Some collabs start with a phone call. This one started with a Mobb Deep beat. Erykah Badu told her longtime creative partner Cold Cris that she wanted to rap over The Alchemist‘s production for Mobb Deep‘s “The Realest”. Someone made the introduction, and eighteen months of sessions across Dallas and Los Angeles later, the two have a joint album arriving August 28, 2026 through Control FREAQ Records and Young Recordings.
“Witch Doctor” takes its time about it, six and a half minutes of soft percussion and low, unhurried soul. Badu spends it pulling at the word witch itself, running a line between the witch, the medium and the media that feeds you. Stevie Nicks gets a namecheck. So does Hermione. It feels like a room she is inviting you to sit in for a while, not a single built to grab you by the collar.
For Badu this is the first studio album since 2010, and the pair have not landed on a name for it. The Bandcamp listing currently reads “Sorry, we don’t have an album title yet…” which is either a placeholder or the best album title of the year. They take it out on a September run with De La Soul, September 10 to 29, 2026.
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