On the cover of her debut CD, Baduizm, she guards her face with a strategic turn of the neck which leaves you staring at the back of her head wrap. On the CD’s inner sleeve, she accomplishes the same effect by tucking her head under a pillow. One wonders why. She’s a mocha-skinned beauty who has a voice that bestirs the heart.

The print press has been quick to compare her to the late Billie Holiday. There is a resemblance, I suppose, but basically the point has been overwrought. At times, yes, she does sound hauntingly close to the legendary jazz vocalist but Badu’s voice is far less pained than that of Holiday’s. Nonetheless, her vocals have a cool, moody quality that offsets her occasional foray into syrupy sentimentality (witness the introduction of "Appletree" where she dishes out "food for thought" to some hungry young listener).

Badu somewhat reluctantly acknowledges the tie to Billie Holiday but also lists Chaka Kahn, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye as influences. In fact, one of Badu’s early successes was a cover of the Marvin Gaye-Tammy Terrell classic "Your Precious Love."

Originally from Dallas, Badu, age 26, studied dance in high school and theater at Grambling State University in Louisiana. She currently resides in Brooklyn, where she first began performing upon arriving in the city last year. She was something of an instant success. "I put my little tape in the tape recorder and sang 'On and On,' just to test the waters, and the audience loved it."

Badu's breezy style of jazz, featuring hip-hop undertones and her infectious honey-coated voice, caught the attention of Kedar Massenburg who was starting a new record company at the time. He recruited Badu as his first artist and is currently listed as Executive Producer on the debut CD. Massenburg scored the proverbial home run, the first time at bat. As of this writing, Baduizm has climbed to No. 2 at the charts.

The CD is a tad repetitive and a tad mushy at times but it's a pretty impressive first effort all the same. I have a funny feeling that Badu is here for the long haul. I’m not much of a jazz enthusiast but I do like this artist, even if she does have a good attitude, and even if her management company, Kedar Entertainment, didn’t return our calls, and even if her home phone just says something like "this person’s mailbox is full, it cannot accept any more messages and, besides, she doesn’t want to talk to you anyway."

Hey, maybe there’s hope for her yet.

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