Abi and Alan: What to Know About Erykah Badu and The Alchemist’s Collab Album

When fans learned in March that Erykah Badu and The Alchemist were teaming up to make music, they were excited.

As a performance artist who tours eight months out of the year, Badu’s resume is familiar. The Alchemist has collaborated on albums with Prodigy, Boldy James, Larry June, Roc Marciano and Freddie Gibbs, commercializing the underground and bringing more listeners to these lyricists. After learning the odd pairing would be accommodating each other on an entire album (Badu’s first in 15 years), we knew it was a win-win for hip-hop.

An Aug. 29 release date came and went with no album. Badu told her fans to blame The Alchemist, but he denied the date was ever set in stone. “Please show me where I said anything was coming out today,” he wrote on X. When a fan showed what appeared to be an official press release, he responded, “This is not from me. Show me where I ever posted this lol. If you follow me, you know when I got something to drop I make it very clear when it’s available and where.”

Then their first interview together dropped with Drink Champs, a celebrity interview show/podcast hosted by N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN. It’s a great conversation that reveals a lot more about Abi & Alan.

The interview capped off the Abi & Alan Luv Is Tour, which ran from Aug. 8 to Aug. 24. The tour gave audiences a chance to hear the album live in full, and fans were instructed to secure their phones in Yondr pouches and get rid of the distractions of technology. Media who attended had to capture photos with disposable cameras, bringing a sense of connection not often felt in our digital age. “I’m excited to be able to share the music live first. I’ve always been a performer at heart, and this time, I get to present the work in the manner I love most,” Badu said.

There hasn’t been a new release date. Badu is going back on tour on Oct. 3 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of her revolutionary second studio album, Mama’s Gun, stopping in Dallas on Dec. 10. Maybe in between the tour, Badu and The Alchemist will have time to promote Abi & Alan, so we have some fall tunes. Here’s everything we learned from their Drink Champs interview, tour recaps and from experiencing Abi & Alan live.

What is the single?

The pair dropped  “Next to You,” which they officially released after Badu’s Juneteenth concert in Dallas. On Drink Champs, they confirmed this is both a warm-up record and a single. If this song triggered memories by real hip-hop heads, that’s because The Alchemist provided the beat from his 1999 record “The Realest” featuring the late Prodigy and Kool G Rap from Mobb Deep‘s fourth album, Murda Muzik, for her to flip.

The Alchemist met Cold Cris in Dallas at an Action Bronson show, and they kept in touch over the years. Once Cris told Alc that he worked with Badu, it was a bucket list item for him to do music with her.

“Cold Cris and I used to write and listen to lots of music. Of course, I’m a huge Mobb Deep fan, and I always wanted to sing over that song ‘The Realest.’” Badu said. “Al kept the conversation going and sending music every time he thought about me. I finally got around to it, and when I wanted to record to ‘The Realest,’ I went to his studio in L.A. When I got there, I just felt like, ‘OK, well, this is happening. So he had sent me by then about 10-15 songs, and I told him I wouldn’t come to the studio to waste time if I didn’t have 10 or 15 songs.”

We got to shout out Mobb Deep’s “The Realest” for being the catalyst for Abi & Alan.

Is “Echos 19 (mix 122)” on the album?

“Echos 19 (mix 122)” debuted during Badu’s Juneteenth show at The Bomb Factory, opening her set. It remains an Amazon Music Original, and neither artist has announced any plans for it to appear on Abi & Alan.

Does Erykah Badu produce on it?

Yes. On “Next to You,” Badu wrote, composed, arranged and produced the single. The Alchemist elaborated further on Drink Champs. 

“We produced this album together,” he said. “This album is produced by Erykah Badu and Alchemist. She had her hand in every record. I learned a lot working with her, just like in the early days working with [DJ] Muggs when I was a kid. Working with Muggs, it was like he used to know how to apply the shoestring to the shoe and tie the shoe. It was the packaging, and he would step back and listen to the record in a way that I wasn’t paying attention to in producing, and she taught me a lot of that on this record. It’s a real collab.”

How do their styles blend?

The Alchemist says they met in the middle with their distinct styles. While The Alchemist has an ear for finding and manipulating samples, Badu appreciated her partner for allowing her to “paint” on his “melodic, beautiful and atmospheric” compositions.

“When they hear the album, they’ll see that it sounds like we met in the middle. You’ll hear with my shit and you’ll hear it with her stuff,” The Alchemist said. “[‘Next to You’] reminded me of old [DJ] Ron G, when it was an old classic with a melody on it, so infectious are her melodies.”

Did they work in the studio together?

Alc admits he was nervous about performing live with her and The Cannabinoids. Badu says The Cannabinoids were formed in the early 2000s, consisting of award-winning producers RC Williams, A1, Rob Free, S1 and Jah Born. When the band is on stage, they lean on improvisation and play with intuition. Thanks to Badu, she pushed Alchemist to use an MPC.

Both confirm they did all of the songs in person, so no passing tracks and verses back and forth on email here. They split time between their personal studios in L.A. and Dallas for several months. 

“It’s a different process cause I’m kind of used to going fast and working. With her, it was like stages. These records grew,” The Alchemist said. “As I was patient, she just made them better and better and she just kept adding touches and turning them into something special. So I had to learn how to get out of her way. Like respectfully, let me get out of the way and support her and all her ideas because they all work.”

When did they test their chemistry live?

They did so in Japan back in June. They had a mini-tour that stopped in Osaka, Tokyo and Yokohama, performing two singles off Abi & Alan. In a video uploaded on Badu’s YouTube channel in July, Abi and Alan were backstage in Osaka, summoning “The Spirits” with spirits, drinking some Hennessy.

“I never been on the stage with an MPC,” he said. “She really pushed me and I thank you for that. I’m not the most performative artist; I rap, I DJ. I never really took the machine on the stage.” 

Recalling the Japan shows on Drink Champs, he said that even though he “fucked up” at times, Badu told him to keep going. “She’s from jazz and theater. So she told me from the gate, ‘If you fuck up, just keep going.’ There’s no fuck-ups.”

How many tracks are on it?

Seventeen to 20 tracks so far. From staff writer Simon Pruitt and contributor Rachel Parker’s accounts, who attended her show in Austin, some song titles are “Crossfade,” “I Just Play a Part,” “I Know That Man,” “Witchcraft,” “No I.D.,” “Foreclosure” and “Black Box.”

Billboard Canada reported that the new song “No I.D.” shouts out a who’s who of beatmakers, from J Dilla to Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.

“This is my twin,” Badu said about Alchemist in Osaka. “Because you made room for my drum machine, and that makes me even more inspired to push forward.… It’s not me by myself, there’s a train and that motherfucker on schedule. I can’t miss it.”

Are there any features?

Westside Gunn says he’ll be on Abi & Alan. The Cannabinoids performed with Badu and The Alchemist. One or all of the members could be featured in some way. Badu has teased that there are a lot of “legends” on the album.

According to Pruitt, the record also has guest appearances by Thundercat, Earl Sweatshirt and Kamasi Washington, among others, although we aren’t exactly sure where they’ll appear on the album.

During a portion of Drink Champs called “Quick Time With Slime,” where they have to pick between two artists and drink if they can’t, the group got to talking about The D.O.C. It led to The Alchemist revealing that DJ Quik is featured on the album. “He plays wood block,” Badu said.

Who distributes it?

“Next to You” was released through Badu’s own imprint, Control Freaq Records, and distributed by EMPIRE. Badu has said the Abi & Alan album is coming via Control Freaq Records / EMPIRE.

What did they learn from each other?

Badu and The Alchemist were discussing the idea of being independent after N.O.R.E. showed them physical copies of their albums. The Alchemist says Badu thinks like an independent artist. “When we were trying to figure out what we were going to do about this album, he said, ‘I would rather take a loan from a bank,’” Badu said.

Alchemist says Badu moves at the “speed of light” with her vision, even when people don’t see it right away. He still trusts her every step of the way. 

“I had to learn how to be humble and just accept it,” The Alchemist said. “I learned how to be tasteful and classy and just be like, ‘Follow your ideas.’ Every idea she’s had that was insane has worked. I learned how to collaborate with somebody, get out the way and inspire their ideas.”

“He’s like that across the board, though, just with everything and every part of his life,” Badu added. “Willing to learn, willing to share and willing to step down. Sometimes you have a choice between being right or being a good friend. And I see him choosing being a good friend and it’s inspiring to me as well. Thank you for that. Thank you for trusting me.”