Erykah Badu was a sight to behold. Wild, wispy brown hair crowned by an orange Indy hat; blue turtleneck knotted at the back; orange figure-hugging pants decorated with a highway of white arrows; bold, chunky chain dangling from crotch to base of the spine; left hand adorned in a set of five gold circular bangles bordered by a Maasai bracelet while a black leather clasp running from wrist to elbow on the right hand; bronze ring in the shape of Africa; woolly socks peeping out of black ankle boots.

The “Queen of Neo-Soul”, who had arrived in Nairobi for the Tusker Lite Experience concert on December 11th, had finally taken to the stage. Now, thanks to East Africa's largest alcohol beverage company, EABL, the songstress renown for her conscious lyrics and alternative RnB compositions, was at hand to enthrall her Kenyan fans. During a press conference prior to the show, the clear-skinned 41-year old singer refused to divulge details about her set. “I urge you to expect nothing. Let’s just do it and see what happens,” she said.

But having begun performing at the age of four, the artist, who wore just a hint of make-up, looked at home on stage. She’d travelled with her band, The Nedda Stellah, comprising of a male and female background vocalist, pianist, drummer, percussionist and bass guitarist. With her back to the killer band and facing a mammoth crowd of excited fans, Badu eased into an electric nearly two-hour long performance.

The cheeky singer danced, chanted and teased the crowd, urging them to “follow their dreams”. Occasionally turning away from the mic to create beats on a MPC sampler mounted to her right, Erykah’s repertoire included hits such as “On and On”, “Love of my life”, “Bag lady”, “Next Lifetime” and the much beloved, “Call Tyrone”. Before, during and after the performance of a song, Badu was met with rapturous applause, cheers and screams of “We love you Erykah” to which she smiled shyly and responded in kind.

Badu set was preceded by a performance by Ugandan jazz maestro Isaiah Katumwa and DJ sets by DJ Adrian and Andre. Check out more images of Erykah here and a video of her performing "Appletree" here