By Helena Madonna
When it comes to Erykah Badu's lavish strands, she doesn't style them, she stages them. The musician's hair is a statement designed to arrive before she does, whether it's towering, sleeked, braided, beaded or wrapped in cloth.
From the moment Baduizm landed in 1997, she's used hair as a cipher - not just a crown, but a channel. Locs, coils, wigs, weaves and textures layered with meaning: each look is a dispatch from another realm. In Badu's world, hair isn't ornamental; it's a medium of message, mythology and defiance.
While the culture cycles through trends, Badu's busy constructing her own. She's not interested in fitting the era, she's always somewhere further ahead, braiding the future strand by strand.
1997
Crowned in terracotta and armed with silver hardware for Vibe Magazine. Even when her locks aren't on display, they're tucked away beneath a statement of a different kind.
1997
An unbothered Erykah lighting a candle mid-performance at the Lilith Fair festival - wearing a towering green turban, an iconic element of her onstage persona.
1998
Erykah Badu captured in one of her most ritual-like moments. Draped in green from head-to-toe, adorning an architectural turban using a floral bouquet as nature's accessory.
2001
A shaved head, and striking makeup, at the Grammy Awards.
2003
A classic afro for the Grammys, where she won Best Urban/Alternative Performance for Love Of My Life (An Ode to Hip Hop)'.
2003
In an early noughties classic aesthetic hybrid: a one-shoulder gown over jeans, beneath her crown of curls.
2005
Protest and poetry for the VH1 Hip Hop Honors. Floor length braids like a living archive, raised fist like punctuation.
2005
Badu's textured 'fro breathing life to the definition of full-bodied beauty, and the aesthetic she embraced following the release of her album Worldwide Underground.
2013
Erykah's take on the pompadour at the BET Awards, where she also performed the song B*tch, Don’t Kill My Vibe with Kendrick Lamar.
2017
More of her self-driven styling, in an athletic jacket paired with a yellow tulle over-skirt - and signature afro and adornments.
2019
This custom wig made from bottle caps is the embodiment of Erykah's creativity with wigs and DIY art. Created by artist Chioma Obiegbu, it was first showcased for InStyle magazine and later embraced by the musician for her own creative purposes.
2022
At the Met Gala, themed "In America: An Anthology of Fashion", Badu was one of the most talked about attendees, pairing Marni's eclectic artistry with her own unique layering style - her beaded braids being the standout accessory.
2022
Erykah Badu is never seen out of her fearless street style. Outside the Rick Owens show in Paris, she wears sea anemone slip-ons by Myah Hasbany, signature oversized top with rings and bangles from her personal collection.
2023
Badu in hot pink Valentino for Vogue's March 2023 cover shoot, styled by Alex Harrington.
2023
Cap fluffed, grin bejewelled, cheeks freckled, lashes spiked and hair sleeked: demonstrating yet again that Erykah is the queen of texture play.
2024
Cascading knee-length, sleek box braids and gold geometric, almost snakeskin like arm cuffs.
2025
Award outfits never stray from anything other than iconic. To accept her Fashion Icon Award at the Billboard Women in Music Awards, she wore a nude toned, mohair knit suit made in collaboration with designer and Central Saint Martins grad Myah Hasbany - dubbed the "booty suit" or "full figure form".
