Jamie xx Samples Erykah Badu Freestyle for Latest Single ‘F.U.’

Jamie xx, known for adding genre-jumping samples to his electronic tracks, announced the release of “F.U.,” a techno-warped single featuring Erykah Badu. Badu offers a handful of expletives in the opening notes, which originates from an ad-libbed performance during a Primavera Sound afterparty in 2019.

Both Jamie xx and Badu were billed to play at the afterparty, when Badu’s music equipment malfunctioned, leading the neo soul artist to give an impromptu a cappella performance. The producer recorded Badu’s voice during the Barcelona-based set, and Badu’s profanity-filled freestyle became the basis of the techno song.

“We connected about it when I was finishing the album and it became a track I really love,” Jamie XX wrote in an Instagram post Wednesday. “I’m so happy that she is a part of In Waves. Thank you Erykah!”

Jamie xx’s In Waves deluxe album features “F.U.” and four additional singles including new song “Do Something,” an ambient track with Bounce music influences. Ahead of his In Waves album release in September, Jamie xx performed his The Floor residency in London, New York, and L.A. Speaking with Rolling Stone, Jamie xx said his latest album captured the ebbs and flows of the last few years.

“Some of the spoken-word stuff definitely refers to my own journey and struggles to find balance and calmness,” Jamie xx said, “and also do the thing that I love to do, that I am lucky enough to be able to do, which is music.”

The xx member announced his In Waves tour last fall, which includes international stops in Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Tokyo, and Bali along with domestic stops in Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston, and Philadelphia. He performed at New York’s Park Avenue Armory for three nights in early January.