, 4)
  • Mastering: Chris Gehringer, Tom Coyne
  • Vernon Mungo – production facilitator
  • Erykah Badu and Michael Whitfield – art direction
  • Simone/Whitfield – design
  • Robert Maxwell – cover art
  • Don Thompson – photography
  • Kierstan Tucker – A&R
  • Kelly Abraham - Marketing

Charts edit

Certifications edit

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[59] Gold 50,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[60] Gold 100,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[61] Gold 40,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[62] Silver 60,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[63] Gold 100,000‡
United States (RIAA)[64] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References edit

  1. ^ DaCosta, Jamaias (March 16, 2012). "On the record: Erykah Badu's Mama's Gun". CBC Music. CBC. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Touré (January 18, 2001). "Mama's Gun". Rolling Stone. New York. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c Brunner, Rob (November 20, 2000). "Mama's Gun". Entertainment Weekly. New York. Archived from the original on April 22, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  4. ^ Klein, Joshua. "Review: Mama's Gun". The Washington Post: C.05. December 6, 2000. (Transcription of original review at talk page)
  5. ^ Gill, Andy. Review: Mama's Gun. The Independent. Retrieved on 2010-03-30.
  6. ^ allmusic ((( Mama's Gun > Overview )))
  7. ^ https://www.billboard.com/artist/erykah-badu/chart-history/
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  9. ^ O'Donnell, David. Review: Baduizm. BBC Music. Retrieved on 2009-08-03.
  10. ^ "Erykah Badu". Rock On The Net. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
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  12. ^ "BPI Certified Awards". Archived from the original on January 15, 2013.
  13. ^ "Gold and Platinum". Cria.ca. December 1, 2011. Archived from the original on March 31, 2010. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
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  16. ^ "Mama's Gun Review". rollingstone.com. 2001-01-18. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
  17. ^ "Wrapped and Strapped". Time. 2000-11-22. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
  18. ^ "Questlove Explains The Day Of "The Soulquarians' Funeral"". culturedapproved.com. 2014-01-13. Archived from the original on 2016-06-17. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
  19. ^ a b "Reviews for Mama's Gun by Erykah Badu". Metacritic. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  20. ^ Theakston, Rob. "Mama's Gun – Erykah Badu". AllMusic. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  21. ^ Rodman, Sarah (December 17, 2000). "Erykah Badu: Mama's Gun". Boston Herald. p. 61.
  22. ^ Odell, Michael (December 1, 2000). "We've been to orange moon". The Guardian. London. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
  23. ^ Hilburn, Robert (November 19, 2000). "Singular Visions Seeking Focus". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
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  29. ^ Franklin, Wayne. Review: Mama's Gun. PopMatters. Retrieved on 2009-08-09.
  30. ^ a b McIver, Joel (2010). Erykah Badu: The First Lady Of Neo-Soul. SMT Publishing. p. 208. ISBN 978-0857124494.
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  32. ^ Christgau, Robert (February 2001). "Pazz & Jop 2000: Dean's List". The Village Voice. New York. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
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  61. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Erykah Badu – Mama's Gun" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 11 August 2018. Enter Mama's Gun in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 2001 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
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External links edit

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