It’s about that time again — Erykah Badu is preparing to mark another trip around the sun.
The Dallas legend turns 54 on February 26, and this year, she won’t be celebrating her birthday with family, friends and fans in Deep Ellum, as has been her custom the last several years. (She is scheduled to DJ as Lo Down Loretta Brown at London’s Jazz Café on Feb. 27, however.)
Still, it has been an active few weeks and months for Badu since the dawn of 2025, not least of which included her sharing in a Grammy win for best melodic rap performance with Rapsody at the 2025 Grammys earlier this year.
It marked Badu’s first Grammy win in more than 20 years — and her fifth overall — following her best R&B song trophy in 2002 for “Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip Hop).”
On March 29, Badu will be honored by Billboard magazine as one of its Women in Music 2025, alongside GloRilla, Tyla and Muni Long. The event will be held at YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif. and be hosted by Laverne Cox.
Badu will be presented with the Icon Award.
“The singer, songwriter and Queen of Neo-Soul has influenced artists across genres over her decades-long career,” Billboard said in a statement. “Her countless hits … have stood the test of time as music’s enduring classics.”
That enduring influence is evident in a couple newly released tracks, which pull from radically different ends of the musical spectrum.
Singer-songwriter and jazz artist Jose James (who recorded a full-length tribute to Badu in 2023) is gearing up to release a new album, 1978: Revenge of the Dragon, in May, but has dropped a single in the lead-up which explicitly honors the Dallas native. Titled “They Sleep, We Grind (for Badu),” James said he’s paying tribute to both kung fu classics from the 1970s and Badu.
“[The song] is my tribute to the iconic kung fu cinematography of late 1970s filmmakers like Yuen Woo-ping, Chang Cheh and Lau Kar-leung,” James said in a statement. “It’s also a tribute to musician and fashion icon Erykah Badu, one of the greatest living artists of our time. The phrase ‘They sleep, we grind’ is something that she posts a lot on social media and it inspired the song — along with her amazing martial arts and boxing videos.”
London-based producer (and member of the xx) Jamie xx recently released a deluxe version of In Waves, his latest solo album which dropped last fall. Badu appears on the track “F.U.,” which grew out of a moment during a festival after-party where Badu and Jamie xx were forced into an improvisatory moment when their equipment broke.
Preston Jones is a North Texas freelance writer and regular contributor to KXT. Email him at preston@kxt.org or find him on Bluesky (@prestonjones.bsky.social).Our work is made possible by our generous, music-loving members. If you like how we lift up local music, consider becoming a KXT sustaining member right here.
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