Erykah Badu & The Alchemist - Before the World Blows: The Abi and Alan Experiment [2LP]

Before the World Blows: The Abi and Alan Experiment finds Erykah Badu and The Alchemist meeting in the middle of soul and hip hop, and it arrives here as a double LP.

Badu has always been a restless spirit, a singer who treats a song like a séance, while The Alchemist has spent decades building some of rap's most distinctive records from crackling samples and patient loops. Pairing them makes a strange kind of sense, given how both artists thrive on mood over polish. The album took shape over 18 months of sessions split between Dallas and Los Angeles, and the title nods to the pair's own names.

The result plays like a long, winding conversation between two old souls. Witch Doctor and Next 2 U, both shared ahead of the album, set the tone early, To The Moon (Plan C) pulls Steve Lacy into their orbit, and Black Box closes the set with Kamasi Washington on board.

The guest list reads like a roll call of left-field soul and rap, with Thundercat, Earl Sweatshirt, Westside Gunn and DRAM all dropping in without crowding the hosts.

Across sixteen tracks and four sides, it's an album made for late nights, good headphones and the kind of listening that rewards repeat spins.