Erykah Badu Releasing New Mixtape on Thanksgiving, Says Drake Is Like Her 'Little Brother'

It’s been five years since we’ve heard any new material from Erykah Badu, but the veteran singer is ready to offer her fans a full plate of soulful goodies with her new mixtape, But U Caint Use My Phone. Ms. Badu recently talked about the project and her friendship with Drake.

In an interview with the FADER, before hosting the 2015 Soul Train Awards, the “Bag Lady” singer announced that she was releasing the mixtape on Thanksgiving. She also said that the project’s title was inspired by Drake’s “Hotline Bling” and that all of the songs on the collection are inspired by the phone.

"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," she said. "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 s--- just so the people can have something to listen to."

Badu also revealed that Drizzy hasn't reached out to her to shared his thoughts on her soulful remix of his No. 1 hit, "Hotline Bling." But the 44-year-old songstress says that her and the Toronto rapper are BFFs and they will meet up eventually.

"We're very good friends. He's just super busy right now," she says. "That's my brother, he's like a little brother to me. I went to Canada and hung out in the studio with him, while he made Take Care. We're very good friends and we had some great talks."

"He's an inspiration to me. Sonically he's in a place where I want to be. It's halfway between where I was and halfway to where I am now," she continues. "If I want to come out and do something, I will try and raise myself to his bar or channel myself to his frequency."

On Friday (Nov. 6), Badu premiered a new song called "Phone Down" on Periscope but mysteriously deleted it much to our chagrin.

Nevertheless, we can't wait to hear new music from E.Badu aka Medulla Oblongata later this month.