Atlanta R&B singer-songwriter Summer Walker has covered neo-soul pioneer and mentor Erykah Badu’s “Bag Lady” on BBC Radio’s latest Live Lounge.
Walker – fresh from the release of her second studio album Still Over It – stopped by the BBC to perform a short but soulful rendition of the song, pulled from Badu’s sophomore album Mama’s Gun. You can watch the performance of “Bag Lady” below.
Walker and Badu are known to be fans of each other’s music, with Walker noting she grew up on Badu’s highly acclaimed work from the 90s. The pair discussed their careers and finding their place in a 2020 interview featured on Rolling Stone.
“When I used to watch you perform a lot, I just would always say, “Oh, my God, look at this confidence.” The way that you would command a room, command either your band or your space. Woman to woman, I want to be like that, to have that type of confidence,” Walker said of Badu.
Elsewhere in her BBC Radio stint, Walker played “Toxic” from her most recent body of work. She also gave fans a smooth live version of “Playing Games”, her breakthrough single from 2019 debut Over It.
Among other reviews, Summer Walker received a glowing five-star review from NME for Still Over It. “A certain darkness has descended on the once-pink fluffiness that memorably featured on Over It’s album cover, with Still Over It instead displaying a whirlwind of emotions. Walker has a song here for every feeling following a crushing break-up, from confusion to anger to outright pettiness – and it’s the kind of unwavering quality that we all love her for,” NME wrote.
Walker broke a number of records within hours of Still Over It’s release. These records included: – Biggest album debut by a female-identifying artist ever on Apple Music; Biggest R&B album debut ever on Apple Music; Still Over It at No.1 on Apple Music All-Genre Chart and all its songs charted between No.1 and No.22 of the All-Genre Top Songs Chart.
