The event also featured a surprise appearance from musician Thundercat, who performed his song “Them Changes.”
The event came together after Badu’s team called the venue a week or two before, according to Jonathan Merla, vice president of marketing for Headington Companies and Shyboy co-founder. He said Shyboy was built to attract top-level artists like Badu.
“It’s very gratifying for the entire Shyboy team to see those artists start to kind of manifest themselves in real time in this space,” Merla said.
Badu’s appearance began with a private, closed-door listening party for her upcoming album and continued with her at the turntables for a public after-party.
“She’s a consummate DJ,” Merla said. “Just like any other artist and DJ, she read the room and played the perfect tracks … It was really nice to see her take the helm of our booth and and maneuver the room in a way that only she can.”
Badu’s performance came a few days before the release of her long-awaited collaboration with rapper-producer The Alchemist. The 16-track album, titled Before the World Blows: The Abi and Alan Experiment, drops Friday and includes features from Steve Lacy, Thundercat and Earl Sweatshirt.
The project was recorded in Dallas and Los Angeles across 18 months. It was expected to come out last year, before Badu announced a delay in August 2025. It is Badu’s first full-length release since her 2015 mixtape But You Caint Use My Phone.
Badu and The Alchemist start a 13-date North American tour on Sept. 10 near Chicago. It wraps up Sept. 29 in southern California. A Texas show has not been announced.