Tears Are Unacceptable

Erykah Badu will be “hosting” the Howard University homecoming show at Liv Nightclub tonight, but it looks like much of the music will come from 9th Wonder (whose new album, The Dream Merchant Vol. 2, is reviewed in this week’s City Paper); his protege, the Columbia, Md.-based DJ Cuzzin B; and the one-and-only Monie Love, who was in the middle at one time. (More recently, she had beef with Jeezy.)

Thus, it’s hard to say whether Badu will do one of my favorite soul-singer bits of all time. During a Smokin’ Grooves show at the Nissan Pavilion in the mid-’90s, there were girls sobbing in the front row. I assume they were stunned by Badu’s ankh-fueled soul power. Anyway, during a breakdown in one of her ?uestlove-fueled songs, she walked over to the girls and sang, “don’t cry,” then gestured to her backup singers, who repeated the phrase. I can’t remember if the girls stopped crying, or if they cried more. (I also have a faint memory that I’d seen Badu do this during another performance on TV.)