I think I need a cup of tea, the world keeps burning. Oh, what a day, what a day, what a day.
That’s a line from Erykah Badu’s “On & On” and honestly, it describes what’s been going on recently. Between COVID-19, the unnecessary killings of Black men and women, and then the unexpected passing of TWO Black music giants, the “battle” between Jill Scott and Erykah Badu was somewhat therapeutic.
I didn’t have any incense, but I was diffusing ylang-ylang, rosemary, cedarwood, and eucalyptus and I had my glass of wine ready. There were a few technical difficulties, but overall it was great and I let it run the whole time while I worked on a few things.
It was truly a vibe. Their love and admiration for each other was evident. The stories they shared between songs, the way they sang along to each other’s tracks, and especially when Jilly from Philly played “Tyrone” for Erykah when her battery died at like 9 PM. There was no loser that night, we all won. And it was a win that we needed.
Folks were complaining on Twitter that they were playing more than the traditional 90 seconds per song, but I wasn’t even mad. What else did we have to do? And honestly, it was the kind of music you could put on and vibe to or have as a soundtrack while getting work done. Someone referenced it as ‘Auntiechella’ and I couldn’t agree more.
So thank you, Jilly from Philly and Ms. Badu for taking our minds off of everything going on around us even if it was only for 3 hours. Thank you for giving us an evening that felt like a warm hug, and thank you for the opportunity for 500k+ people to sing “GRITS” collectively. Not only did y’all break records for Verzuz, but you did it with grace.