Even the features, the fairly unknown ItsRoutine and the evasive old bull Andre3000, further prove the mixtape is able to find a stability by bringing together the young and old. Thier chemistry is another example of how this tape is bound by the coexistence of youth and seniors making magic together. Badu discovered him on Soundcloud after hearing a remix that he did of her classic “On & On,” the two would record the entire mixtape in 11 days at Zach’s home.

I think it’s symbolic that all the production is handled by young producer Zach Witness. Reborn after years of slumbering away in record shops and in 6-disc CD players. There’s this cosmic balance of past and present that could only be accomplished by an artist that is both seasoned and forward-looking. Songs from Usher, Todd Rundgren, Uncle Jamm’s Army, and even Badu herself are sampled and reprised in ways where they’re allowed to be as youthful as the day of their initial release. That’s the beauty of this project, the old becomes new again. It’s like listening to a modern sound created by using artifacts from yesteryears. What But You Caint Use My Phone displays is how well Erykah can enter a new age without losing her old flavor. It was a different time, a different era, a lot can change in two decades. Then Tyrone would laugh as Twitter turns the ordeal into a meme, his friend’s face being replaced by the infamous crying Michael Jordan. '97 Tyrone would get collect calls from pay phones and cryptic messages from beepers, compare that to the Tyrone of today, the one who lives in the age of cellphones and social media. Tyrone wouldn’t get a phone call but would watch as your girlfriend embarrassingly kicks you out into an Uber via Snapchat.

I can almost imagine her unnamed partner dragging a box of his belongings to the nearest corner while digging for a quarter to call Tyrone on the payphone. It’s when she mentions him not being able to use her phone that takes me back to 1997. These are common issues that have plagued courting since the days of Adam and Eve. You can go to any era in the past and find a woman disgruntled with a man for always needing to borrow money but never having any to give, a woman fed up with being around your friends in public and only allowed alone time in bed.

Erykah badu tyrone sheet music