Erykah Badu Slams The Flaming Lips, ‘I Feel Disgusted & Violated’

Wayne Coyne, the wacky frontman for the equally bizarre Flaming Lips, is in hot water with one of his own collaborators: Erykah Badu. The R&B/soul singer is furious with Coyne after the pair worked on a sexy video shoot together, saying that she was manipulated and misrepresented.

Antiquiet reports that the trouble began when Coyne posted saucy pictures of Badu, naked as the day she was born save for some blood-red paint and a bathtub full of glitter. The images were taken from the set of the video filming for The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, a Flaming Lips/Badu cut taken from the band’s Record Store Day exclusive set of collaborations.

The steamy (and not very NSFW) video, also featuring Badu’s younger sister Nayrok, is a psychedelic kaleidoscope of disturbing imagery; with blood, lumpy milk, glitter and slow, lascivious shots of Badu and her kin in the nude.

The video has since been pulled from public viewing, with the neo-soul queen dropping a huge extended rant to twitter calling Coyne “an ass”, “self-serving” and decrying his validity. It’s long, angry and full of a ‘casual’ approach to grammar – but it’s also fascinating stuff, you can read the warts-and-all account below:

@waynecoyne then… perhaps, next time u get an occasion to work with an artist who respects your mind/art, you should send at least a ROUGh version of the video u PLAN to release b4 u manipulate or compromise the artist’s brand by desperately releasing a poor excuse for shock and nudity that sends a convoluted message that passes as art( to some).

Even with Window Seat [TD: the video in which Badu also got some kit off]there was a method and thought process involved. I have not one need for publicity . I just love artistic dialogue . And just because an image is shocking does not make it art.

You obviously have a misconception of who I am artistically. I don’t mind that but…
By the way you are an ass.
Yu did everything wrong from the on set .

First:
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 shit 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.

I never would have approved that tasteless, meaningless, shock motivated video .

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 ASS .

O and Nayrok told me to tell u to kiss her ass too . Almost forgot. Peace

Ms. Badu

And Coyne’s response to Badu’s vitriolic tirade?

Well, to see it’s (literally) cheeky is a bit of an understatement, posting to twitter this morning:

Hey @fatbellybella I kissed it!!!! Thanks!!!!!!moby.to/c062tv

— Wayne Coyne (@waynecoyne) June 6, 2012

Thanks to Perez Hilton, you can view the video that caused all the controversy below: