Creatives Spotlight

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House of Flora x BWM

House of Flora x Badu World Market

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Nick Hakim x Badu

Nick Hakim first entered Badu’s consciousness when, in the course of her trading music recommendations with André 3000, he sent along a link to Hakim’s song “Roller Skates.” After finding herself “instantly drawn” to the song, Badu went down a Nick Hakim rabbit hole, which resulted in her reaching out to him over Instagram.

From there the two discovered that they not only shared a host of mutual friends, but more importantly that they live in same world of tones and chords; so much so that a number of Nick’s songs were written in the same chords and utilizing similar sounds to songs Badu wrote as early as age 7. However, as Badu tells it, the most striking similarity between the two is the ways in which their music elicits “sorry, joy and nostalgia” — the full breadth of human emotion.

After years of trading music with each other, Nick Hakim is now set to perform as part of Badu’s new livestream series TOO SENSITIVE this Saturday, September 26th at 7PM EDT. Expect 30 minutes of, as Badu calls it, “the good kind of sadness” as Hakim performs songs taken from his recently-released album WILL THIS MAKE ME GOOD, as well as fan favorites from the rest of his catalog.

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Bibi Ahmed x Badu

A few years ago, Kenyan designer BiBi Ahmed sent Badu early forms of the beaded, African cuffs that are now available on Badu World Market. BiBi continued to send Badu customized items, one of which was a beaded hat that read “SHE ILL,” a moniker Badu has taken on for herself. 

Badu was moved by the artist’s generosity, talent, and sensibility, and knew that when the time came, she wanted to include her in this special project.

“I met her on Instagram,” Badu said, which is how she’s met the majority of the creatives she’s decided to work with for Badu World Market. “I was like wow, she’s doing it, and doing it fast, too,” the singer said excitedly. BiBi then sent over beaded cuffs, which Badu says quickly became her favorite accessory. Now, the designer is sharing one-of-a-kind cuffs through the online market. 

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Jackie Musial x Badu

Canadian illustrator Jackie Musial first came in contact with Badu in 2016, after tagging her in the “Manuela Mexico’ design on Instagram.

Badu was impressed by her work, and reached out to Musial directly to come up with a series that would track the evolution of the singer’s illustrious career.

Each vector design was created with Adobe Illustrator. Designs appear on hoodies, as well as t shirts.