Erykah Badu considers her home studio in Dallas, Texas—or “badudio” as she calls it—a sacred space.
Indeed, Badu’s space is filled with various amulets, talismans, and objects that the singer uses to inspire both herself and her music. There’s a meditation room with sonic instruments, including tuning forks and spinning spheres that emits sound, Badu says, at the same “frequency of the universe.” Her bedroom has an infrared sauna, complete with a car radio that Badu may or may not have legally obtained in 1983. (“I don’t steal anymore!” the singer says with a laugh.) Meanwhile, the living room holds one of her prized possessions: a vintage Rhodes 73 piano. “I’m almost sure that it’s haunted,” she adds.
She also makes her physical self part of her creative process: as soon as the singer wakes up, she puts on a pair of jingling ankle bells. “I love things that make music. . . especially when you walk or dance,” she explains, adding that she’ll sometimes accessorize with a purse that’s melded into a singing bowl. “So wherever I am I can find some peace.”
In the video above, step inside Badu’s badudio, where absolutely everything is “full of music.”