The heart of Amerykah

Erykah Badu’s America is a cipher of emotions and politics.

Badu is the so-called Queen of Neo-Soul, though she adamantly rejects that title.
With politics (mostly) set aside from part one of this series, her latest, “New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh),” focuses on complicated matters of the heart.

This album represents a return to the love-ology of her debut “Baduizm.” But she’s on to something much deeper than that album’s song, “Next Lifetime,” about the temptation to be with a best friend when she is “already someone’s girl.”

Part Two’s first single, “Window Seat,” is already garnering controversy for its music video, which shows Badu stripping nude on the streets of Dallas as a protest of groupthink. The song itself is a masterpiece, complete with delicate harmonies and Sunday morning pace.

The 10-minute “Out My Mind, Just in Time” covers a rollercoaster relationship with a toxic fella and is mixed with Angelou-esque sentiments.

“Twenty feet out of ashes I can rise / Just like birds and children / I can fly,” reads one lyric in the song.

On this album, Badu — and her heart — soar.