Erykah Badu befriended Drake after asking him to speak at son's school

Soul star Erykah Badu became a big fan of rapper Drake after he agreed to speak at her son's school, even though they had never met.

The singer reveals she reached out to Drake out of the blue in 2009 in an effort to please her boy Seven, her now-18-year-old son with Outkast star Andre 3000 - and she was pleasantly surprised when he made good on his promise.

She recalls, "Six years ago, I didn't know Drake very well, but I knew he was coming to town, and my oldest, Seven Sirius... he was in sixth grade at the time, but I knew Drake was his favorite artist and I got in touch with Drake and I asked if he could visit my son's school to talk to the class, and he did.

"He was so gracious and the children were really inspired, so that's how we first became good friends."

Erykah has since drawn inspiration from Drake herself for her new mixtape, But You Caint Use My Phone.

"What inspired me to do the mixtape was me doing a cover of (Drake's song) Hotline Bling," she explains. "I played it at a party, everyone was like, 'Yeah!' So I decided to keep the theme going and call it But You Caint Use My Phone, and did all phone-themed songs."