Coming Home with Aisha Badru

When I first heard Aisha Badru’s latest EP, The Way Back Home, a sense of familiarity sparked. The more I listened to her lyrics, the more comfort I felt in knowing that someone out there could translate into words what I dare to say; it is a recognizable feeling among many of us today. We are constantly trying to figure out who we are, to find our place in the world by mistakenly looking on the outside, and filling up a void by devouring the world when all we really need to do is look inward and simply find a way to truly connect. 

The Way Back Home is a spoken-word piece that builds into a joyous melody, capturing Aisha’s personal transformation. The most resonant theme threaded throughout the EP is the overwhelming sense that this the second life of Aisha Badru. 

The singer-songwriter sat down one morning to chat with We The Cool Magazine about her latest EP, her journey home through both music and psychedelics, her connection to the earth, spirituality and overall coming to terms with who she is and who she wants to be as an artist.

Photo: Jeffery Trapani

Pilar: Tell me about the title of your EP, The Way Back Home. 

Aisha: I spent most of my 20s traveling the world. I went to Peru, I went to the Amazon forests and did an ayahuasca retreat. I went to India, I traveled to Bali and I had a lot of incredible experiences. I had such a wide perspective of the world but I was still longing for something else. I was seeing the world and meeting amazing people but I felt very lonely. I felt like there was something missing from my life. I realized that maybe the answer was not outside of myself; that maybe I was longing for something much deeper. I thought that maybe what I needed was to set roots somewhere and ground myself. I ended up moving to Florida four years ago and told myself I was going to stay and build connections– it was an incredible transformation for me. I started connecting to the environment, connecting to the land here in Florida, connecting with myself and with the people around me. I stopped feeling like I was missing out on something because I was standing still. And I don’t have that longing anymore. I appreciate what’s around me. 

Pilar: There is a sense throughout your whole album that this is your second life. Can you elaborate on the ongoing theme of rebirth? 

Aisha: I feel that this is my second life beyond the physical world because of the emotional and spiritual transformation that I’ve undergone. Even though I’m living in the same world and seeing the same pain and suffering, and having similar themes and issues in my own life, it’s my perspective that has changed, and that’s where the second life comes in. I can now approach life through a new lens and get different results because I am seeing it all from a different angle. I am still pretty much Aisha but my perspective is what has given me a new life. 

Pilar: What tools allowed you to find this new perspective?

Aisha: Okay, so psychedelics were a huge part. I know it’s such a controversial thing but when I first did ayahuasca it was in Peru under the supervision of a shaman and two other facilitators and it was such a healing experience. Unfortunately, psychedelics have been kind of demonized and criminalized but I do feel that plant medicine is extremely healing and I hope that further research goes into psilocybin and ayahuasca. I know some researchers are investigating if plant medicine can be used to help people with PTSD or suffering from addictions. From my personal experience, it can be such a transformational tool of healing that really allows you to face the root cause of a lot of our suffering and get a different perspective. 

The second thing was just doing a lot of introspection. Facing my fears and putting myself out there was very healing for me. Putting myself out there made me realize that it’s not as scary as you think it is. I was really afraid of putting my music out and to share my story and my voice… but then I did it and every great thing that happened to me happened after, so that changed my perspective too. 

“I was afraid of being myself; of being authentic to my own personality, my own journey of how others were going to interpret me.”

Pilar: How did your experience with ayahuasca change your relationship to music? 

Aisha: One thing I remember being told when I was in Peru is that you will have the ayahuasca experience while you are at the retreat but the feeling lingers and stays with you. I do feel like ever since I started going deep into myself I’ve been more connected to nature, and a lot of my music touches on the subject. So I would say my lyrics have changed in that way. I talk about the environment and our connection to each other. I have more of a healing element in my music now. Touching on a song from this EP, Rooted is all about feeling that you are supported by the earth and that you have a place in it. So there are more elements of nature and healing in my music now. 

Pilar: Tell me about the experience of doing The Big Quiet, a mass meditation event with Deepak Chopra. 

Aisha: It was so cool when I got the email asking if I wanted to participate in the event. At the time, I was at a point in my career where I was feeling disconnected from myself because I felt that I wasn’t being fully true to myself. I am a deeply spiritual person but I felt that was a part that I had to hide because everyone has different beliefs and I didn’t want to be polarizing or offensive.  Now I am injecting my spirituality a little bit more into my music– but it’s something I still hold back. When the opportunity of doing The Big Quiet came, it felt like a huge validation that I could actually be a musician and be spiritual. The worlds can merge. I loved being in the same room with Deepak Chopra, a deeply spiritual person, while playing my music. 

Pilar: It’s interesting that you say that… because my perspective from the outside is that I keep meeting people who are looking to connect spiritually through music. 

Aisha: Yeah, a lot of it was me projecting what other people were going to think of me; there was a lot of me judging myself and being ashamed of my own beliefs. But yes, you are right. I do think that more people are searching for a spiritual message in whatever content they can find it. 

Pilar: Let’s talk music! Who are your biggest influences? 

Aisha: This is a really hard question for me because, ironically, I don’t really listen to music. When I first started writing I was listening to a lot of folk music and the different artists within the genre. The lyrics were so meaningful and the instrumentation was always so simple and I loved that. When I listen to a song, I am always interested in the story– and folk musicians always did a great job at storytelling. I really wanted to emulate that in the way that I tell my story by incorporating a lot of emotions and imagery. 

Pilar: I saw on your Instagram that you are into herbalism. How did you get into it? 

Aisha: Both my parents were diagnosed with cancer five years ago and a lot of people in my family were suffering from some type of chronic illness. I started looking at society and realized that something was off in the way we are connecting with the earth because so many people suffer from chronic diseases; it’s as if our health is failing as a a society. That alone made me inquiry what it means to be human and what we can do to connect with nature and improve our health. I started looking into alternatives so that I didn’t suffer from the same fate as my parents. I started paying attention to the ingredients I was putting into my body, and plants made me feel good. I wanted to go deeper and decided I wanted to learn herbalism because of a book called Sacred Science where people share stories of how they found healing through plant medicine. It made me want to honor the connection that I have to my body and to the earth and learn to live in alignment with my true self. 

Pilar: Everything about you is very cohesive. All that you do with your music and your day-to-day life is literally rooted in exploring your connection to the earth. 

Aisha: I grew up in an urban community in New York where everything was disconnected. I didn’t have that connection to earth and I’ve always had this yearning to be outdoors. I feel like that connection to the environment is innate to us; we all need the earth in some way. 

Pilar: So tell me… what’s next? 

Aisha: I’m still unsure. I am working on new music and collaborating with other artists but I feel like I need to take some distance because, as artists, there is always a certain pressure to constantly put something out there. At the same time, I write from my experiences so I’m just looking forward to diving into my surroundings and hopefully record and release an album soon. My next chapter is still unfolding.