Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1997


On & On (Erykah Badu song)

Buy On & On (Erykah Badu song) now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




{{Infobox song

| name = On & On

| cover = Erykah Badu On and On.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Erykah Badu

| album = Baduizm

| released =

| recorded = January 1996

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Soul

| length = 3:45

| label =

| writer =

| producer =

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title = Next Lifetime

| next_year = 1997

| misc =

}}

"'On & On'" is a song by American neo-soul singer Erykah Badu, released as the first single from her debut album, 'Baduizm' (1997). Released in January 1997, the song won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 1998 Grammy Awards. It spent two weeks at number-one on the US 'Billboard' Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and went to number 12 on the US 'Billboard' Hot 100. It reached the same position on the UK Singles Chart.

The lyrics feature teachings of the Five-Percent Nation.

Critical reception



Patrick Corcoran from Albumism said that "with its talk of ciphers and cups of tea", "On & On" "cast her as serenely disassociated from the troubles and strife of the world, somehow able to rise above it all." Larry Flick from 'Billboard' wrote, "While everyone else is trying to mimic Faith Evans and Mary J. Blige, newcomer Badu is going one step further. She is taking the jeep-soul concept and expanding it with her own new ideas. With the aid of producers Bob Power and Jamal Cantero, she infuses elements of African culture with a touch of Middle-Eastern vocal flavor. The result is a refreshing and adventurous single that could easily lure hard-core hip-hop kidsand their parents, too. This bodes extremely well for the creative depth and commercial reach of the forthcoming album "'Baduizm'"."

Ralph Tee from 'Music Week's 'RM' Dance Update rated the song four out of five, adding that Badu "sounds a touch like a young Ella Fitzgerald on this sparse but effective debut. Booming bass, jazzy keyboards and percussion hold the track together, this not being the most typical of r&b records but a healthy alternative to the hip hop/swing side of soul that D'Angelo and Maxwell have already lapped into."

Music video



Erykah Badu is depicted as a maid in a black family household in the music video for the single, showing her doing her chores. Scenes of her chasing a dog that bit the laundry that she put to dry, tying a little girl's hair into a ponytail and falling into mud could be seen throughout the video. The video ends with Badu dressed fully in green with several people in a farm, singing and dancing. The video is loosely based upon the 1985 film adaptation of Alice Walker's 'The Color Purple'. The video was also nominated at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best Female Video and Best R&B Video.

Impact and legacy



'Slant Magazine' listed the song at number 46 in their ranking of "The 100 Best Singles of the 1990s" in 2011, writing, "Boasting the roundest bassline since Digable Planets got cool like dat, "On & On" is Erykah Badu's mission statement from a higher plane. Her money might be gone, she might be all alone, but she's feeling high and mighty, and the siren song pours forth from her honeyed lips like a fount of alien wisdom. Backed by a languorously snapping, swinging backbeat and expansive, half-heard piano chords that repeatedly collapse back on themselves, "On & On" is as sonically introspective as its creator, a woman who can believably claim to have walked the entire cipher of Earth, clear her throat, utter "Goddammit, I'ma sing my song," and still seem like she's hiding more than she's revealing."

Charts



Weekly charts



Year-end charts



Certifications



Release history



See also



* R&B number-one hits of 1997 (USA)

References



Category:Erykah Badu songs

Category:1997 debut singles

Category:1997 songs

Category:Music videos directed by Paul Hunter (director)

Category:Songs written by Erykah Badu

Category:Universal Records singles

Buy On & On (Erykah Badu song) now from Amazon

<-- Return to songs from 1997



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1105693085.