Puma Curry has a somewhat unusual job for an 18-year-old from Dallas: she’s her mother’s personal assistant. But when you’re the daughter of musical legend Erykah Badu, that kind of title makes sense. “It’s a fabulous job, I’ve gotta say,” she says with a giggle during a Zoom call with Badu, who’s beaming in from New York City while her daughter is home in Texas. “I’m learning how it is out on the road. She’s given me tips you would need to learn if you wanted to build your life around performing and being an artist.”
Badu is certainly familiar with life on the road, and still is to this day. She’s about to embark on a tour with fellow Soulquarian Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def), which will take her and Bey across the United States before ending in her hometown of Dallas. In addition to the concert series, the Queen of Soul has a brand-new fashion collaboration with Marni. The colorful capsule marries the “Call Tyrone” musician’s eclectic tastes with Marni creative director Francesco Risso’s zany, patch-worked world of design (Badu teased the collab at the 2023 Met Gala, where she wore a white dress from the Milanese label, the top half of her face shrouded in hanging beads).
“He asked me if I wanted to do a capsule collection with him, so I said, Oh my god, yeah, of course,” Badu explains of working with Risso. For her part, Curry met the designer at her “very first photo shoot” in the Cayman Islands for a past Marni campaign. “Francesco made me feel so at home when I was just starting to learn about the industry,” she says. “And I knew my mom liked the brand.”
As Badu brings her daughter into the fold—making Curry her plus-one at fashion shows, events, and even in the Marni campaign—it’s clear the singer is now focused on passing down her legacy. “The place Puma is right now is much further along than I was at that age,” she says.
Badu and Curry wear looks from the Marni x Erykah Badu…
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