Alchemist is firing back at critics who took issue with the AI-generated cover art for “Next to You,” his new collaborative single with soul icon Erykah Badu.
The track is the lead release from their upcoming joint album, Abi & Alan. While fans have praised the unexpected musical pairing, some have expressed disappointment on social media that the cover art was created using artificial intelligence, a hot-button topic in creative communities. In typical Alchemist fashion, the producer met the criticism with humor, sarcasm, and a few philosophical jabs on X.
“I listen to music with my eyes closed,” Alchemist wrote in one response, signaling that the focus should remain on the sound, not the visuals. In another tweet, he joked, “You might have a new step father,” mocking the intensity of some of the online backlash. He went further, offering a tongue-in-cheek critique of the conversation itself.
“A cell phone is a.i. think about that. Nah really think about it. Angry commentary about ai, WHILE ON A CELL PHONE. how dumb this conversation is LOL. This is fun,” tweeted Alchemist.
When a fan suggested he should never have used AI in the first place, Alchemist replied: “Maybe I shouldn’t have been there to begin with? Salute!”
Despite the noise, Alchemist seemed unbothered, later tweeting: “It should be a case study how people just assume things on here, then make whole theories commentaries and get distraught lol. I like pretzels!”
Abi & Alan, the full-length collaboration between Alchemist and Erykah Badu, is historic on several fronts. It marks Badu’s first full album in 15 years—her last was 2010’s New Amerykah, Part Two: Return of the Ankh—and her first release of any kind since 2015’s mixtape‑style But You Caint Use My Phone.
For Alchemist, whose résumé is packed with hard‑edged rap classics, it will be the first R&B/soul entry in his collaborative canon. Hints of the pairing surfaced last October when Badu told The Breakfast Club she was crafting a fully collaborative record but coyly withheld her partner’s name.
Earlier this year, Alchemist explained why he didn’t send Lil Wayne beats in time for the recently released Tha Carter VI—he was “overthinking it.”
“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,” he explained. “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.”
