phone down
What a wonderful early-week surprise this is!
Erykah Badu has surprised the world with the release of her much-hyped new single "Phone Down" via her personal Soundcloud account late Monday night. The track will appear on her upcoming You Cain't Use My Phone mixtape.
When Badu spoke out on the mixtape during an interview with The Fader, she stressed that "every song is phone-related." In that same interview, she went on to express her personal feelings toward "You Cain't Use My Phone" in detail:
I'm in love with this mixtape, it feels good. I think it's a whole new frequency for the planet and I just wanted to do it because it's inspiring me to write my new album—it's kind of like the buffer in-between. I would like to describe it as a creative process and I got some really good surprises for you guys. I cannot wait until the end of the month, it will be on iTunes at the end of the month. But along the way, I'm going to drop some freebies and some underground shit just so the people can have something to listen to.
The world first got a hint of You Cain't Use My Phone nearly a month ago when Badu shared her dynamic and much-beloved cover of Drake's "Hotline Bling," proving that she can take the most ubiquitous and meme-able of singles and make it something unquestionable her own.
Listen to "Phone Down" in its entirety below, and if you're in New York City, get yourself a ticket to her upcoming Kings Theatre show. Erykah Badu also hosted the Soul Train Awards in Las Vegas last night—that broadcast will air on Centric on November 29th.
