*Erykah Badu and The Alchemist sat down with Ebro on Apple Music to discuss their new collaborative album, “Before The World Blows: The Abi and Alan Experiment.” The project marks Badu’s first album in more than 15 years and grew out of mutual trust between the two artists.
During the conversation, Badu explained how working with The Alchemist changed her mindset. “Before I met [Al], I was kind of hardening up. Al kind of helps me to lighten up and remember why I am doing what I am doing. You’re not doing it for your moment, you’re not doing it to win anything, you’re doing it because you love what you do,” she said.
The Alchemist called the collaboration a long-held goal. “It has always been a bucket list thing to even do one record for Erykah… it was always something in the back of my mind like damn, if I could work with her, that would just be like the cherry on the top of all the stuff I’ve already done,” he said.
He also spoke about his approach to production. “I always looked at production as a bed, not the thing that’s laying on the bed… the beat is there, it’s the muse, it’s the first inspiration, but the writing is always, to me, the thing that makes the song so special,” he said.
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Badu addressed the album’s subtitle, which uses the pair’s given names. “With using my middle name, which is something my parents named me, it does hint at vulnerability and it also gives the audience a chance to step out of the 30-year Erykah Badu program and step into the Abi and Alan program,” she said.
The Alchemist described the finished project as a blend of both artists’ identities. “You hear my DNA in it, you hear hers in it, and the elements came together to form something new,” he said.
The full interview is available on demand with an Apple Music subscription.
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