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Is Erykah Badu secretly a huge smartphone nerd?

Is Erykah Badu secretly a huge smartphone nerd?

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We have the (fake) B-sides to prove it

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Erykah Badu just announced her long-awaited mixtape But You Caint Use My Phone is coming out on Black Friday through Apple Music and iTunes before receiving a wide release on December 4th. It's her first major release since 2010's New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh, and she's promoted it with singles like her take on Drake's "Hotline Bling" (now renamed "Cell U Lar Device" on the mixtape) and "Phone Down," which she premiered with a Periscope broadcast. The title references Badu's 1997 classic "Tyrone," and the entire mixtape focuses on "telephones and our own reliance on staying inter-connected," according to a press release.

That focus is pretty obvious from the mixtape's tracklist, which includes titles like "U Don't Have to Call," "Whats Yo Phone Number," "Dial'afreaq," and "I'll Call U Back." What you may not know is that But You Caint Use My Phone could have included much more specific, contemporary explorations of mobile technology if not for the intervention of Badu's collaborators. The Verge has obtained the titles of 10 But You Caint Use My Phone B-sides, and they reflect a surprising and intense interest in today's smartphone climate on Badu's part. We're still looking forward to hearing the mixtape, but apparently there's a version of it out there that appeals to our geekiest impulses. Check out the songs relegated to Badu's vault:

1. "Continuum Jam"

2. "I Want to Feel Your 3D Touch"

3. "HTC Caint Copy Me"

4. "Gear VR, So Bizarre"

5. "Phone Me on Your 6P (Nexus Suite)"

6. "OnePlus 2 = Solid Price for Badu"

7. "I'm Still Mad BlackBerry Named Their Hail Mary Phone the Priv, That's Terrible"

8. "Snapshot (Android Camera Medley)"

9. "Google Needs to Make the Leap Into Phone Production if It Really Wants to Compete with Apple in Terms of Hardware-Software Integration"

10. "New Amerykah Part Three: Battling for Net Neutrality"