Erykah Badu Artistfacts

February 26, 1971
She has three children. Here's the breakdown:

1997 - son Seven with Andre 3000 of Outkast
2004 - daughter Puma with rapper The D.O.C.
2009 - daughter Mars with rapper/producer Jay Electronica

She describes her relationships with the fathers as "mini-marriages," telling Rolling Stone, "The only difference is I didn't go to Vegas to get married."
She is a certified doula who has assisted with the births of over 40 children. She keeps in touch with these children, who know her as their "dadoula." Badu is a proponent of natural childbirth, and had each of her own children at home.
Erykah Badu's mother, Kolleen Maria Gipson, was the inspiration for Outkast's iconic hit "Ms. Jackson." The lyrics are a message from Andre 3000 that he is not as bad a father as has been portrayed.
She started off as a rapper, performing on the Dallas radio station KNON when she was a teenager. Later, she was part of a rap trio where she performed under the name MC Apples.
Her birth name is Erica Wright (her mother is the stage actress Kolleen Wright).
In the early '90s, she formed a duo with her cousin, Robert "Free" Bradford, called Erykah Free. They got gigs opening for Method Man, Mobb Deep and A Tribe Called Quest; Mobb Deep's manager helped her get a record deal.
Her debut album, Baduizm, earned her international acclaim. In 1998 (the year after it was released), Badu won two Grammy Awards, two BRIT Awards and an American Music Award.
Badu taught herself how to play the guitar before college but ended up playing it wrong. "I just laid it on my lap like a harpsichord," she told Rolling Stone. "My hands were so little that I couldn't really get around, those hands got to be able to stretch on that neck, and I didn't have fingers for that, so I had to lay it on my lap and play it. I ended up playing both a guitar and a drum at the same time. I only knew about three chords, and I wrote about 12 songs."

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