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Erykah Badu and Jay Electronica Twitter Birth of New Baby

by Jarrett Martineau | February 2, 2009 at 10:18 am

1427 views | 5 Recommendations | 8 comments

Erykah Badu and Jay Electronica have made some form of twisted, celebrity, hip-hop Twitter history (no, it's not "twistory") by posting live updates to their respective Twitter accounts — before, during (!), and after the birth of their new baby daugther.

Remember the halcyon days of music television, back when MTV Cribs was a way to get "insight" into the real lives of celebrities and hip-hop stars?

Who would have thought that fans, friends, and relatively anonymous 'followers' would gain extensive access into the most intimate aspects of celebrities' lives?

Perhaps some things are better left to be experienced fully — as they occur — without being saddled by the burden of a technology-fueled, compulsive desire to 'share' the minutiae of every moment with the world. Or perhaps not.

This weekend, one pair of artists took things further than we expected, as Erykah Badu and her beau, upstart rapper Jay Electronica, sent tweets of their daughter's birth in real time.
The ever enigmatic Badu kick-started the experience, telling the more than 4,500 followers of her Twitter blog, "Fatbellybella": "Morning, I'm in labor."

The Grammy-winning singer gave updates on the time between her contractions before going AWOL. Presumably Badu was, you know, giving birth when she disappeared. But Electronica kept sending updates throughout the birth on his page, "JayElectronica."

Badu and Electronica chose to forgo delivery in a hospital and instead opted for a home birth with a midwife. According to updates, it looked like the midwife may have been running a bit late.

"Labor has begun," Electronica wrote. "Everybody stand back. No hospitals. No doctors. No medicine. We're waiting for the midwife to show."

While waiting for the midwife, Electronica described the vibe and sent messages to rapper Talib Kweli ("I'm build for this sh--") and producer Just Blaze ("You should be here").

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Geneva B

at 10:33 on February 2nd, 2009

Ummm.... TMI (Too-Much-Info)?

Jarrett Martineau

at 10:41 on February 2nd, 2009

Or maybe TMT (Too Much Twitter?)

emeador

at 11:16 on February 2nd, 2009

Soul singer Sharon Jones made a special request to meet the radiantly pregnant Erykah Badu after both artists performed on different stages at the festival. I was working as assistant tour manager with Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings. This photo was taken Sept 7, 2008 in the artist's lounge at Austin City Limits Music Festival 2008. http://www.aclfestival.com/

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k.suede (not verified)

at 14:01 on February 2nd, 2009

I was lucky enough to see both of them last year in Toronto, and while sound problems put the breaks on Jay's set at Rock The Bells, Erykah return like an undisputed champ after a long hiatus for her Massey Hall performance. I hope everything goes well for them and the new baby, and (more importantly and selfishly) expect some more wicked tunes from these two in the near future.

Suede Photography

at 14:03 on February 2nd, 2009

Photo by Kevin Jones, comment already posted.

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upandcoming27

at 16:07 on February 2nd, 2009

one of my all-time favorite artist, e. badu, never follows the norm.

jazz1thedj

at 16:42 on February 2nd, 2009

I was on twitter while Jay and Erykah were twitting about the birth. It was like twitter was a big waiting room. Congrats to both.

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melgoro

at 10:46 on February 3rd, 2009

Erykah Badu announced she was pregnant at the Austin City Limits Festival on Saturday the 28th 2008. An amazing show.
"I'm giving birth to church." A roar came over the crowd. I was confused, I thought it was metaphoric. I thought, giving birth to church...as in she discovered a new spiritual belief or.... wait a minute..."She's pregnant.. Look at her belly", my friend said... then i looked...got a really good look and saw the baby bump. Then it all made sense. I was stunned how great a show she put on...considering her obvious pregnancy. Congrats to her and Jay.
©Melissa Gorostiza

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