The Belly Up Aspen

She grew up listening to ’70s soul and ’80s hip-hop, but Erykah Badu drew more comparisons to Billie Holiday upon her breakout in 1997, after the release of her first album, Baduizm. The grooves and production on the album are bass-heavy R&B, but Badu’s languorous, occasionally tortured vocals and delicate phrasing immediately removed her from the legion of cookie-cutter female R&B singers. A singer/songwriter responsible for all but one of the songs on Baduizm, she found a number 12 hit with her first single, “On & On,” which pushed the album to number two on the charts.

Born Erica Wright in Dallas in 1971, Badu attended a school of the arts and was working as a teacher and part-time singer when she opened for D’Angelo at a 1994 show. D’Angelo’s manager, Kedar Massenburg, was impressed with the performance and hooked her up with the singer to record a cover of the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell duet “Precious Love.” He also signed Badu to his recently formed Kedar Entertainment label, and served as producer for Baduizm, which also starred bassist Ron Carter and members of hip-hop avatars the Roots on several tracks. The first single, “On & On,” became a number one R&B hit in early 1997, and Baduizm followed it to the top of the R&B album charts by March. Opening for R&B acts as well as rap’s Wu-Tang Clan, Erykah Badu stopped just short of number one on the pop album charts in April. Her Live album followed later in the year.

In 2000 she returned with her highly anticipated second studio album, Mama’s Gun, which was co-produced by Badu, James Poyser, Bilal, and Jay Dee and contained the hit single “Bag Lady.” Worldwide Underground, a loose affair billed as an EP despite being longer than many full-lengths, was released in 2003. Her next step, 2008’s New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War, was a heavy and abstract release featuring collaborations with the members of Sa-Ra and Georgia Anne Muldrow; it reached number two on the Billboard 200 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh, looser and more playful than Pt. 1, followed in 2010. Appearances on Flying Lotus’ Until the Quiet Comes (2011), Robert Glasper’s Black Radio (2012), Tyler, The Creator’s Wolf and Bonobo’s The North Borders (both 2013), brought the artist to 2015, when she released the official mixtape But You Caint Use My Phone on the Motown label. ~ John Bush, Rovi

One of the most revered and prolific rap producers of his generation, the Alchemist crafts sample-heavy, tough, yet detailed beats suffused with soul. His extensive discography, dating back to the early 1990s, includes tracks by the likes of Dilated Peoples, Mobb Deep, Nas, Ghostface Killah, Lil Wayne, and Kendrick Lamar, and he’s so valued as a collaborator that he has been behind joint albums co-billed with the likes of Prodigy (Return of the Mac, 2007), Oh No (including Gutter Water, the duo’s first album as Gangrene, 2010), Curren$y (Covert Coup, 2011 and again in 2022 with critical favorite Continuance), Freddie Gibbs (Alfredo, 2020), and Roc Marciano (The Elephant Man’s Bones, 2022). One of his highest-charting albums, the Larry June collaboration The Great Escape, appeared in 2023, as well as albums with MIKE and Earl Sweatshirt. Blacks & Whites with Big Hit and Hit-Boy was issued in 2024. The next year he teamed up with Larry June yet again, this time bringing 2 Chainz into the collaboration with the Billboard-charting album Life Is Beautiful. In addition to his supporting work as a beatmaker, he has delivered numerous concurrent projects as a headliner and occasional rapper, such as the albums 1st Infantry, Chemical Warfare, and Russian Roulette, and a ceiling-scraping stack of EPs, mixtapes, and instrumental sets. He’s also Eminem’s long-tenured official DJ.

Born Alan Maman, the Alchemist grew up in Beverly Hills and began his career in nearby Los Angeles. As a teenager, when he was known as Mudfoot, he was part of the Whooliganz (with Scott Caan, son of James) and DJ Muggs’ Soul Assassins collective. The Whooliganz released the single “Put Your Handz Up” on Tommy Boy in 1993, but their debut full-length, Make Way for the W, was shelved. Alchemist continued making beats, however, working with and learning from Muggs on 1995’s Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom as well as with childhood friend Evidence of Dilated Peoples. These connections led to a prolific career.

After moving to New York to attend college, Al hooked up with Queensbridge duo Mobb Deep, producing the songs “The Realest” and “Thug Music” for their 1999 album Murda Muzik. The collaboration was followed by work with Pharoahe Monch, Royce da 5’9″, Fat Joe, Ludacris, Big Daddy Kane, and Ghostface Killah, among many other rappers, and even rock and electronica acts like Linkin Park and Morcheeba. Across 2003 and 2004, the Alchemist released his first tapes, as well as his first proper solo full-length, 1st Infantry, which, besides featuring his own beats, also had him rapping alongside Stat Quo, the Game, Lloyd Banks, Mobb Deep, and Dilated Peoples. In 2005, after Eminem’s DJ Green Lantern left the Anger Management 3 tour, the Detroit rapper hired Al as his replacement.

In 2006, Alchemist continued to showcase his work with The Chemistry Files and No Days Off, a pair of mixtapes containing previously released and unreleased material. After supporting Prodigy on the 2007 album Return of the Mac and producing “You Ain’t Got Nuthin” for Lil Wayne’s Grammy-nominated 2008 LP Tha Carter III, Alchemist tended to his solo discography with 2009’s Chemical Warfare, featuring the likes of Eminem and Juvenile. The next year, he and Oh No launched their Gangrene project with the Sawblade EP and the Gutter Water LP. The year 2012 found him releasing Vol. 2 of Rapper’s Best Friend along with Gangrene’s Vodka & Ayahuasca, and his own Russian Roulette, an album built by sampling Russian music. A year later, he worked again with Prodigy on the album Albert Einstein and produced the entirety of Boldy James’ My 1st Chemistry Set. Affiliation with Oh No continued with Welcome to Los Santos, a 2015 collection inspired by the virtual radio stations found in the video game Grand Theft Auto V. The same year, Alchemist assembled the Israeli Salad beat tape, featuring samples from radio broadcasts and thrift store albums the producer sourced in Israel.

During the next few years, the Alchemist was behind collaborative projects with the likes of Curren$y, Havoc, and Jay Worthy. He issued a fourth volume of Rapper’s Best Friend and continued to produce for a select group of artists, most prominently Kendrick Lamar (namely “FEAR.”), Westside Gunn, and Anderson .Paak. He continued collaborating, joining Freddie Gibbs and Curren$y on 2018’s Fetti and the Cool Kids on 2019’s Layups. In 2020 alone, he joined Boldy James (The Price of Tea in China), Conway the Machine (LULU), and Gibbs (Alfredo). Another highly collaborative EP, This Thing of Ours, followed in 2021, featuring guests like Earl Sweatshirt and Navy Blue. February of 2022 saw the release of Continuance, another joint venture between the Alchemist and Curren$y. The album saw both entities in top form and included guest appearances from Styles P, Boldy James, Larry June, and others. The Elephant Man’s Bones, the Alchemist’s first full album with Roc Marciano, followed later in the year.

The Great Escape, a 2023 full-length with Larry June, reached the Top 40 of the Billboard 200. The same year brought full-lengths with two members of the Odd Future family, Domo Genesis (No Idols) and Earl Sweatshirt (VOIR DIRE). His other major collaborative release during the year was Faith Is a Rock, with MIKE and Wiki. Additionally, he released two Flying High EPs, featuring guests like billy woods, Boldy James, and Action Bronson, as well as instrumental versions. The year concluded with Hall & Nash 2, a collaboration with Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine. In 2024, he released the EP Theodore & Andre with Hit-Boy and the Gangrene album Heads I Win, Tails You Lose. He also teamed up with Big Hit and Hit-Boy for the project Blacks & Whites and issued the solo single “Seasons Change.” In February of 2025, Alchemist reunited with Larry June, this time also working with 2 Chainz on the joint LP Life Is Beautiful. The album hit the Billboard 200 charts at number 89. ~ Andy Kellman & Marisa Brown, Rovi