By Carl Chery, BET.com staff
Erykah Badu has the internet going nuts. This past weekend, the R&B singer released a controversial video for "Window Seat," the second single off her fifth album, "New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)."
The controversial clip begins with Badu driving into Dallas' Grassy Knoll in a Lincoln Continental, the same car model President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in, at that very location. Erykah then steps out of the car, walks, gradually takes her clothes off and eventually gets shot only seconds after she's stripped naked. BET.com recently caught up with E. Badu to speak on the video.
"It was shot in Dallas, TX at the Grassy Knoll guerilla style, that means one steady cam, one shot, one chance to get it right, because I wasn't doing it again," Badu told BET.com. "I was petrified, but I knew once I unzipped the hoodie there was no turning back. After the video was done, I went all the way through to the end, stayed as long as I could because we heard that the po po was coming and we just ran like hell and got out of there."
"It was a very liberating thing for me," she continued. "I feel like I shed a lot of things, confronted a lot of fears. I hope I spoke for women and men and people who feel trapped under their own coverings, who wish to also be liberated."
"Window Seat" isn't the first music video to feature nudity. Alanis Morissette's "Thank You," D'Angelo's "How Does It Feel," Rihanna's "Umbrella" and Britney Spears' "Womanizer" are just a few clips to have featured artists in the buff in recent memory. Interestingly, the aforementioned videos never came close to receiving the kind of backlash "Window Seat" is currently causing.
"The human body has always been a form of a political statement when bared to the world," Erykah explained. "There's been a lot of videos in music today that could be put in the category of nudity. I think mine was probably controversial 'cause it was unexpected for an artist like myself who has such a strong stance. I think periodically that kind of thing happens when you mix art and nudity with statement, or with purpose."
In related news, Badu is scheduled to appear on BET's 106 & Park tonight.
Erykah Badu's "New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)" hits stores today (March 30).
Erica Abi Wright was born in Dallas, TX on February 26, 1971.
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