Meanwhile, most freestyles end up as fodder for Gangsta Grillz_ mixtapes. Erykah has revived the song’s closing line by using it as the title of her new mixtape, _ But You Caint Use My Phone. “Tyrone” has become an everlasting meme in rap and pop culture (Andre 3000 once took to the booth to deny the song is about him). Oh, whoa well hold up, listen partner I ain’t no cheap thrillĬause Miss Badu is always comin’ for real and you know the deal, nigga! You say naw, but turn right around and ask me for some ass Now every time I ask you for a little cash 1 record on the Billboard Hot R&B Chart thanks to some sassy, improv quips. The banter about Badu’s nameless leech not only forever embarrassed anyone wielding the name “Tyrone”-it also went on to become a No. But it just kind of turned into a song that was totally freestyled.” “In rehearsal a lot of times we’d just play around and do stuff like “call me!” but I didn’t know it was going to turn into ‘Tyrone.’ So the background vocalists were prepared because they kind of know the joke. 24) and reminisced about how her timeless hit came about. Badu sat down with The Breakfast Club on Tuesday (Nov. The scrub-bashing “Tyrone” was originally performed and conceptualized live in London, going on to become one of her most memorable songs. It's still me.One of the biggest records of Erykah Badu’s epic, non-conformist career was concocted off the top of her head-wrapped head. I still am me, but it's like me talking to you on a rotary phone as opposed to Facetime. The Erykah Crop Tee Erykah Badu Crop T-Shirt Retro Tee Crop Top. And as an analog girl who is very mutable and can adapt to the digital world, I also have evolved with that too. Check out our black tyrone selection for the very best in unique or custom. Their ears are calibrated for a certain frequency, digitally and sonically. And so are the children who come through. 01.Isley Brothers - Summer Breeze-MF 02.Isley Brothers - At Your Best You Are Love-MF 03.Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams - Too Much Too Little Too Late-MF 04.Hall And Oats - Shes Gone-MF 05.Love Jones - Brighter Side Of Darkness-MF 06.James Ingram - If Loving You Is Wrong-MF 07.Tyrone Davis - In The Mood-MF 08.The Delfonics - Didnt I(Blow. On 'Live,' the album 'Tyrone' was on, I said, 'The atoms in the body rotate at the same rate on the same axis that the Earth rotates, giving us a direct connection with the place we call Earth.' Well, since then the Earth has sped up - the rotation and the vibration. It doesn't keep their attention because of the frequency. One of the reasons why it doesn't keep their attention is not because it isn't brilliantly crafted or phenomenally written or an exquisite body of animation. I love Fred Flintstone, Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny and the Roadrunner - but my children watch it, and it doesn't quite keep their attention. Alluring Ankh Energy: Erykah Badu Responds To Internet Meme, Says Her Legendary Badu Box Is Incomparable G.O.O.D. People that see it that way really aren't seeing. But 'Trap & b' certainly has a connotation, one that people might look at you say, 'She'd never do that.'Ī: I'll explain it like this. Q: What's interesting is you're taking a style of music that's very prevalent right now on urban radio and you've taken it further than just minimal beats. I don't think about those types of things or consider one thing bigger than the other. Do you get a kick out of that all these years later?Ī: You know, I don't really think about it much. It's one of those things that just sticks. Q: That lyric, 'But you caint use my phone' has become so famous. By the end of those two weeks, I had a piece that was really nice. (Andre) 3000 got on there, and it all worked together. Telephone Man,' then 'Hello' from the Isley Brothers, which is the last song. The next song I did was 'Phone Down,' and I kept going. Doing 'Hotline Bling,' I called it the 'But you caint use my phone' mix, and from there, it just started flowing. I love simple songwriting like that.Ī: It just kind of came, stream of consciousness. Q: What was it about 'Hotline Bling' that struck a chord with you enough to want to cover it and build a project around it?Ī: It's beautiful in its simplicity. Parked in front of her hotel after our road trip, we spoke about crafting the mix tape and finding new inspirations.

'What it also did was introduce me to that frequency of music because I hadn't done it,' Badu, 44, said of the cover (the two were texting back and forth, she said, as we were riding around town). The origins of the record, her first new material since 2010's acclaimed 'New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh),' begin with Drake's zeitgeisty, meme-spawning smash 'Hotline Bling.' A few weeks ago the singer uploaded her cover of the ear worm - recorded as a birthday gift to her close friend and road manager Big Mike - to her Soundcloud, and it became a viral hit, logging 1 million streams in just two days.

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