On Friday, November 27, 2015, four-time GRAMMY award-winning singer-songwriter ERYKAH BADU released her highly anticipated new music project, BUT YOU CAINT USE MY PHONE. The mixtape, her first full body of work since 2010’s acclaimed New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh), exclusively via iTunes and Apple Music for one week and ‘But You Caint Use My Phone’ is now also available at all download and streaming partners.
But You Caint Use My Phone’s title is a reference to Badu’s iconic hit song “Tyrone,” taken from her 1997 Live album. After lighting the Internet ablaze with the announcement of the project earlier this fall, Badu made the mixtape in a burst of creative energy after deciding to put her own spin on Drake’s “Hotline Bling” (here retitled as “Cell U Lar Device”) as a birthday gift to a close friend. Created fully with producer Zach Witnessin, the mixtape was written, recorded and mixed in Badu’s own Dallas, TX over the course of a twelve-day period. The project includes several surprises along the way, including a few guests, all of who recorded their contributions in the same bedroom studio. Each song makes reference to telephones and our own reliance on staying inter-connected.
Highly renowned for her forward-thinking, eclectic and cerebral sound, the mixtape expertly weaves Erykah Badu’s trademark soulful vocals with psychedelic soundscapes, Hip Hop-inflected beats, smooth R&B, jazz, art-rock and found sounds into a new genre Erykah describes as TRap & B. Badu and Witnessin dedicated a lot of time to precise mixing work, toying with EQs and other filters so that the sound’s frequency and vibration move in tandem to capture a feeling she refers to as “sympathetic vibration.” Badu also used a tuning fork and Tibetan singing bowls to fine-tune these details, with the goal of creating a sound that brings peace and tranquility to its listener. It is a sound that Badu herself referrers to as a “whole new frequency” for fans.
Up next, Erykah Badu is set to host the 2015 Soul Train Awards. Badu, who has hosted the ceremony once before, co-wrote this year’s show and was also an associate producer. During the awards, which will air on Sunday, November 29th at 8 PM ET on BET and Centric, Badu will give her first televised live performance of the song “Phone Down.”
But You Caint Use My Phone Track List
- Caint Use My Phone Suite
- Hi
- Cell U Lar Device
- Phone Down
- U Use To Call Me
- Mr. Telephone Man
- U Don’t Have To Call
- Whats Yo Phone Number
- Dial’afreaq
- I’ll Call U Back
- Hello