Following the release of New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh) (2010), Badu embarked on a five-year hiatus, during which she traveled to Africa in an attempt to record new music, though this never surfaced.

"[8] A press release for the mixtape described it as having "weaves" of Badu's soulful vocals with psychedelic soundscapes, hip hop-inflected beats, smooth R&B, jazz, and art rock.

[10] The mixtape focuses on the themes of communication, notably through phones, with lyrics that touch upon ideas of "missed connections, call waiting, answering machines".

[9] Prior to the mixtape's release, Badu appeared on The Tonight Show on November 20, 2015, where she performed "Phone Down" and previewed new material in and out of commercial breaks.

praised it as "a fantastic collection of songs, and while Badu has dubbed the release a mixtape, it's as strong, cohesive and consistent as any proper soul LP put out in recent memory.

"[19] Parris O'Loughlin-Hoste of Clash commented, "Despite the continuing theme the mixtape is [sic] no way disappoints, exuding a level of excitement and appreciation of a body of work that Erykah displays both through music and her own style.

"[17] Jason Gubbels of Spin opined that "what's most charming about But You Caint Use My Phone is how unpretentiously Badu comports herself, ever-mindful that one of her most special qualities as a vocalist remains her ability to entwine the resilient with the goofy.

"[22] Kevin Ritchie of Now noted the mixtape's production as "experimental and improvisational but familiar", adding, "When [Badu] puts her psychedelic soul spin on the trappy drums of today (what she calls trap&B), it's the sound of an artist embracing change and all the new possibilities and complications that go with it.

[16] Robert Christgau named "Dial'Afreaq" and "Hello" as highlights while writing in his column for Vice, "this free concept mini isn't the armed takedown of the distraction engine we need, but it's good to have those bee statistics out in memeland.

"[23] Slant Magazine placed But You Caint Use My Phone at number 15 on its list of The 25 Best Albums of 2015, stating it is "the closest Badu has gotten to pure artistic improvisation since her underrated, amorphous jam session Worldwide Underground.