After more than a decade between solo projects, Erykah Badu is finally ready to return with something entirely new — and she’s bringing the Alchemist along for the ride.
The pair announced that their long-teased collaborative album will arrive digitally Aug. 28 via Control FREAQ Records/Young Recordings. The co-produced set, which apparently has no title, was recorded over 18 months in Dallas and Los Angeles.
The announcement arrives with new single “Witch Doctor,” following “Next to You” and the Amazon Music-exclusive “Echos 19 (mix 122),” which debuted during Badu’s Badu Presents: Echos 19 Juneteenth celebration in Dallas.
The project marks Badu’s first new release in 11 years and her first official studio album in 16. In that time, she’s filled her creative life with touring, teaching, motherhood, doula work and plenty of existential reflection. The Alchemist, meanwhile, has maintained a famously prolific pace, releasing multiple projects a year. In 2025 alone, he brought Alfredo 2 with Freddie Gibbs, the follow-up to their Grammy-nominated 2020 album Alfredo, as well as albums with Hit-Boy and the trio of Armand Hammer, Billy Woods and E L U C I D.
The collaboration began more than three years ago, when Badu told longtime creative partner Cold Cris that she wanted to rap over Mobb Deep’s “The Realest,” itself an Alchemist production. The producer had apparently been hoping to work with Badu for years, and the introduction eventually led to a Los Angeles studio session that produced “Next to You” and set the album in motion.
From there, Badu took a collection of Alchemist instrumentals and deconstructed them, reshaping his warm, punchy samples with everything from kalimba to layered chords and drums. The duo also took the unusual step of road-testing the material live throughout 2024 and 2025, performing in intimate, phone-free settings with Badu’s digital collective, the Cannabinoids, while The Alchemist worked the MPC. The process allowed them to continually fine-tune the songs before committing them to record.
Badu and Alchemist will be back onstage Sept. 10 at Ravinia outside Chicago and will wrap their roadwork Sept. 29 at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl.
