Netflix has announced that Erykah Badu will be joining the cast of the feature film adaptation of The Piano Lesson. Badu joins other stars like Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Potts, and Corey Hawkins in the pre-WWII-era story.
According to Netflix, the film is, “Set in 1936 Pittsburgh during the aftermath of the Great Depression…The Piano Lesson follows the lives of the Charles family in the Doaker Charles household and an heirloom, the family piano, which documents the family history through carvings made by their enslaved ancestor. Washington [Denzel, who is also producing] has a deep connection to Wilson’s work: He directed and starred in 2016’s Fences, produced Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and in the past has spoken of his desire to complete the cycle on screen.”
Back in April, Badu confirmed that she will be linking up with Yasiin Bey, a.k.a. Mos Def on a 25-city U.S tour. The ‘Unfollow Me Tour’ kicks off on June 11th at San Antonio’s AT&T Center before continuing on to stops in Chicago, New York, Atlanta, and Los Angeles and then wrapping up on July 23 at the American Airlines Center in Badu’s hometown of Dallas, Texas.
Badu will also be performing at London’s All Points East festival this August, alongside Stormzy, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Jungle.
Along with Badu and Bey, the tour announcement also promises “more extraordinary guests.” The “high priestess of neo-soul” has played a smattering of theater and festival dates in recent years but hasn’t launched a full fledge tour since 2018. More recently, Badu reunited with The Roots on their new track “Misunderstood” featuring fellow Philadelphian Tierra Whack, and made a surprise appearance on BTS’ member RM’s song “Yun,” which opened his critically acclaimed solo effort Indigo.
Listen to the best of Erykah Badu on Apple Music and Spotify.
