Erykah Badu Says She Thinks Conservatives Use the Term 'Woke' When They Really Mean 'Black'

Erykah Badu thinks the far right has altered the meaning of the term "woke."

In a recent interview with MSNBC, the Grammy-winning "On and On" musician spoke about her role in popularizing the term through the lyrics of 2008's "Master Teacher" and on social media, addressing how its definition has seemed to shift in the eyes of conservatives.

"There's a song on [New Amerykah Part One] called 'Master Teacher,' and in that song... the chorus is 'I stay woke,' so 'stay woke' was introduced to the world by this album," recalled Badu, 52, of the term, which was technically first used by William Melvin Kelley in a 1960s essay. "And I tweeted it about this group that was detained, Pussy Riot... In my tweet, I said 'Free Pussy Riot...' After that, 'woke' took off."

MSNBC host Ari Melber then noted how the term has been used since "Master Teacher" as a statement about awareness toward injustice by activists and artists like Donald Glover (a.k.a. Childish Gambino) in his hit song "Redbone."

More recently, however, it's been used as a negative term by conservative-leaning individuals like Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump, who've urged constituents to avoid people who label themselves "woke."

"I think they mean 'Black,'" said Badu. "It's just another way to say 'thug' or something else, right?"

Elaborating on her thoughts, the "Phone Down" musician continued, "It is what it is. It doesn't belong to us anymore, and once something goes out into the world, it takes a life of its own. It has an energy of its own."

Badu then explained her personal definition of the term. "It means being aware, being in alignment with nature," she said. "It's not only in the political arena. That means with your health, that means in your relationships, that means in your home, that means in your car, that means in your sleep."

Last year, former U.S. representative and onetime presidential contender Tulsi Gabbard announced she was leaving the Democratic Party. In a video, she accused the political party of stoking "anti-white racism" and claiming its leadership is "an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue."