Music legend Erykah Badu announced this past March that she was working on her first album in 15 years. The project, which will be the official follow-up to 2010's New Amerykah Part Two (Return Of The Ankh) and her first longer project since 2015 mixtape But You Caint Use My Phone, is solely produced by the Alchemist. Today, we get our first preview with the single "Next To You."
The single is a spacey collage of staccato string plucks, a bit of vinyl crackle, and a squatty cosmic bass line. Badu's vocals spiral around the hypnotic beat. "I can't even lie/ You're the only that's on my mind/ And I can't wait to see you after school/ Follow me and we gon break the rules," she sings throughout. You can hear her skyrocketing ad-libs in the background. It's so mesmeric, the song almost comes off deceptively simple despite its multi-layered effects.
Check it out below.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=xrQic9S1Qf4
Also last night Badu performed a Juneteenth show at her Dallas hometown’s the Bomb Factory. It streamed on Amazon Prime Video and the setlist included an Amazon Music Original track called “Echos 19.”
