Singer & Songwriter Erykah Badu recently celebrated twenty years of her second studio effort, Mama’s Gun. Released November 2000, it was truly an amazing time for music fans. In a time where the term Neo Soul was taking charge in the music industry. Mama’s Gun stood strong as a pure representation of the art form. The idea behind the whole Neo Soul movement was the this was an art form where the artist could truly express and be recognized for their pure talent as opposed to those who seemingly had to sell sex to make their sales. Badu had not too long before experiences worldwide success with her debut; Baduizm, and it’s LIVE followup, Baduizm LIVE. While Badu ushered in her own style, presence, and overall sound, she made quite a shift with Mama’s Gun, relying more on funk, soul, and jazz backings. With singles like the album lead, ‘Bag Lady”, and’ Didn’t Cha Know”, the album was an immediate success with both. There definitely were a fair share of listeners and critics who panned the album, as it was certainly a departure from Baduizm. The lyrical quality, as one would hope and expect, was far better with Mama’s Gun, and she was far more colorful with her feelings. Mama’s Gun have listeners a greater opportunity to delve into the mind of Erykah. If you asked me, I would argue that Mama’s Gun was far more successful than Baduizm in the sense she really got into your mind with the material. I think those who say otherwise are part of the bunch who tried to throw her in a box, and with Mama’s Gun, she made it her mission to break away from that proverbial box and show another side.

Looking back in retrospect, I unfortunately was one of the listeners who didn’t hold the album is it’s deserved regard. Admittedly, I wasn’t as educated on music ad that which had come before that time, so I couldn’t appreciate it for what it was or what it delivered to the genre at the time. It took some years for me to get to a place where I could finally listen and truly appreciate what Badu was doing with this project. It’s funny that now when listening, every word of every track resonates as though she dug it right out of my life. It’s still fresh in many ways, and quite honestly, those are the best musical projects; the ones that continue to grow with you over the years and become even more relevant as time goes on. It’s interesting; yet cool to see postings on social media from so many people who were affected in some way or another by this project. That has to be vindicating for Badu, who I’m sure threw her all into this project.

There were so many powerful names and forces behind Mama’s Gun, including Questlove of The Roots, J. Dilla, Roy Ayers, Betty Wright, Stephen Marley, Roy Hargrove, N’dambi, and James Poyser. Together, all involved made it the masterpiece it was then, and that it continues to be today. If you still aren’t familiar with the power behind Mama’s Gun, it may be worth taking a listen now.