“Otherside of the Game” (Badu, Bro.Questlove, Richard Nichols, James Poyser, The Roots) – 8:21.

Badu communicated the distinct feeling of mother love within an abstract musical moment.“Next Lifetime” (Badu, Tone the Backbone ) – 12:05.“Tyrone” (Badu, Norman “Keys” Hurt) – 3:56.“Next Lifetime (Interlude)” (Badu, Tone The Backbone ) – 1:30.“Stay” (Rufus, Richard Calhoun, Chaka Khan) – 4:58.“Appletree” (Badu, Robert Bradford) – 2:54.

Even when improvising on the name of her infant son, Seven, Ms. Khan she can magnify a lyric without compromising its specificity. Her tangy vocal tone does not have the depth of her heroine, Chaka Khan, but like Ms. From hip-hop she has learned an approach to phrasing that evokes the musicality of conversation. If jazz singers deconstruct the grammar of song, and gospel artists uncover its pre-verbal essence, Ms. Badu's style also taps vocal jazz and gospel. Based in 1970's-style soul grooves, laid down by a mellow five-piece band, Ms. Badu's godly aspect suggests solutions for the human crises she addresses while her everyday side tempers her pretentiousness. At the same time, songs like ''Tyrone,'' which dresses down a careless boyfriend, and ''Other Side of the Game,'' about a woman financially dependent on her man's shady activities, ruminate upon more earthly problems.

Her pan-spiritualist message borrows from Black Islam, the womanism of Nikki Giovanni and Alice Walker, and the black alternative health movement. Badu's references are distinctively African-American. Her artsiness aligned her with a legacy of feminine self-invention that ranges from Isadora Duncan to Stevie Nicks.

She sipped water from a wooden bowl that sat on her makeshift altar next to a glowing white candle. She peppered her set with monologues about ancient Egypt and numerology, holding a large Ankh symbol aloft to represent the reproductive system. Badu may seem eccentric to those who do not recognize her signposts. This atmosphere spanned earth and sky, embracing the physical world in the context of the cosmic. The fragrances drifted from the stage, where she had lighted incense, and met those worn by audience members to evoke the Afrocentric aura of black bohemianism. The essence of African violet mingled with sandalwood at Radio City Music Hall on Monday as the rhythm-and-blues singer Erykah Badu preached her mysteries.

Erykah badu tyrone album review