The ninth annual Soul’d Out Music Fest is drawing some of the best R&B, blues, hip-hop, and soul musicians from around the globe to Portland’s stages. The lineup is jam-packed with highlights, but here are the Mercury’s five can’t-miss artists for this year’s festival.
ERYKAH BADU
Since dropping her debut album Baduizm in 1997, Erykah Badu has flummoxed, aggravated, and confounded critics and fans alike. After helping to pioneer the “neo-soul” sound, which she quickly disowned, Badu has gone further off in different directions, exploring new sounds and pushing sonic envelopes, challenging both herself and her listeners. Not only has her solo output been consistently brilliant throughout her two-decade career, her collaborations have a Midas quality—she regularly brings out the best work in other artists. Though Badu is one of the most innovative and original musicians of all time, she has also been something like our troublesome auntie, the one who’s liable to say some wild shit at the dinner table and embarrass us. Her mind, like her music, exists in a realm entirely of its own, but we love her all the more for it. SANTI ELIJAH HOLLEY Wed April 18 at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway