Erykah Badu & The Alchemist -"Before the World Blows"
On August 28th, Erykah Badu & The Alchemist released Before the World Blows, Badu's first full album in more than a decade, following 2015's But You Caint Use My Phone. Sixteen tracks, recorded over eighteen months between Dallas and Los Angeles, built from a pairing that sounds unlikely on paper and inevitable once you press play.
Badu and Alchemist met at her annual Birthday Bash in Dallas, and the chemistry shows: Badu's atmospheric, melodic songwriting wrapped around Alchemist's crate-digging sample craft, road-tested live for two years with Badu's Cannabinoids collective and Alchemist working the MPC in real time before a note was locked down. The guest list underlines the scope of the thing: Thundercat, Steve Lacy, Kamasi Washington, Earl Sweatshirt, Westside Gunn, DRAM, and Jay Electronica all show up across the tracklist.
The record blurs hip-hop and R&B on purpose, sliding between vocal hooks that drift in like half-remembered voice notes, warm '70s electric piano, live percussion, and movie samples melting into the mix. It plays, in a way, like three decades of both artists' instincts distilled into one hour: the directness of street rap sitting next to the cosmic patience of new-generation LA jazz. Kamasi Washington's saxophone and a full choir carry the one-two of "I Know That Man" and "Black Box"; "Crossfade" is an early standout.
Lyrically, it's less a breakup record than a record about being a person: identity, confidence, the different roles we play depending on who's in the room. Heavy themes, delivered without ever straining to sound important, which might be the album's real trick.
Nothing algorithmic about any of it: just two artists who've spent thirty years each refusing to work on anyone else's schedule, finally comparing notes.
Erykah Badu & The Alchemist are featured on our Jrapzz and Hip Hop Jazz playlists.
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