New Music: Miles Davis & Robert Glasper feat. Erykah Badu - 'Maiyisha (So Long)'
Erykah Badu carries on Miles Davis’ iconic legacy on Robert Glasper’s “Maiyisha (So Long).”
After paying homage to Prince at the Webby Awards, Fat Belly Bella teams up with Robert Glasper on a collaboration for his upcoming album Everything’s Beautiful, which was inspired by his work on the soundtrack for Miles Ahead, the 2015 Davis biopic starring Don Cheadle.
On Tuesday (May 17), Glasper unleashed “Maiyisha (So Long)” with original lyrics from Badu, reworking material released on Davis’ 1974 project, Get Up with It.
The song, which premiered on Rolling Stone, is a reunion for Glasper and Badu, who previously collaborated on a cover of Mongo Santamaria’s “Afro Blue.” This collaboration came about quite quickly, Glasper reveals in the liner notes.
“We sat down for a few days before she came up with the idea of a bossa nova, and Vincent [Wilburn Jr., Davis’ nephew and Eighties-era drummer] recommended using ‘Maiysha,’ which comes from the mid-Seventies and has this beautiful trumpet solo by Miles,” he said. “That was on a Wednesday night, and it all fell into place quickly after that: Sony sent us the multis so we could isolate different parts of the song, she wrote original lyrics and sang her part, and boom, boom, boom—by Friday, 85 percent of the track was done.”
For her part, Badu is calling this an ode to Michael Scott, the humorous but inappropriate boss played by Steve Carell on “The Office.” It might be due to the fact that she sings the line “That’s what she said” throughout the cut, a joke popularized on the show.
This is my ode to Michael Scott & "the office " 😝 @SteveCarell @bjnovak @rainnwilson @RollingStone @johnkrasinski https://t.co/8zSxwCf0al
— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) May 17, 2016
Fans might also find this song a bit familiar since Badu and Glasper performed it for BuzzFeed in November. Funny enough, at the time, it was believed the song would be titled “So Long (That’s What She Said).”
Everything’s Beautiful is slated to drop May 24 with guest spots from Bilal, Phonte, and Stevie Wonder, among others. For now, listen to “Maiyisha (So Long)” below.