Celebrating a queen’s birthday is quite common in most of society. In England they have celebrated Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday with festivals and parades, every year since her crowning. Last December, Empress Masako celebrated her birthday with a tour of historic cities and landmarks throughout Japan. So it was with great pleasure for DW to have been invited to witness our queen, the South Dallas legend and musical icon, Erykah Badu.
On February 24th, Erykah Badu celebrated her 52nd trip around the sun with another amazing concert featuring Dallas native Marc Rebillet, Raekwon “The Chef” and myriad of emcees with Zach Witness, like Space Boi Fresh and Bun B. The sold-out birthday celebration was held yet again at The Factory in Deep Ellum, bringing thousands from the DFW to the party.
Marc Rebillet rocked the crowd with his energetic performance dawning his signature bathrobe. Like Badu, Rebillet is a Booker T Washington High School alumni and grooved with the crowd of his hometown.
WuTang’s Raekwon was a crowd favorite as well. The veteran hip hop icon performed classic songs and even got the crowd to shout “WU-TANG” before exiting the stage.
And then it was time to celebrate with the queen herself, Erykah Badu. She entered the stage with her signature long tresses, a mirrored giant top hat and a white fur tail coat. She set the crowd off with “I Want You” and made the whole building rumble with cheers when she performed the 26 yr. old classic, “Other Side of the Game”. The stage transitioned in scene from an ethereal heavenly look with smoke to a funky 70’s vintage movie theater. Even with a sold-out crowd, attendees had plenty of room to dance and move the slew of hits Badu gave them.
Near the end, Erykah Badu’s 18 yr old daughter came on stage and sang the R&B classic, “Weak” by SWV.
The performance ended around 11:45 with a rainfall of balloons concluding the celebration. A good time was had by all and we all can’t wait to see what Queen Badu has in store for us next year.