Erykah Badu Reveals Why She Became a Doula
The Baduizm effect is more than those green eyes and honey vocals.
Erykah Badu is so present, in fact, she's sometimes called upon to help give birth to, yes, real live babies as a certified doula.
"I've always been into holistic health," the singer explained in her Genius Talk with Combat Jack and Janelle Monáe at the 2015 BET X in L.A. Saturday (June 27). But it wasn't even her own offspring ("I had my three children natural, in my bed," she revealed) who inspired her to make her lifestyle a service. It was that time she helped stic.man's wife, Afya go through 52 hours of labor. Without anesthesia.
"I learned a great deal about myself that day," she said. "It's wonderful being the welcoming committee for new lives coming in."
And since the cypher keeps moving, and Badu's aura is so clear, she's also begun incorporating being of service during someone's last breaths. Health, she says, is not merely about the physical. It's also about the emotional, and she's noticed there's a similar way about people who are just being born as those who are passing.
Speaking of emotions, Badu is such a sensitive soul, she's also long considered channeling that gift into being a serious actress. "I started with theatre very young," she noted, and later began envisioning herself acting while she was working at a comedy club ("I'm a hustler," she joked. "Whoever wanna hear, 'Call Tyrone...'"). She was adamant, however, about becoming a singer first. Singer-turned-actors tend to get more respect than actors-turned-singers, she explained (except for Drake of course).
See The Best of Genius Talks, airing on BET Friday, July 3 at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Meanwhile, watch a clip of Kobe Bryant's Genius Talk with ESPN's Jemele Hill in the 2015 BETX video Xclusive below, Kobe Bryant Forgives Larry Nance Jr. for Offensive Tweet.
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