In Brief

* * * Erykah Badu, “Erykah Badu Live,” Universal. Badu, one of R&B;’s biggest success stories of the year, has a true flair for songwriting. Her “Tyrone,” performed live during an in-studio concert, is a scathing, hilarious put-down of a woefully lacking significant other. Badu’s between-songs patter gets windy, but the Texas-reared story-weaver is armed with songs that are invitingly down to earth and cliche-free.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).