Erykah Badu Celebrates Womanhood in Oversized BBL Bodysuit
If you’ve followed Erykah Badu long enough, you know the neo-soul artist and fashionista will make a statement on any day, at any time and on any stage. So, when she took the mic at the 2025 Billboard Music in Music Awards dressed in what she described as a “full figure form” on social media, the internet quickly began buzzing with questions.Engineered and designed by Texas-born artist Myah Hasbany, a designer known for her oversized knit pieces and one who has customized work for Badu once before, the bodysuit's overall exaggeration of the bosom and butt had commenters going wild, some even suspecting Badu was silently bucking back against the culture of Brazilian butt-lifts (BBL’s).Badu received the Music Icon Award on March 29. Billboard's annual event, held in Inglewood, California, honored influential women in music, including Doechii, GloRilla, Meghan Trainor and Tina Knowles. It included performances by Muni Long, Tyla, Angela Aguilar and many others. Badu was introduced by R&B singer Summer Walker, who later disclosed that Badu was the doula who delivered her twin sons. “She’s been my fave artist since I was 12,” Walker said just before giving the mic to Badu. Following a tribute video, Badu accepted her award, even humorously thanking the police in Dallas. However, it wasn’t her tribute that garnered the most attention. It was her outfit.
As a closeout to Women’s History Month, and even laced throughout her acceptance speech, was Badu’s praise for the power, strength and resiliency of mothers and women. While the award-winning entertainer is notorious for viral moments of self-expression, the bodysuit may have had an even deeper meaning. But, with Badu remaining mum, that's been left up to interpretation.“As a fashion and costume designer in the entertainment industry, I find myself enamored by Erykah’s eccentric provocateur style,” said Shawn Florence, a Fort Worth-based designer who has designed wardrobes for artists such as Taylor Swift, Beyonce and Earth, Wind and Fire. “I sometimes feel she’s undervalued as the fashion icon that she is. Since she has stepped on the scene, she has used herself as a canvas to give us art through her looks, as well as her music. This bold look is simply just Erykah giving us Erykah, with all of the avant-garde frills she loves to gag us with.” While many reports have speculated that Badu was scoffing at BBL culture, a look at Black history paints an entirely different picture. Several accounts online have compared the “full figure form” to the historical account of Sarah Baartman, a full-figured South African woman who was enslaved in the early 1800’s and exhibited as a freak show attraction in 19th century Europe because of her fuller breast, wide hips and large derriere. Baartman, whose stage name was Hottentot Venus, died in Paris at age 26, and many of her body parts remained on display in a museum until 1974. Badu’s bodysuit ironically mirrored the body shape and proportions of Baartman. Whether Badu was paying homage to Baartman, women in general or merely “just being Badu,” another uncanny statement has been made, causing a wealth of internet chatter, and left merely up to interpretation. “Based on Erykah Badu’s brand, her outfit was a creative expression with a message, and what she did was leave the message up to you, for you to determine what you got from it,” said Dallas lifestyle influencer Dr. Keith Harley. “And that’s how a creative mind that is a genius thinks.” In addition to the Billboard BBL buzz and her Icon Award, Badu just celebrated the 15th anniversary of her last studio album New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh) on March 30, and recently announced a new album is in the works, with esteemed L.A. producer The Alchemist.
