Following a cryptic global marketing campaign and years of immense anticipation, soul visionary Erykah Badu and prolific hip-hop producer The Alchemist have officially released their collaborative album, Before the World Blows: The Abi and Alan Experiment. The 16-track project is available digitally today, August 28, via Control FREAQ Records and Young Recordings.
Recorded over 18 months between Dallas and Los Angeles, the co-produced project represents the inevitable collision of two musical iconoclasts, delivering a body of work that is hypnotic, deeply personal, blunt, and impossible to categorize.
Leading up to today’s release, cryptic posters began appearing across major global hubs—including Sydney, Melbourne, London, Paris, and New York City—bearing the phrase “One More Song…” alongside a mysterious code. Fans who deciphered the clues on the placeholder website (www.b-t-w-b.com) unlocked the album’s title.
Coinciding with the album launch is the release of the official music video for the single “Witch Doctor.” Directed by and starring Badu, with cinematography by Ayinde Anderson, the visual premiered alongside a special screening of her iconic 2010 short film, “Window Seat.”
Sixteen years after that controversial release, the “Witch Doctor” video returns to the exact same stretch of road with a new perspective. The visual explores what remains after the world has extracted everything it can from an artist, pointing ultimately toward the one thing that can never be manufactured or possessed: the source itself.
The partnership—dubbed “The Abi and Alan Experiment” (Abi representing Badu, Alan representing The Alchemist)—was sparked over three years ago. Badu mentioned to longtime creative partner Cold Cris that she had always wanted to rap over Mobb Deep’s “The Realest,” a gritty instrumental crafted by The Alchemist. Introductions were quickly made, fulfilling The Alchemist’s long-held desire to collaborate with the neo-soul pioneer.
The Alchemist provided Badu with a collection of his signature warm, punchy beats, which she then deconstructed and sculpted into tracks uniquely her own. She embellished the samples with live instrumentation, ranging from soft kalimba notes to immersive drums and chords. Moving fluidly between soul, blues, funk, rock, jazz, and underground hip-hop, the duo road-tested the entire album live from 2024 to 2025. Performing in intimate, phone-free settings with Badu’s digital collective, The Cannabinoids, and The Alchemist on the MPC, they fine-tuned the tracks into their final forms.
Unfolding across four distinct movements, Before the World Blows explores the tension between introspection and growth, charting the progression of the self through the prisms of love, art, and identity.
The project marks a monumental return for Badu, arriving eleven years since her last project and sixteen years since her last official studio album. During her hiatus, she remained a dominant cultural force—gracing the cover of Vogue in 2023, receiving the CFDA Fashion Icon Award in 2024, and earning Billboard’s Icon Award in 2025. Meanwhile, The Alchemist has maintained his status as one of hip-hop’s most elite producers, coming off a prolific run that includes the Grammy-nominated Freddie Gibbs sequel, Alfredo 2.
The expansive 16-track album features a heavy-hitting roster of guest appearances across multiple genres:
Echos
I Just Play A Part
Crossfade (feat. DJ Creole Princess, Westside Gunn, Joi)
Witch Doctor
Valentine (feat. DRAM)
Next 2 U
Love Me Not
Breezy
Abracadabra
To The Moon (Plan C) (feat. Steve Lacy)
They Ain’t You (feat. Thundercat)
What The People Say (Apostle 1)
Hot BiBi (Apostle 2)
No I.D. (feat. Westside Gunn)
I Know That Man (feat. Earl Sweatshirt)
Black Box (feat. Kamasi Washington)
Erykah Badu and The Alchemist will continue to support the album with an extensive joint tour across North America, the UK, and Europe over the coming months. Ticketing information and full tour dates are available now at erykahbadu.com.