The event also featured a surprise appearance from musician Thundercat, who performed his song “Them Changes.”<\/p>\n
The event came together after Badu’s team called the venue a week or two before, according to Jonathan Merla, vice president of marketing for Headington Companies and Shyboy co-founder. He said Shyboy was\u00a0built to attract top-level artists like Badu.<\/p>\n
“It’s very gratifying for the entire Shyboy team to see those artists start to kind of manifest themselves in real time in this space,” Merla said.<\/p>\n
Badu’s appearance began with a private, closed-door listening party for her upcoming album and continued with her at the turntables for a public after-party.<\/p>\n
“She’s a consummate DJ,” Merla said. “Just like any other artist and DJ, she read the room and played the perfect tracks … It was really nice to see her take the helm of our booth and and maneuver the room in a way that only she can.”<\/p>\n
Badu’s performance came a few days before the release of her long-awaited collaboration with rapper-producer The Alchemist. The 16-track album,\u00a0titled Before the World Blows: The\u00a0Abi and Alan Experiment<\/a>, drops Friday and includes features from Steve Lacy, Thundercat and\u00a0Earl Sweatshirt.<\/p>\n