Erykah Badu is making her long-awaited return to the studio, and this time, she’s bringing an unexpected but thrilling collaborator into the fold. After 15 years without a full-length album, the queen of neo-soul and style icon has teamed up with The Alchemist to craft a new project, one that promises to merge her signature ethereal sound with his deep, sample-heavy production.
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The news comes via Billboard’s annual Women in Music issue, where Badu reflects on her early days, from growing up in Dallas to her formative years in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene. While she has never stepped away from music, Badu has made it clear that her heart lies in live performance rather than studio recordings. Touring for most of the past 25 years, she describes the stage as her true medium: a space of immediate energy exchange, where audience and artist become a single, breathing entity. Recording, by contrast, has never been her primary focus. Yet despite this, she has quietly been putting in work on a new album, entrusting the entire production to The Alchemist – one of hip-hop’s most enduring and prolific beatmakers.
The Alchemist has been making waves for decades, recently collaborating with artists like 2 Chainz and Larry June on Life Is Beautiful and producing an upcoming project, FORENSICS, with Yasiin Bey. Now, his signature dusty loops and intricate layering will provide the sonic landscape for Badu’s return. While she has remained tight-lipped on the specifics, a teaser clip surfaced on Instagram featuring a track that appears to be titled Valentine, offering a first glimpse at what’s to come.
For fans, the announcement is monumental. Badu’s last full-length album, New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh), was released in 2010, and though she followed it up with the experimental mixtape But You Caint Use My Phone in 2015, a true studio album has been long overdue. Her influence remains omnipresent, inspiring generations of artists across R&B, hip-hop, and beyond. Now, with The Alchemist at the helm, her return promises to be as groundbreaking as ever.
Though Badu doesn’t create with commercial success in mind, she continues to redefine the artistic landscape. This new collaboration feels like a bold step forward, one that both honors her legacy and opens up new creative possibilities. The wait is nearly over, and if history is any indicator, what’s coming next will be well worth it.
