Latest news with #TheAlchemist
Hypebeast
16 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Hypebeast
Erykah Badu and The Alchemist Are a Dream Team on Ethereal New Single "Next To You"
Summary ForErykah Badu's first lead single of this decade, she's elected to team up withThe Alchemistfor a hypnotic new single entitled 'Next To You.' Badu wrote, composed, arranged, and produced the single, as well as assisting Alc in the executive production. Per a press release, The Alchemist described the creative process as 'him tossing the beats to Badu, who made the alley-oop,' ultimately 'The Alchemist providing the foundation and Badu putting her 'izm' on it.' The first credited collaboration between the pair, 'Next To You' also signals the start of the rollout for the pair's highly anticipated collab projectAbi & Alan. For the first time ever, Badu and Alc will take the stage together for a brief series of Japan shows billedThe Abi & Alan Tour. The tour kicks off on June 24 at Billboard Live Osaka, continuing on June 28 at Billboard Live Tokyo, and concluding on June 30 in Yokohama. Stream 'Next To You,' out on all streaming services now.
New York Times
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Casting Is the Brightest Light of Two Molière Shows
Based on. An adaptation of. After. Inspired by. When these words precede the title of a new production of a classic play or the name of a long-dead writer, chances are good you'll be in for a ride. Now two shows drawing from Molière — Red Bull Theater's revival of 'The Imaginary Invalid' and the Taylor Mac play 'Prosperous Fools,' both running through June 29 — illustrate, with widely diverging degrees of success, how far that ride can go. In 'The Imaginary Invalid,' Jeffrey Hatcher compresses the plot of Molière's three-act comedy, from 1673, into a 90-minute romp, and rewrites the jokes but preserves the essence of the story and characters. The production, now running at New World Stages, reunites Hatcher with the director Jesse Berger, with whom he had cooked up marvelously funny takes on Nikolai Gogol ('The Government Inspector') and Ben Jonson ('The Alchemist'). Happily, lightning can strike thrice. Aside from nods to 'Les Misérables' and Édith Piaf, the play's structure is intact, and still revolves around the hypochondriac Argan (Mark Linn-Baker). The doctors administering the treatments he constantly requests (all played by Arnie Burton) appear to have graduated from Quack U. 'All these things they do to you, it's like you donated your body to science but they couldn't wait,' Argan's no-nonsense maid, Toinette (Sarah Stiles), tells him. He does not listen, of course — though Molière and Hatcher aim their arrows at Argan, they also skewer profit-driven snake-oil peddlers and greedy bad agents. Much of the plot involves efforts to fleece or deceive Argan, and much of the production is shamelessly focused on making the audience laugh. Which it does, thanks to a company of expert farceurs who look to be tremendously enjoying themselves — like 'Oh, Mary!,' this show understands that perfect silliness requires perfect execution. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Guardian
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Hyper-prolific rapper Boldy James: ‘I never settled for the cards life dealt me. I've always been the dealer'
In the brief window between my conversation with Detroit rapper Boldy James and you reading this sentence, it is likely that the 42-year-old MC will have surprise-released at least one new album on to streaming platforms. This year alone, he has already released seven records. A planned eighth is due in July, but who knows what might pop up in between. 'My father always told me you've gotta work twice as hard because you can't expect something for nothing in this life!' Boldy says of a work rate that can easily result in 20 new songs being completed in the studio over a 24-hour period. His combative verses, as cutting and direct as Don Corleone whispering instructions to a made man, have earned him critical adoration and elicited high-profile co-signs from hip-hop figureheads including Earl Sweatshirt, Nas, Westside Gunn, the late Mac Miller and producer the Alchemist, while fans are intrigued to know how he remains so prolific. Boldy calls his release strategy 'flooding the market' – tactics he learned from his days caught up selling drugs on Detroit's West Side. 'My homie worked the track – which was a long stretch filled with junkies – from 3am to 6am. He might make $5,000 [£3,700] per night. It might have taken my dad a few months to earn that same cash, so I ended up doing it too. I've never been no sleepyhead. I used to sell drugs all night and then go to my class to take an exam. No problem.' Boldy describes his days selling narcotics on cold street corners with vivid cinematic flair: on the spooky new trap song Aspen, he jokes that his 'Mexican plug' – slang for a prestigious international drugs source – looks a lot like the late civil rights activist Cesar Chavez. Is that true? Boldy laughs: 'Allegedly.' He looks back on this part of his life as a reflection of his resourcefulness. 'I never just settled for the cards life was dealing me,' he says. 'I've always been more like the dealer.' A student of 1990s mafioso rap, a teenage Boldy fed off the confidence of artists such as the Notorious BIG and Erick Sermon. 'I like it when men have firm handshakes and don't whine too much,' he says. He started releasing music independently in the late 2000s, a sound built around warm nostalgia and sleepy depression. Boldy can be famously sedate in interviews, but today he's lively and open. He usually works with a single producer per record, giving his albums an unusual cohesiveness in a collaboration-heavy genre. Produced by Detroit 'sound healer' Sterling Toles, the soul stirring spiritual jazz sermon of Mommy Dearest (A Eulogy), one of Boldy's most experimental songs, reflects on a childhood of serious neglect due to a mother lost to addiction. 'Tellin' me that you was on your way to come see me / And left me sittin' on the porch in the rain, freezing,' he raps amid stuttery saxophone that can't decide if it wants to soar or whimper. But when we talk, Boldy doesn't want to reflect too much on that difficult past. It's all in his music. He says his 2022 song Power Nap is among the finest examples of his lyricism. 'We went from childhood dreams to federal nightmares' … 'Six sleeper bags on the grass it's a slumber party,' he raps, his vocals evoking those of Mobb Deep's Prodigy as he burrows into unorthodox pockets of drumless soul-rap. 'On one level, six sleeping bags makes you reminisce on your childhood and having those sleepovers to play Nintendo with all your friends, right?' he asks. 'But it's also because I could easily roll up the street and see six young Black males on the grass, laid out dead. I represent the hood struggle for real. No gimmicks.' Today, he cares most about showing his six children 'the whole world,' he says. 'I want to make sure I'm always sharing wisdom, because you can get took out at any moment. Right now I'm jumping out half a million dollar cars, wearing $400,000 [£300,000] worth of jewels. It means I've got a lot to lose.' Testament to Boldy's stature is the fact that he's sitting on an unreleased collaborative album with J Dilla rumoured to be called Drug Dilla. Boldy has previously said that the late Detroit beatmaker's estate had given him access to some of the last beats the producer ever crafted – putting him among the small group of MCs (Busta Rhymes, Ghostface Killah, MF Doom, Phat Kat) to get posthumous approval from his camp. Boldy has said the album is finished, but I'm warned in advance not to ask about a release date. Yet he offers a telling answer on why his flow might fit so well over Dilla's unconventional production. 'I rap for real niggas who don't care about club music. That's more my lane. I got like a left-handed type of flow anyways, so not a lot of people can really bounce or groove to my shit. There's a time and a place for my music.' Asked what that is, Boldy concludes: 'It's music made for people trying to process their past and turn it into a net positive. Play it on a road trip while driving to visit family. But I don't expect everybody to relate either … because not everybody grew up around money and murder.' Boldy James and Nicholas Craven's new single, Spider Webbing Windshields, is out now. An as-yet untitled album from the duo will be released in July
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Alchemist Could've Been on Lil Wayne's ‘Tha Carter VI': ‘I Was Just Overthinking It'
The Alchemist could've had a beat on Lil Wayne's Tha Carter VI. HipHopDX caught up with the living legend outside the 2025 BET Awards and asked if he and Lil Wayne have ever been in the studio together. 'Not lately,' he answered before revealing that he often keeps in touch with Wayne's camp and was asked to contribute to his latest release. 'Mack Maine is a good friend of mine and we talk regularly. And I probably missed the boat 'cause they told me to send something for this record and I was just overthinking it.' More from Billboard All 14 Lil Wayne Albums, Ranked (Staff Picks) 'Democracy Forward' Compilation Features Tracks From Michael Stipe, Wilco, Brandi Carlile, John Prine and Tyler Childers Gracie Abrams Shares Snippet of New Music & Gets Support From an Excited Olivia Rodrigo He then added that he still wants to work with the New Orleans rapper if the opportunity presents itself again. 'That's something I would love to do,' the Alchemist said. 'Wayne is like up in the quasars as far as MCs, so you never know. I was probably thinking too hard. Listen, we all do that. I overthought it but next time I won't.' Wayne has rapped over Uncle Al beats on numerous occasions over the years, dating all the way back to 1999 when Weezy appeared on 'Who Can I Trust' alongside Queens MC Cormega that was featured on Violator: The Album in one of his first collaborations with a New York rapper. They linked up again on the massive Carter III album when the Alchemist produced 'You Ain't Got Nuthin' featuring Fabolous and Juelz Santana. Their most recent collab came in 2024, when Wayne was featured on Benny the Butcher's single 'Big Dog' from his tape Everybody Can't Go. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
What's Cool At School? – A graduation ceremony for women turning their lives around
NORTH LAS VEGAS, NV ( KLAS ) – Every graduation is special but there's one that may be just a little more special. Dr. Genevieve Minter from the College of Southern Nevada's Prison Education Program started the recent ceremony at the Nevada Dept of Corrections Florence McClure women's prison in North Las Vegas, telling the grads: 'We got a lot of people who want to say a lot of nice stuff to celebrate the whole reason why we're here: you guys.' The 'you guys' in this case were 13 women who earned workforce training certificates in hospitality and air conditioning. The founder of 'Hope For Prisoners,' Jon Ponder, who we've featured many times on 8newsnow, asked the women to look at their hands, saying 'those lines represent your past, but today, we're pushing the reset button.' The President of CSN, Dr. William Kibler told the women: 'You pursued education not just as a means to an end, but as a declaration of who you are and who you are invested in yourselves and your future and in your power to create change. In her keynote speech, Las Vegas City Councilwoman Nancy Brune quoted the popular book 'The Alchemist' telling the grads, 'When you want something, the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.' The women listened. And smiled. And one by one they made their way across the stage, including Karen Kincaid who high-fived her fellow grads on her way two certificates The theme of reinvention echoed throughout the afternoon. Congrats not only to the grads who put in the work, but also to the partnership between the College Of Southern Nevada and the Nevada Dept of Corrections. We always want to know What's Cool At School. If you've got something, let us know. 'What's Cool At School' is under the 'Community' tab at Or just email: whatscoolatschool@ Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
