The D.O.C. revealed that his relationship with Erykah Badu came to an end after Dr. Dre reached out to him to help write for his album.
Appearing on the Willie D Live podcast, the rapper opened up about their amicable breakup in the 2000s. The two share a daughter, 21-year-old Puma Curry.
Around the 1:30 mark of the interview, the “It’s Funky Enough” rapper explained that he and Badu had been together for four years. During that time, he’d moved back to his hometown of Dallas after a “huge blowout” with Dre.
“The way I felt the story hadn’t ended for me yet, you know. I was still trying to figure out how I’m going to write a happy ending to this story,” said The D.O.C., who suffered a career-changing car accident in 1989.
He went on to share that when their daughter was about four years old, Dre reached out to him for help with songwriting on an upcoming album. Though he didn’t specify which project it was, Dre’s third studio album, Compton, didn’t arrive until 2015.
“Erykah and I had been together for three, four years. She cleaned me up. No more drugs and alcohol. You know, I’m a father now,” The D.O.C. shared. “I still had a desire to be something, to be somebody. And I hadn’t figured out how to create art again yet. So, when Dre called, that feeling came back, and I wanted to go — but she didn’t want me to. She thought it was a bad decision. She thought, ‘What’s going to be different?’”
Badu warned him that he’d end up “in the same hole” as before, and while The D.O.C. initially disagreed, he later admitted that the neo-soul star had been “right.”
“But she said, you know, if you going to go, then just go,” he recalled.
The D.O.C. said he didn’t believe Erykah Badu felt “betrayed,” explaining that he had “given so much” to their family during their time together. Badu also shares her eldest son, 27-year-old Seven Sirius Benjamin, with André 3000, and her youngest daughter, 16-year-old Mars, with Jay Electronica.
“But I wanted to go, and she received that and let me go,” he reflected. “Now, we both knew when I left that we weren’t going to be able to come back to what it was. And we acknowledged that and just moved forward.”
Like with the other fathers of her children, Badu has remained close friends with The D.O.C. — even serving as the doula for his wife.
