Before the World Blows: The Abi and Alan Experiment 2LP

Erykah Badu asked The Alchemist if she could rap over one of his beats, built from a sample of Mobb Deep's 1999 track "The Realest", and that's how this joint album got started, her first full set of new material since 2010's New Amerykah Part Two. The guest list reads like a cookout list: Steve Lacy, Earl Sweatshirt, Thundercat, Kamasi Washington, Westside Gunn, and DRAM all show up. Alchemist has said he first caught Badu live back in 1996, roadying for Cypress Hill on the Smokin' Grooves tour, never imagining they'd end up making a record together.