Almost anyone who saw the new video from Erykah Badu’s band The Flamming Lips in which her sister was naked and covered in all types of questionable fluids was like, um, okay, I don’t really know what’s going on here, but I guess it’s art. We already knew Erykah marched to the beat of her own drum, she’s comfortable with nudity, as we saw in her Window Seat video, and we figured new band, new sound, new video concept, cool—maybe.

It seems Erykah Badu was just as undecided on the “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” video as the general public, although now that indifference has turned into being full-blown pissed off. When the video first dropped she sent out a few tweets about it, and some were particularly interesting:

Now that the video has marinated and gone viral over the past few days, though, Erykah is doing a lot more than shaking her head. She completely went off on the video’s director, Wayne Coyne, claiming that the video was released without her permission and was not what she expected at all. And she didn’t just go off in one place either, she put the rant on Twitter and Facebook. Here’s what it says:

@waynecoyne then… perhaps, next time u get an occasion to work with an artist who respects your mind/art, you should send at least a ROUGh version of the video u PLAN to release b4 u manipulate or compromise the artist’s brand by desperately releasing a poor excuse for shock and nudity that sends a convoluted message that passes as art( to some).
Even with Window Seat there was a method and thought process involved. I have not one need for publicity . I just love artistic dialogue . And just because an image is shocking does not make it art.
You obviously have a misconception of who I am artistically. I don’t mind that but…
By the way you are an A$$.
Yu did everything wrong from the on set .
First:
You showed me a concept of beautiful tasteful imagery( by way of vid text messages) .
I trusted that. I was mistaken.
Then u release an unedited, unapproved version within the next few days.
That all spells 1 thing ,
Self Serving .
When asked what the concept
meant after u explained it , u replied ,”it doesn’t mean anything , I just want to make a great video that everyone is going to watch. ”
I understood , because as an artist we all desire that. But we don’t all do it at another artist’s expense .
I attempted to resolve this respectfully by having conversations with u after the release but that too proved to be a poor excuse for art.
From jump,
You begged me to sit in a tub of that other s*** and I said naw. I refused to sit in any liquid that was not water. But Out of RESPECT for you and the artist you ‘appear’ to be, I Didn’t wanna kill your concept , wanted u to at least get it out of your head . After all, u spent your dough on studio , trip to Dallas etc.. Sooo, I invited Nayrok , my lil sis and artist, who is much more liberal ,to be subject of those other disturbing (to me ) scenes . I told u from jump that I believed your concept to be disturbing. But would give your edit a chance.
You then said u would take my shots ( in clear water/ fully covered parts -seemed harmless enough) and Nayrok’s part ( which I was not present for but saw the photos and a sample scene of cornstarch dripping ) and edit them together along with cosmic, green screen images ( which no one saw) then would show me the edit. .
Instead, U disrespected me by releasing pics and rough vid on the internet without my approval. (Contract breech )
That is equivalent to putting out a security camera’s images of me changing in the fitting room.
I never would have approved that tasteless, meaningless, shock motivated video .
Our art is a reflection of who we are . I have no connection to those images shot in their raw version. I was interested in seeing an amazing edit that would perhaps change or alter my thoughts . Never happened .
You also did the same thing with the song itself which displays crappy “rough “vocals by me . I let it go , perhaps iiiii was missing something, I thought.
I Should have followed my first mind back in studio when recording the vocals “your way”.
( Red flag.) It was uncomfortable.
For that I am at fault .
Consequently, brother, As a human I am disgusted with your what appears to be desperation and poor execution. And disregard for others . As a director I am unimpressed . As a sociologist I understand your type. As your fellow artist I am uninspired. As a woman I feel violated and underestimated.
Hope it works out for ya ,Wayne.
Really i could give a sh** less.
Still love your live show tho.
And , you’re welcomed.
Lesson learned .
By the way I have guested in very few videos. But I have always been given the opportunity to see the edit and contribute to it when my roll is substantial. Not this time .
I guess u feel it better to apologize than ask for permission and be refused . Hey, Love u man, but your ways are not very nice .
O, And on behalf of all the artists u have manipulated or plan to manipulate, find another way .
These things have been said out of necessity.
And if you don’t like it
you can KiSS MY Glittery A$$ .
O and Nayrok told me to tell u to kiss her A$$ too .
Almost forgot.
Peace

Ms. Badu

Am I the only one who smells a crispy chicken wrap situation? Had Erykah flipped like this from day one, I would completely understand where she’s coming from, but the fact that we’re at least three or four days removed from the video hitting the net suggests @fatbellybella just might be trying to save face because no one got the concept the group was trying to put out. I’m seriously hoping playing dumb doesn’t become the new PR move when an artists puts out something their fans don’t respond to the way they want. You really can’t wait several days to see how people react to something and then claim you were nowhere to be found when your sister sat naked in a tub of glitter, fake blood, and a white gooey substance. Even if Wayne took this footage and ran with it, she should have more control of her brand. I.e. #NotBuyingIt.

Do you think Erykah is fronting or was the video really released without her permission?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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