Erykah Badu might have ruffled some feathers with her most recent Twitter rant last night, but she also managed to put a smile on a lot of faces as well. That's because footage of the Dallas native paying a surprise visit to a Newark, NJ, high school started making the rounds across the World Wide Web. Badu came to Newark's Malcolm X. Shabazz High School in 2014 at the behest of The Future Project, an education initiative aimed at helping young people realize their potential.
Badu comes through during lunchtime (which, apparently features a DJ — where they do that at?), walking through the cafeteria with little fanfare. Though some students recognize the neo soul pioneer immediately, others are completely (and hilariously) oblivious as to who the GRAMMY winner is. Then the DJ cranks up her "On & On" and Badu takes the mic to serve up a song. We're not sure if the singer's 1997 hit was the best choice —with the song turning 20 next year, it's actually older than most of the students there — but Badu made it lively by pretending to snag bites of the students' food as she sang and even hopping up on a table to get some attention. In the end, it was a treat for the students and (mostly) the staff, who were more than happy to have the singer add a bit of fun, peace and soul to their day.
Check out our girl E. Badu doing what she does best below.
