Apocalypse Two: The Rooms - The Experimental Room

Apocalypse Two: The Rooms - The Experimental Room with tags erykah badu, erykah, badu, dj lo down loretta brown, control freaq records, abi and alan, abi & alan, the alchemist, control freaq

On Sunday. April 5, 2020, Erykah Badu performed the second concert in her groundbreaking Quarantine Concert Series. Titled “Apocalypse Two: The Rooms” this performance would see Badu pull off three entirely different concerts in one performance… with the added complication of introducing an interactive element in the form of allowing the audience to determine which of three rooms she would perform in. Mind you: each room had its own distinct aesthetic, requiring quick costumes changes as she raced back and forth between them, but, they also featured three different combinations of her bands playing three different musical styles - this was gon’ to be some crazy shit.

And Badu came thru!

This performance is from “The Experimental Room”. The environment, with Edison lights hanging just above heads, recalls basement parties from way back in the day: those tight, often funky and dimly lit places where the experiments that would give the world hip-hop, house (and all that came between and after) were first performed. Badu and her masked cohorts: Rob Free, DJ Big Texas, and Picnic (all three from the Dallas-based collective known as *The Cannabinoids) would take the experimentation even further, though: they would create something new right there on the spot, entirely unrehearsed - top of the dome.

The resulting work is a masterpiece of re-interpretation that would be all but impossible without the palpable synergy between the players. They communicate, wordlessly, in the subtle language of bobbing heads and rocking bodies. What they created - spontaneously; seemingly effortlessly - combines the improvisational sensibilities of jazz, the soulful funkiness of Badu’s original compositions, and the sparse minimalism of electronic instruments, to offer the audience something fresh. Badu sets herself, physically and aurally, in a very different context, re-imagining and breathing new energy into her classics.

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#Quarantineconcertseries #ApocalypseTwo #erykahbadu #TheCannabinoids #TheRooms

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ABOUT THE CANNABINOIDS

The Cannabinoids are a Dallas, Texas-based collective of comprised of award-winning musicians, producers and DJs that perform and function as a band or unit. Each member represents a cannabinoid in the brain.

Members include:

Erykah Badu – THC

Jah Born – HU-210DJ

Big Texas – SR141716

RC Williams – JWH-133

Symbolyc One (S1)– NABILONE

Rob Free – LEVONANTRADOL

PicnicTyme – MARINOLA1 – SATIVEX

Listen toThe Cannabinoids here:

Follow Erykah Badu:

Website:

Erykah Badu, The Alchemist Next To You

Listen on YouTube Music: • Next To You

#ErykahBadu #TheAlchemist #NextToYou #abiandalan #Echos19

"Next To You" © 2025 Control Freaq Records / EMPIRE; (Dedicated to Dexter Samuels)

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THE QUARANTINE CONCERT SERIES - APOCALYPSE TWO: THE ROOMS

Executive Producer: Erykah Badu

Concept/Creative Direction: Erykah Badu

Written/Directed by Erykah Badu for Badu World Streaming

Producer

Koryan “Koko” Wright

Co-Producers

James Sharper

Ward White

The Players

Erykah Badu - Drumpad/Keys/Digitakt/Vocals

Braylon “Bro B” Lacy - Bass/Vocals

Daniel Johnson - Keys/Vocals

Frank Moka - Drums/Vocals

Jamal Cantero -Drumpad

Robert “Free” Bradford - Drumpad/Keys/Vocals

Richard “Picnic” Escobito - Drumpad/Keys/Vocals

Big Texas - Turntables/Programming

Doug Johnston - Technical Director/Streaming

Mike Skinner - Head of Audio

Erika West - Assistant Director

Vichavati Ho - Streaming Engineer/Copy Operator

Mirimran Ali - Livestream Operator

Ritchie Flo • Dal Sanders - M.A.G.I.C.

Erykah Badu - Set Design

Jorge “Prophecy” Villa - Director of Photography

David “Kool Daddy” Fry - Steady Cam

Victor V. Gonzales - Camera Operator/Grip

Jazz I Black -Camera Operator

Spaceboi Fresh- Camera Operator/Lighting/Set Design/Production

Badu World Team

Michael Knight Jr. - P.A. To Badu

Lyrical Ballou - Production Asst.

Michelle Gibson - Production Asst.

James “Cold Cris” Parker - Digital Management

Lindsey Hunter - Band Wardrobe/Costumes

Myah Hasbany - Badu Costume Designs for “Experimental Room”

Tech/Production Crew

Eric Rogers - Recording Engineer

Ryan Colgan - Audio Tech

Philip Burda - Audio Tech

Daniel Hunter - Production Asst.

Jeremy Stegman - Production Asst.

Tristan Barnhill - Backline Tech

Aiden Barnhill - Backline Tech.

Special Thanks

to my partner Doug Johnston and our team at

Artistic Visual Studios

Special Thanks

to my team at Maestro Interactive

for making my dreams come true