In an era where content is king, doomscrolling is the norm, and the oversaturation of music has made rap fans dig for that good shit, artists like Rapsody understand the value of choosing who they sit down with for an interview.
As the conversation warmed up between her and Rob Markman on The Best Interview Ever, she stated the importance of who we tell our stories to, especially with real hip-hop journalists with currency and respect for the genre. On her latest album God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops, “No Way” has Rap making a statement about gatekeeping our culture. “Ain’t no way they ‘gon vulture my culture out,” she opens, adding more bars in her second verse like “let’s take back the culture, recoup on the energy” and “put a gate on the culture and turn the key.”
Rapsody isn’t the first. Throughout 2026, artists have reclaimed hip-hop and shown a dedication to the craft. Consumers—specifically millennials and xennials—are looking for albums that feel good for your soul, sparking nostalgia for hip-hop in its purest form and seeking the veteran artists they love who are still creating at a high level.
Recent instances show that we miss how things were when it was just beats, rhymes, and life. On the print side, VIBE‘s return to documenting our culture signaled a much-needed void in hip-hop journalism that needed refilling. J. Cole’s The Fall-Off Magazine assembled an Avengers-like crew of journalists, photographers, illustrators, designers, and more to produce the coffee table magazine. Finally, it’s the fans reclaiming what hip-hop is to them.
Adraint Bereal
These reminders urge us to increase our preservation efforts by championing lyrics and the message. Jay-Z was back outside, dropping incendiary freestyles and pulling off a run at Yankee Stadium celebrating the 30th and 25th anniversaries of Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint. T.I. just went platinum for his Kill the King single “Let ‘Em Know,” an impressive feat for an artist who debuted 25 years ago. Kendrick Lamar won Best Rap Album at the Grammys for GNX. Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out won Album of the Year at the BET Awards. Rick Ross celebrated 20 years of boss classics with Black excellence, reimagining his songs with an orchestra and a choir. The Game and Black Thought are an unlikely pair on The Documentary 3 track “I Won’t Be Afraid,” getting us excited for the new Roots album. Busta Rhymes is rapping over J. Dilla beats. Fat Joe showcases his longevity with Organized Rhyme, produced by Cool & Dre.
For every artist who thinks it’s okay to use A.I. as a tool over human artistry, there’s still a subset of rap fans who appreciate the raw self-expression, the knowledge of self, and creative innovation that hip-hop brings. And Erykah Badu’s fans have been waiting. 16 years, to be exact, for a chance to hear a new album from the Analog Girl in a Digital World.
The first taste of Before The World Blows, her co-produced project with The Alchemist, was on Juneteenth last year. During a livestream concert from Dallas’ The Bomb Factory, she premiered “Echos” and “Next to You” before officially releasing them on streaming platforms. Badu wanted people to live in the moment and debuted more tracks from the album during a short run of shows in Japan. Then they announced the Abi & Alan Luv Is Tour, a 10-date North American run to coincide with the album release on August 29, 2025. The bold move to tour unheard material and test it out was touted as a music industry first, letting audiences hear select tracks by Badu and The Cannabinoids with The Alchemist on the MPC. At her show in Austin, she thanked the crowd for putting their phones in Yondr pouches, but joked that they didn’t know what to do with their hands.
After the album was delayed and later postponed to August 28, 2026, Badu and The Alchemist continued to fine-tune the final product. One thing about Badu is that she takes her time, choosing to collect existential insights to put into her music. Although she’s a performance artist first, she also embraces other facets of her life, like motherhood, teaching, and doula work.
Recorded over 18 months between Dallas and Los Angeles, Badu has corrected the social media misconception that The Alchemist produced this album alone. Unlike The Alchemist’s previous work with Prodigy, Boldy James, Larry June, Freddie Gibbs, and the like, this is an equal partnership of the Abi and Alan experiment. She’s hands-on with her process and flow, picking beats The Alchemist sent her more than three years ago and carrying her vision by adding her own keys, synths, bass, percussion, programming, effects, and arrangements. She brought in musicians and engineers from her extended musical family like RC Williams, Thundercat, Joseph Lineburgh, Frank Moka, and Kamasi Washington to play instruments. She’s the executive producer, as well as a world builder and architect of her artistry, chopping up instruments to sound like samples and writing from a place of an emcee getting some rhymes off.
Erykah has spoken before about her admiration for her hometown because she’s “five generations of Dallas.” She loves the sounds of the mockingbirds. She loves how her city smells. Her nervous system is more relaxed, making her more productive. When it was announced she was doing a late-night DJ set as Lo Down Loretta Brown with DJ Sober and celebrating the release of Before The World Blows with an album playback last week, it was like she was inviting her closest friends over to be the first listeners of new Baduizms.
On an it’s-too-hot-in-Texas Wednesday night, Badu invited members of the press, movers and shakers of the Dallas music industry, and musician friends like Thundercat and The Cannabinoids crew to Shyboi Hifi. It hosted a community of fans and people who had been in her orbit, but most importantly, were inspired by her boundless creativity and excited that The Alchemist could awaken something inside her. The event invitation addressed you by name and stated, “To preserve the integrity of the experience, phones will not be permitted. All mobile devices will be secured in Yondr pouches upon arrival.”
The venue, a modern hi-fi bar, draws audiophiles for its converted 1920s bank vault into a cerulean blue listening lounge equipped with a custom-made secondary sound system by Devon Turnbull (Ojas). The group was ushered in to find their seats by longtime creative partner Cold Cris, getting so packed that some folks sat on the floor. Badu’s Mama’s Gun is one of the rare vinyls on display.
Adraint Bereal
At the head of the padded velveteen room, seated in front of a vinyl player, was Badu with a crate of at least four vinyls to play through Before The World Blows, burning sage to clear the energy in the intimate space. The next hour was a pure sensory experience.
As Badu played through the album, each track felt like its own living organism, showcasing the strong alchemy of Badu and The Alchemist, as well as the artists she’s assembled to build out the layers of her ideas. The horns, drums, synthesizers, and other vehicles served as extensions of Badu’s voice. These tracks flow fluidly through soul, R&B, funk, rock, jazz, and underground hip-hop.
After the album listening, Badu held a Q&A session. She spoke about discovering Westside Gunn (after hearing him on an Alchemist beat and the “internets”), the timing of Before The World Blows, why she’s always creating with her favorites, and teasing more records with Thundercat. She shared her philosophy of the “five doctors” that keeps her cup full: getting sunlight, eating nutritious foods, plenty of movement, filling up her spirit, and rest.
Each question was poignant. Her responses were classic Badu, calling her early songs “titty milk” to the ‘80s and ‘90s babies in the room. She bridges generations by featuring Steve Lacy, Dram, Earl Sweatshirt, and Westside Gunn on the album. “I Just Played A Part” and “No I.D.” were audio crack. She’s a hip-hop head, expressing her desire to sing over one of her favorite Alchemist beats, Mobb Deep’s “The Realest,” which planted the seed that blossomed into Before The World Blows.
The spoken word element of the album comes from a poem written by Badu titled “BTWB.” People have to fill in the blank, “One Mo ______ Before the World Blows.” She gave Dallas a one-of-one night and capped it off by bringing out Thundercat as a surprise to perform “Them Changes” during her DJ set, which went well into the night.
In honor of the album’s central theme of what’s worth protecting before the world dissipates: “One More Badu Album Before the World Blows.”
