By Michelle Richardson
Special to the AFRO
Community activist. Mother. Disability warrior. Survivor.
Erricka Bridgeford is known by many different titles, and now she has added another to the list: rapper. The multi-hyphenate Baltimore native released a powerful and motivating song, “I Did It” that is written by her son, Paul. The record is paired with a video that’s reminiscent of Nas’ “I Know Can,” showcasing the joy of children playing and rapping along to positive lyrics.
“‘I Did It’ feels like a celebration,” said Paul Bridgeford. “I did everything that I put my mind to, everything that I set out to do. And she’s my mom, so I’ve watched her throughout her whole life and career, constantly evolving, and I really wanted to reflect that in a song.”
Paul Bridgeford has been writing music since he was 15 years old and has been a rapper for 10-plus years. He goes by the name Bmore Lovechild and will release a full album later this year on Empire Records called “Family Tides.”
He said the project started when his mother approached him a few months before her birthday and asked him to write her a song. He decided to embody her celebratory energy.
“I didn’t know he would channel me so well,” the elder Bridgeford said. “It blows my mind how well he channeled my spirit and put it into words if I was going to flex on people.”
Erricka Bridgeford said she decided to record a rap song when hip-hop turned 50.
“I love hip-hop; it was a part of my upbringing,” she said. “We were raised Christian, and it was literally the only form of music that our parents would let us listen to because when rap first came out it was about positivity.”
The “I Did It” video embodies that feeling of nostalgia, featuring familiar territory such as Belmont Elementary School, which Erricka attended from kindergarten to sixth grade, and Erricka’s childhood home.
“BIG LOVE to Tiffany Etheridge for letting us do this with Belmont Elementary School,” said Erricka on her Facebook page.
When thinking about the video, which was directed and shot by Keston De Coteau, Erricka knew she wanted children to be at the forefront.
“Once I heard the song, I saw the vision in my head that there were going to be children,” she said. “I love children, and I remember loving myself as a child and then hitting about 10 years old and starting to lose myself in what other people thought I should and shouldn’t be. I wanted children to feel that ‘I Did It!’”
Erricka’s own granddaughters and nieces are in the music video.
“Dancing was exciting to us in the video,” the little girls said. They said they felt like celebrities when their friends saw them in the video.
Erricka says her motivation for the song also stemmed from people telling her mother that her future would be limited because she was born with one hand.
“My mom said that when I was in the stroller, people would look at me and tell her what I wasn’t going to be. So ‘she can’t’ has been people’s for my life. Being Black and being a woman coming from West Baltimore – even as an activist and as a community leader – there are certain ways that people say I’m not supposed to talk or dress.”
The song is released on Empire Records, through a major distribution deal via its Real On Purpose label, which distributes all types of Baltimore art such as spoken word, poetry and R&B music.
“Empire gave Baltimore its own distribution deal, and I’m just very blessed to have that connection and that Baltimore love,” Erricka said. “A media mogul like Empire says we want Baltimore to win, and we believe in Baltimore art and Baltimore artists, and we want to be able to distribute it, and that’s amazing.”
Besides making positive music for her community, Erricka is still a voice for Zone 16 and has a few things that she’s working on that she can’t publicize just yet.
“Well, the one thing that’s coming up I can’t talk about—well, right now I am on an episode of ‘American Gangster: Trap Queens’—but I have another thing that I can’t talk about right now,” says Bridgeford with a laugh.
Meanwhile, she said, some of the seeds she’s already planted in the community are bearing fruit.
“‘The Body Politic’ (a documentary about Baltimore’s resilience and community-driven battle against violence in which Bridgeford played a starring role) was nominated for an Emmy, the Baltimore Peace Movement is still going strong and I’m executive director at the Baltimore Mediation Center and we turn 30 this year,” she said, “We are a part of why the murder rate is so low because people have a place to go and resolve their conflict.”
“I Did It” couldn’t be more appropriate or come at a better time, given the upward trajectory in her life and in her embattled city, Erricka said.
“In writing this song for me, Paul captured the heart and soul of a whole city.”
“I Did It” can be found on all streaming platforms and YouTube.
Great Job Michelle Richardson & the Team @ AFRO American Newspapers Source link for sharing this story.
