Erykah Badu Sings About Love With Rapsody

North Carolina's MC Rapsody will release her long-awaited album Please Don’t Cry on May 17. Ahead of the album’s release, Rapsody dropped a new single last week: “3:AM,” a collaboration with Dallas native Erykah Badu that illustrates the complexity of love.

The collaboration is the first between the two artists in over a decade. Badu first worked with Rapsody on a remix of “20 Feet Tall” alongside DJ and producer 9th Wonder.

The collaboration between the two friends is the third single from Please Don’t Cry to be made public, along with “Asteroids,” which was revealed last October, and “Stand Tall,” released in March.

“3:AM” seamlessly combines Rapsody’s melodic rapping through a trio of verses with a chorus crafted by Badu, emblematic of the singer’s unique voice.

The lyrics are directed at an unknown person, with whom the singer undoubtedly has had a painful love affair. As signaled by the title, the song is an ode to late-night love and the moments that exist in the wee hours of the morning.

Rapsody released an interview — really more of a conversation — between herself and the queen of neo-soul in which they spoke about how they connected with the single lyrics and their history with love and relationships.

“It’s a heavy song, it’s beautiful,” Badu told Rapsody. “When I heard ‘3:AM,’ I thought ‘Oh yeah, I want to get some of this, I want to be in this emotion with her.'”
Rapsody touched on her upbringing, growing up a Jehovah’s Witness in a large family. In spite of her parents having a loving relationship, she found there weren’t many opportunities for her to learn what interpersonal love looks like. Because of this, Rapsody had to learn about love by going through relationships.

“The lessons hurt a little bit, but I think growing through it you realize it’s never about the other person, it’s always about you,” Rapsody said.

Badu spoke on her lifelong experiences, even going into specific detail of moments in her past and what she extrapolated from relationships. Throughout Badu’s illustrious career, she's shared a ton of life lessons.

“Letting go is very very difficult because when you're truly letting go, it's a goodbye, it's a funeral of sorts,” Badu said. “And not only are you saying goodbye to a person in the relationship, who’s a physical person that you touched, not only saying goodbye to that, you’re saying goodbye to the woman that you were.”

The song was first revealed at Badu’s annual birthday bash in late February. Rapsody was one of many performers who graced the stage at The Factory, performing “Asteroids.” The birthday celebration ended with the debut performance of “3:AM,” when Badu and Rapsody effortlessly riffed off each other for the breathless crowd.

After the performance, the two sat down on stage and praised each other, remarking on the love they share.

“That’s one of my best friends right here, y’all” Badu said of Rapsody that night. “You always come through.”

“I will always forever come through,” Rapsody responded. “You’ve always been a guiding light in my life.”

Please Don’t Cry released on May 17.