Singer-songwriter Erykah Badu was at Times Square recently, playing around at being a street performer for about seven minutes and netting $3.60.
Badu posted an iPhone video of the experience to OkayPlayer on Wednesday. At the beginning of the video, she said she’d always wondered what it would be like to be a street performer.
But the seven-minute clip, which fans insisted in the comments was just a joke, aroused quite a lot of criticism online.
Much of the irritation came from what Badu sang during the seven-minute foray onto Times Square streets. Instead of singing a “real” song, she sang things like, “Please, please, please give me your money.”
And, “I don’t want to get no real job. I just want to be out here, selling my songs.”
Wrote one commenter, “I wouldn't have given you a penny for screaming at me while I'm passing by...... in addition if you scream ‘Give me some money, because I don't want a job!!!’.... I'd probably tell you to call Tyrone...”
Another added, “ Think we all got trolled by Erykah Badu. hahah She's worth millions, famous for her experimental and socially conscious music; and yet, she decides to scream (not sing) and sound horrible on the streets of New York? Dumbfounded.”
Others, though, pointed out that $3.60 in just a few minutes would net her decent income.
“Look at all this money. See, if you’ve got some initiative, you can make money,” Badu said. “All you gotta do is have a little initiative and a little talent.”
Badu wrote a disclaimer on her Facebook page with a post of the video: “In no way is this video a reflection of my feelings about homeless or unfortunate families nor individuals who have no other means of survival in our world. Tho each individual set of circumstances is unique, We must all do our share in OUR WORLD. Instead this short film was shot w/ my iPhone and edited in iMovie for entertainment purposes only and serves as a personal 'hustle' experiment for me.”
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