The best female soul (or r&b or hip-hop) singer of her generation, Erykah Badu has often been compared to jazz legend Billie Holiday, and based solely on their singing styles (but not their importance to pop music, for in that area Holiday dwarfs almost any singer), it's an apt comparison. Badu slinks around, over, and through the beat as much as she stays on it (and that's a good thing). Her slightly-gravelly voice slides subtlely up and down the scale, yet she avoids showy grandstands, doesn't overpower the melody. She focuses less on her voice's power and more on its expressiveness, slurring words for the sake of the sound, the emotion behind the words.Nowhere are Badu's vocal expressiveness more expert as they are here, on the sultriest song she's written. An extended metaphor for sexual attraction, "Honey"' is ripe with double entendres; I'd quote 'em, but they wouldn't have anywhere near the same effect because, one, they're song lyrics--they're meant to be sung, and they don't have the same effect when written--in fact, these would seem rather silly; and two, it's Badu's voice that makes 'em work. The earthy, slightly-retro, '70s-funk-era music helps, too. So sit back, light the candles, turn off the lights, grab your honey by his 'fro, add a little lemon, and...serve.
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