After dropping their first single “Next 2 U” a little more than a year ago, Erykah Badu & The Alchemist have finally delivered on their much anticipated collab album, and it did not disappoint.
Before the World Blows: The Abi & Alan Experiment is a 16-track journey into the minds of two legendary artists in their respective fields that decided to come together to create a work of art. And to think, this all started with Badu wanting to rap over Al’s “The Realest” instrumental from Mobb Deep‘s 1999 album Murda Muzik. “It reminded us of like some Ron G mixtape s—t, the Alchemist told Billboard during an interview alongside Freddie Gibbs last year. “I’m still bugging that I have a record with her. This is a big step for me.”
The two unlikely partners might have some curious about how something from them would sound and honestly, they exceeded my expectations of whatever it is that I thought I was gonna hear. That first single doesn’t even scratch the surface. As soon as you hit play on the intro track, “Echos,” you’re thrown into this immersive experience of ethereal sounds of psychedelic funk, R&B, jazz and hip-hop as if they threw everything into a pot and made some gumbo. This is surely a great look for the legendary producer, and puts his underrated versatility on full display. Maybe now, we can finally get that introspective jazz album with Young Thug.
Anyway, I had the pleasure of getting a preview last summer on the rooftop of Electric Lady Studios in NYC and can’t wait to catch them live when they slide through Forest Hills Stadium next month in September. I’ve been hating on whoever got to experience this live during The Abi & Alan Japan Tour last year. It’s finally my turn. I can only imagine that seeing this in person would be nothing short of a spiritual experience, especially if it hits like it did for me last night when I had my headphones on with one lit and one rolled.
Before the World Blows: The Abi & Alan Experiment features DJ Creole Princess (in a show-stealing performance,) Westside Gunn, Joi, DRAM, Steve Lacy, Thundercat, Earl Sweatshirt, Kamasi Washington, DJ Quik on percussion and Young Guru contributing to the project’s mixing efforts. Just read the credits to each track and it’ll make you yearn for a documentary that focuses on the studio sessions. I would watch that.
In the meantime, you can check out Billboard’s rankings of every track below.
