On & On (Erykah Badu song)

"On & On" is the debut single of neo-soul singer Erykah Badu, from her 1997 debut album Baduizm. The song won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 1998 Grammy Awards. It spent two weeks at number-one on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and went to #12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, it reached the same position on the UK Singles Chart. It was also the first neo soul song to hit number-one on the R&B chart.

"On & On"
Single by Erykah Badu
from the album Baduizm
ReleasedDecember 1996
RecordedJanuary 1996[1]
Genre
Length3:45
LabelKedar/Universal/MCA Records
Songwriter(s)
  • Erykah Badu
  • JaBorn Jamal
Producer(s)
  • Madukwu Chinwah
  • Erykah Badu
Erykah Badu singles chronology
"On & On"
(1996)		 "Next Lifetime"
(1997)

Critical reception

Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "While everyone else is trying to mimic Faith Evans and Mary J. Blige, newcomer Badu is going one step further. She is taking the jeep-soul concept and expanding it with her own new ideas. With the aid of producers Bob Power and Jamal Cantero, she infuses elements of African culture with a touch of Middle-Eastern vocal flavor. The result is a refreshing and adventurous single that could easily lure hard-core hip-hop kids—and their parents, too. This bodes extremely well for the creative depth and commercial reach of the forthcoming album "Baduizm"."[2]

Music video

Badu was depicted as a maid in a black family household in the music video for the single, showing her doing her chores. Scenes of her chasing a dog that bit the laundry that she put to dry, tying a little girl's hair into a ponytail and falling into mud could be seen throughout the video. The video ends with Badu dressed fully in green with several people in a farm, singing and dancing. The video is loosely based upon the 1985 film adaptation of Alice Walker's The Color Purple. The video was also nominated at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best Female Video and Best R&B Video.

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (1997) Peak
position
New Zealand Singles Chart 44
UK Singles Chart 12
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 12
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 1

Year-end charts
Chart (1997) Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[3] 83

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[4] Silver 200,000
United States (RIAA)[5] Gold 500,000[6]

sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

See also

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2010-03-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Flick, Larry (1997-01-11). "Reviews & Previews: Singles" (PDF). Billboard. p. 85. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  3. "Billboard Top 100 - 1997". Retrieved 2010-08-28.
  4. "British single certifications – Erykah Badu – On & On". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
  5. "American single certifications – Erykah Badu – On". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
  6. "Best-Selling Records of 1997". Billboard. BPI Communications Inc. 110 (5): 76. January 31, 1998. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
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