Erykah Badu - Window Seat Shows Us Who She Truly Is, and Not Just on the Inside Either

Erykah Badu's latest video for the song "Window Seat" is bound to stir up some controversy as she strips naked on Elm Street in Dallas (the site of Kennedy's assassination). We have never seen Erykah Badu in this way before, and she definitely is not known for showing her flesh to make a statement. But I watched this video, first on YouTube and then again on her own site and I have to say, she did not embarrass herself by showing off the goods, and that is about all that I will say about that. However the underlying message is that as Kennedy was assassinated for being a free thinker and going outside of the box the practice continues to this very day.

At the conclusion of the video she is shot in the head, and she spills blue blood that spells out the word "Groupthink". While I can appreciate her nerve in shooting a video in which real people were walking around with real children as she strips naked I have to wonder if the video is in poor taste or if Erykah has went too far this time around. For one Erykah has never shown us her body before, so why do so now? She could have just as easily shot this video on an empty street that was blocked off, or did she need to strip in front of people to make a statement.

There is nothing sexy about the video, and yes Erykah is blessed but that seems to be beside the point. You can take away a lot from it other than the obvious message that she is attempting to convey; are women that dance and show their bodies in hip-hop and r&b videos part victims of the Groupthink mentality? Is political correctness a symptom of Groupthink, and in being politically incorrect is Erykah making a statement? Erykah has always been politically incorrect; she angered Black Men with her song Tyrone but then seduced them with her own brand, and a lot of Black Men are now among her strongest supporters. She will definitely receive the support of brothers on this video.

The other thing that is striking about this video is how low budget it is for a performer of Erykah's stature. She says that it was shot in one take, and you can watch it here on her own website. The record label is blocking the video on YouTube, but I would rather just watch it at her site anyway. My fear is that Erykah may be going down a similar path that other conscious artists that relied on controversial tactics to make a statement, like Nas when he wanted to name his last record nigger. She always plants a seed in your head, but at what cost?

You have to wonder if someone who was always above the sexual politics that mainstream artists are always lost in has finally become a victim of those politics herself. In a day and age when even Alicia Keys is at least showing us the definition of her physique Erykah may be loosing her edge. Then again I have not heard anything off of any of her records that I did not like. Downloading the stream from her site is not a science project for anyone who just has to distribute her video to the masses and I like the approach; she knows you want to watch the video, and you get to visit her site if you never had before. If nothing else Erykah gives you a lot to think about, then again if it were just another mindless project it wouldn't be her ...