Erykah Badu & The Alchemist
Before The World Blows
Control Freaq Records/Young
Released 08/28/26
Erykah Badu and The Alchemist have delivered their long-awaited collaborative album Before The World Blows: The Abi And Alan Experiment. Following last year’s unveiling of their first single “Next To You,” the duo recently shared the melodic, multi-textured “Witch Doctor.”
The album represents Badu’s first official release since her acclaimed 2015 mixtape project But You Caint Use My Phone, which followed her most recent studio LP New Amerykah Part Two (Return Of The Ankh) released in 2010. The Alchemist’s most recent release was his 2025 collaborative LP with Armand Hammer entitled Mercy.
“We are kindred in so many ways,” Badu says of her musical partnership with The Alchemist during a recent Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe. “The way he samples makes me want to make music, with him, that he would want to sample.”
A handful of notable guest contributions feature across the album, courtesy of DRAM, Joi, Steve Lacy, Earl Sweatshirt, Thundercat, Kamasi Washington and Westside Gunn.
Before The World Blows arrives today in digital form across streaming platforms, with multiple physical format variations now available to pre-order via the duo’s Bandcamp profile.
Listen/Watch:
