S. Samuel
Grammy-winning singer Erykah Badu has unleashed her feelings at Flaming Lips lead singer Wayne Coyne over his new "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" music video cover, claiming he violated her on multiple levels.
Taking to social platform Facebook, Badu did not hold back on her issues with Coyne’s release of the explicit visual last week.
“You showed me a concept of beautiful tasteful imagery( by way of vid text messages) . I trusted that. I was mistaken. Then u release an unedited, unapproved version within the next few days. That all spells 1 thing , Self Serving . When asked what the concept meant after u explained it , u replied ,”it doesn’t mean anything , I just want to make a great video that everyone is going to watch. ” I understood , because as an artist we all desire that. But we don’t all do it at another artist’s expense . I attempted to resolve this respectfully by having conversations with u after the release but that too proved to be a poor excuse for art. From jump, You begged me to sit in a tub of that other sh*t and I said naw. I refused to sit in any liquid that was not water. But Out of RESPECT for you and the artist you ‘appear’ to be, I Didn’t wanna kill your concept , wanted u to at least get it out of your head . After all, u spent your dough on studio , trip to Dallas etc.. Sooo, I invited Nayrok , my lil sis and artist, who is much more liberal ,to be subject of those other disturbing (to me ) scenes . I told u from jump that I believed your concept to be disturbing. But would give your edit a chance. You then said u would take my shots ( in clear water/ fully covered parts -seemed harmless enough) and Nayrok’s part ( which I was not present for but saw the photos and a sample scene of cornstarch dripping ) and edit them together along with cosmic, green screen images ( which no one saw) then would show me the edit. . Instead, U disrespected me by releasing pics and rough vid on the internet without my approval. (Contract breech ) That is equivalent to putting out a security camera’s images of me changing in the fitting room. [sic]” (Facebook)
Badu then went on to claim she would never have approved the music video if fully aware of Coyne’s explicit vision.
“Our art is a reflection of who we are . I have no connection to those images shot in their raw version. I was interested in seeing an amazing edit that would perhaps change or alter my thoughts . Never happened . You also did the same thing with the song itself which displays crappy “rough “vocals by me . I let it go , perhaps iiiii was missing something, I thought. I Should have followed my first mind back in studio when recording the vocals “your way”. ( Red flag.) It was uncomfortable. For that I am at fault . Consequently, brother, As a human I am disgusted with your what appears to be desperation and poor execution. And disregard for others . As a director I am unimpressed . As a sociologist I understand your type. As your fellow artist I am uninspired. As a woman I feel violated and underestimated. Hope it works out for ya ,Wayne. Really i could give a shit less. Still love your live show tho. And , you’re welcomed. Lesson learned . By the way I have guested in very few videos. But I have always been given the opportunity to see the edit and contribute to it when my roll is substantial. Not this time . I guess u feel it better to apologize than ask for permission and be refused . Hey, Love u man, but your ways are not very nice . O, And on behalf of all the artists u have manipulated or plan to manipulate, find another way . These things have been said out of necessity. And if you don’t like it you can KiSS MY Glittery A** . O and Nayrok told me to tell u to kiss her a** too . Almost forgot. [sic]” (Facebook)
The Flaming Lips’ controversial visual raised eyebrows after it landed online last Friday.
Here’s the video for the Flaming Lips and Erykah Badu’s cover of the standard “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, which appears on the collab-heavy release The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends. The clip was directed by George Salisbury, and as Wayne Coyne hint-Tweeted (and Erykah Badu Tweet-clarified) earlier this week, it features a very, very naked Nayrok Badu, Erykah’s sister, covered in glitter, blood, and what looks like (and hopefully is not) semen. After being released on vinyl for Record Store Day, The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends will see release digitally and on CD on June 26 via Warner Bros. (Pitchfork)
Hype started to develop earlier in the week when nude on-set photos hit the Internet.
This week, Flaming Lips lead singer Wayne Coyne tweeted pictures of Erykah Badu’s younger sister draped in the placenta of the most righteous earth-mother-three-twirls-in-a-circle on the music video set to their version of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” Prepare to do a double take as Lil’ Sister Badu (who bears a striking resemblance to the “Window Seat” singer) loses her top and inhibitions in a series of NSFW pictures. (Crunktastical)
