Erykah Badu and The Alchemist Drop ‘Witch Doctor,’ Set Untitled Joint Album for August 28

Erykah Badu and The Alchemist unveiled their new single ‘Witch Doctor’ this past weekend, announcing that their collaborative album will drop digitally on Friday, August 28 through Control FREAQ Records and Young Recordings. This eagerly awaited project, still untitled, marks Badu’s first full studio album in 16 years. Over 18 months in Dallas and Los Angeles, the album blossomed from Badu’s fascination with rapping over The Alchemist’s iconic beat for Mobb Deep’s “The Realest.” Introduced by her partner Cold Cris, the duo sparked a creative exchange: The Alchemist crafted instrumentals, while Badu transformed them with kalimba, lush chords, and live drums. The result is a genre-hopping journey through soul, blues, funk, rock, jazz, and underground hip-hop.

​‘Witch Doctor’ stretches nearly six and a half minutes, weaving a soulful tapestry of layered percussion. Badu’s sharp lyrics cast the witch as a conduit, cleverly tying the theme to media and referencing icons from Hermione to Stevie Nicks. The single follows earlier teasers ‘Next To You’ and the Amazon exclusive ‘Echos 19 (mix 122),’ which debuted at her Juneteenth show in Dallas. Throughout 2024 and 2025, Badu and The Alchemist tested their new sounds in intimate, phone-free spaces, joined by Badu’s collective The Cannabinoids and The Alchemist working the MPC.

​This album emerges as one of the boldest, most forward-thinking works from either artist, constantly shifting between raw intimacy and infectious groove, inviting listeners to return again and again before the next wave arrives. Erykah Badu and The Alchemist will bring this vision to life on a North American tour, with stops at Ravinia Festival, Forest Hills Stadium, and the Hollywood Bowl.

Stream ‘Witch Doctor’: