UPDATE 6:13 p.m. -- As scheduled, Badu went live with the Periscope video at 6 p.m. CT.
As comments from viewers popped up at the bottom of the Periscope screen. Badu could be seen wearing bright lipstick, oversized glasses and a monster fashion hat, riding around in a car and singing along to her new track, "Phone Down."
The song, from upcoming mixtape But U Caint Use My Phone, amounts to a convincing seduction over an eerie beat. Badu chants, "I can make you putcha phone down" over and over.
As she sings in the real-time music video (filmed vertically, probably to troll everyone who complains about that kind of thing), she sometimes points the camera away from her face and toward Vegas bystanders. They're all happy to see her.
At the end Badu removes one of her hats and makes a silly face, satisfied with her three minute live-video experiment. Now, when is that mixtape coming? Soon, yes?
"Phone Down" will stream on SoundCloud starting Monday.
Click here to watch the video via Periscope.
ORIGINAL POST -- Get your cellular device ready, because Dallas' Erykah Badu will be shooting a live music video from Las Vegas at 6 p.m. CT, all viewable in real time via Twitter's Periscope app. It's the latest innovative turn from the R&B/hip-hop favorite as she ramps up her creative output and prepares to release the new mixtape But U Caint Use My Phone.
Badu tweeted the news about the video and new single last night and followed up with more info after lunch today:
If that means the new track is called "Phone Down," it'll be interesting to see how its themes collide with the idea of the social-media premiere. Is she going to urge us to put down our phones as we watch her on our phones? Will it be some sort of character-building, fork-in-the road moment? All shall be revealed at 6 p.m. (4 p.m. Sin City time, of course).
This single and video arrive on the heels of another ballyhooed track, Badu's "Hotline Bling" cover that, in my opinion, bested Drake's original by a mile. Just that answering machine segment alone ...
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","author_name":"Erykah-She lLL- Badu","author_url":"http://soundcloud.com/erykah-she-ill-badu","providerType":"soundcloud","providerLink":"http://soundcloud.com/oembed.json"}
Badu spoke cursorily of her new music during our interview about her recent "one-human" theatrical production at The Black Academy of Arts and Letters, Live Nudity. She confirmed that her 17-year-old son and oldest child, Seven Benjamin, has been assisting with production.
The new mixtape, likely blending cover renditions, originals and whatever else Badu deems dope, will bring the first substantial chunk of new material to the people since 2010's groove-abundant New Amerykah Part Two.
If you want to see the live video unfold as Badu films it, you'd need to add the Periscope app, or you could follow from phone or desktop the inevitable links from Badu's Twitter (@fatbellybella).
Meet me back here a little after Badu's experiment in Periscope to read a quick take and thoughts.
