Erykah Badu
By Steven on Thursday 21 September 2006, 17:36 - Permalink
Website: Erykah Badu's Official
Website
Activity: R&B / Hip Hop / Jazz / Soul Singer and
Songwriter
Address: www.erykahbadu.com
Purpose: Provide news, music clips, tour information, and
artist biography
I was just about to post Erykah Badu's official website when I realized that it
had been replaced by her MySpace page!
Though no longer online, her old site still merits a few words because it was
so lively and original. It was also the perfect complement to the free-flowing
musical style of her last album, the excellent "Worldwide Underground". The
album is more of a rough collection of ideas than a slickly produced LP of
radio-ready tracks. Badu concentrates on the creative process, whether through
experimentation with word repetition, scat singing, abrasive electric guitars
or her signature soulful sound. She's unafraid to take her time exploring
different grooves, even if it demands patience on the listener's part. It's an
inventive approach to an album and the website design really captured its
character.
Implemented in Flash, the page layout had a sketchbook feel to it with lively
doodles and words scribbled arbitrarily around the page. Drawings were mixed
with photographs in a coursely textured way. Content areas were irregular,
recalling a charcoal-drawn surface. The whole site had an unfinished and grainy
quality, perfectly embodying the improvisational style of "Worldwide
Underground". Nicely done!
The decision to replace the website with her MySpace page is probably not a bad
idea considering there are now over 100 million accounts and sharing music has
become an integral part of the MySpace experience. Users can research bands and
easily embed songs onto their profile pages. A number of bands have garnered
impressive audiences (and recording contracts) solely thanks to special band
profile pages that allow artists to maintain a dynamic community atmosphere.
Musicians can keep in close contact with their fans through blog tools, forums
and comment areas.
Take a look at a full-size screenshot of the old site below and definitely
check out the album.

Comments
I love her website design. I was looking for the same thing one day and found that she is now solely on myspace. This information was great.
Calm Hill (author)
www.calmhill.com