It's here! It exists! Way back in March 2025, Erykah Badu revealed that she was working on a collaborative album with rap production giant the Alchemist. This was obviously a big deal, since Badu hadn't released an album since 2010's New Amerykah Part Two (Return Of The Ankh) or an album-length work since the 2015 mixtape But You Caint Use My Phone. Badu and Alchemist released a single called "Next To You" last June, and then nothing. Finally, after more than a year, they returned with the single "Witch Doctor" earlier this month, and they announced that the LP finally had a release date. But since it didn't have a title, cover, or tracklist, there was still some cause for skepticism. Banish that skepticism right now. For the first time in 16 years, we have a new Erykah Badu album today.
Badu and Alchemist's new album is called Before The World Blows, and it's a loose, vibe-driven affair. Collaborators abound: Steve Lacy, Earl Sweatshirt, Thundercat, Kamasi Washington, DRAM, DJ Creole Princess, Badu's fellow '90s space-soul traveler Joi, two different Westside Gunn appearances. The album had its genesis when Badu decided that she wanted to rap over the Alchemist-produced beat from Mobb Deep's 1999 classic "The Realest," and she does that on Before The World Blows.
Honestly, Badu raps almost as much as she sings on the album, but it's a languid, whispery, melodic type of rapping that's really basically just the same as singing. She also makes multiple allusions to her ex André 3000's Outkast lyrics. There's also a song where she shouts out all the rap producers she wants beats from. I don't know whether Badu improvised many of her parts in the studio, but the album has an unmoored, casual, conversational feel. Badu definitely doesn't give off the impression that she was stressed about making a towering artistic opus, and I mean that in the best way.
In a new Guardian interview with Shaad D'Souza, Badu says, "[Alchemist's] compositions are like classical music to me — how he layers chimes and voices and strings and horns. Our process is the same. The way we build is the same. I don’t know what it is exactly, but it’s a burning, beautiful fire. I get chills when I hear his music." Alchemist says that he would go in the crowd to watch Badu perform on the 1996 Smokin' Grooves tour, when he was a roadie for Cypress Hill and half of the Soul Assassins duo Whooliganz: "I never would have thought in a million years that one day I would be making music with her." Check out the album below.
Before The World Blows is out now on Control FREAQ Records/Young Recordings.
