Music Seen: Erykah Badu’s “Turn Me Away (Get Munny)”

July 27th, 2010 by Dave Hnatiuk

Why I Luv It: If you’re a fan of real-deal, neo soul, jazz, hip-hop, and funk than you’re gonna’ absolutely love Erykah Badu’s 2010 album New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh). From sensual Billie Holiday–like vocals, to Clyde Stubblefield-like drum parts (reminiscent of his performance with The Clinton Administration on the 2003 album One Nation Under Groove), to super-funky bass-lines (derivative of Paul Jackson’s performances on early Herbie Hancock jazz-funk albums, like Headhunters and Man Child), this album fails to disappoint through and through.

Erykah Badu's "New Amerykah (Part Two)" was largely recorded at Electric Lady Studios in NYC.

Though most critical reviews of this album argue that it’s in fact “sample heavy” throughout, there is no denying that whether they’re instrumental samples you’re hearing or not, they’re damn good ones, they’re well incorporated, and they’re certainly worth the listen in this new form. Why don’t you try and pick out what these samples are, and post them here?!

Being a huge fan of the work of James Brown, Herbie Hancock, Billie Holiday, and Parliament Funkadelic among many others myself, it was hard for me to deny the infectious groove and vocal soul of “Turn Me Away (Get Munny)” upon the first listen.

This song is just as sexy as it is funky, and it’s one of those rare tunes that confidently delivers a consistent message both vocally and instrumentally. That message, in my humble opinion, is directly reflective of the type of film or television scenes it could seamlessly be placed in.

Scene I Can See it In: “Turn Me Away (Get Munny)” by Erykah Badu from “New Amerykah (Part Two: Return of the Ankh)” is a great fit for a story or scene in a film or TV show that is written about the life of and/or from the perspective of a female stripper or an exotic dancer.

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Try imagining a savvy and driven exotic dancer working the club-room and stage with a keen eye and astute awareness of her surroundings at all times. She is experienced enough at her craft that she can spot and analyze the physical demeanor and mannerisms of her customers extremely well, and as a result she can be as manipulative as she needs in order to maximize her profits.

For example, like the lyrics (below) of this song suggest, if she knows a customer is drunk, she can conclude as a result that that customer could be more vulnerable and therefore more easily manipulated into doing whatever she wants. Anybody ever seen Andrew Bergman’s 1996 comedy feature Striptease or Paul Verhoeven’s 1995 drama feature Showgirls? It’s clear by reading the lyrics (at the end of this article), that this song would be a perfect fit somewhere in one of these films or something similar.

Alternatively, another placement opportunity for this song could be in a scene or a “music-up” video montage supporting the storyline of an intelligent professional woman working in a male dominated field.

Specifically, I’m thinking this song would work well somewhere in a modern day version of Colin Higgin’s 1980’s hit feature Nine to Five, or I could even see it in the upcoming “sequel” to Oliver Stone’s 1987 blow-out success Wall Street, the music and lyrics scoring a career-driven, inspired, and strong female who is prepared to compete at the most difficult level of business to become more financially successful in her life.

What are your thoughts? Have a look at the lyrics, take a listen to the song, and tell me what you think!!!

Here are the lyrics:

(What’s the matter’ Is he drunk’?
Yeah, he drunk)

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