After a five-year break from releasing music, neo-soul icon Erykah Badu returned in 2008 with this masterpiece of avant-garde R&B and forward-thinking hip-hop. Building on the sociopolitical vision of Marvin Gaye and Sly Stone, she establishes a transcendental mood on “The Healer”—a Madlib-assisted rumination on the power of hip-hop—while voicing the struggles of single black mothers on the beautifully woozy “That Hump.” Her voice is especially powerful on “Soldier,” while “Twinkle” culminates in a furious call to action.