Source:
Omar
Vega
/
Getty
The
City
of
Dallas
and
DART
are
giving
fans
of
Erykah
Badu
a
permanent
“Window
Seat”
after
unveiling
the
new
“Badu
Bus”
to
honor
the
Neo-Soul
icon.
According
to
the
announcement
last
week
at
a
press
conference
outside
Badu’s
old
high
school,
Booker
T.
Washington
High
School
for
the
Performing
and
Visual
Arts,
the
Grammy
Award-winning
singer
and
DART
revealed
they
teamed
up
to
put
artwork
on
Dallas
buses
and
trains;
announcing
that
the
design
would
be
seen
for
the
next
year.
Overwhelmed
and
excited
by
the
DART
x
BADU
collaboration,
the
“Next
Lifetime
”
artist
said:
“If
you
are
Black
in
Dallas,
Texas,
you
know
you
made
it,
if
you’re
on
the
cover
of
Jet
and
on
the
cover
of
DART,”
Badu
said.
“I
was
a
hustler,
everybody.
And
I’m
still
a
hustler
today.
And
what
I’m
hustling
now
is
love,
and
kindness
any
kind
of
way
I
can.
I
want
to
thank
y’all
for
allowing
me
this
space,
this
platform,
and
this
day;
And,
if
you
guys
can
give
me
my
keys,
I’d
like
to
take
my
bus
now.”
The
“Badu
Bus”
is
a
collection
of
three
buses
and
two
trains
that
have
been
specially
wrapped
and
decorated,
featuring
images
of
Badu
and
artwork
designed
to
celebrate
this
collaboration.
The
new
“Badu
Bus”
design
will
be
operational
throughout
DART’s
thirteen
service
area
cities.
As
noted
by
Dallas
radio
station,
97.9The
Beat,
students,
teachers,
and
DART
executives
were
thrilled
to
commemorate
Badu
at
this
significant
milestone,
ahead
of
her
annual
Birthday
Bash
event
at
The
Factory
in
Deep
Ellum,
over
the
weekend.
At
the
Birthday
Bash,
four
lucky
DART
riders
and
their
plus-ones
received
special
access
to
a
VIP
section,
private
entrance,
exclusive
swag,
and
a
DART
monthly
pass
for
riding
on
the
“Badu
Bus”.
When
asked
by
the
station
about
the
significance
of
receiving
the
honor
during
Black
History
Month,
given
Black
Americans’
history
with
the
bus
system,
Badu
said:
“Humor
is
my
defense
mechanism,
so
I
don’t
have
anything
funny
to
say
about
that,”
Badu
said.
”I
remember
there
was
one
bus
driver
on
my
route
—
it
wasn’t
called
DART
at
the
time;
it’s
rebranded
now,
it
was
yellow
and
black
and
white.
I
remember
my
route,
the
No.
2
Ervay
route
to
this
school,
Booker
T.
The
bus
driver
was
so
sweet.
He
would
let
people
on
who
didn’t
have
transfers
or
the
money
or
stuff.
He
didn’t
talk
at
all,
he
would
just
do
a
little
[nods]
go
to
the
back
kinda
thing.’
It
reminded
me
that
there
are
still
angels
and
love
in
the
city.”
