Earl Sweatshirt and The Alchemist have released their collaborative album VOIR DIRE — but not in the way you might expect.
Rather than putting it on the usual streaming platforms, the rapper-producer duo dropped their long-awaited project via Gala Music on Friday (August 25).
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The album — described as a “digital collectable” — is available to stream for free after entering an email address, with each song also available as an NFT (non-fungible token).
Only 1000 of these are available alongside a countdown to midday EST on Friday, although it’s unclear if the countdown is related to the NFTs or the availability of the album in general.
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VOIR DIRE is made up of 11 tracks with just one feature from MIKE on “Sentry,” which is the only song available on other platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music.
The Alchemist simply posted the cover art to his socials alongside a link to the album on Gala Music.
Earl Sweatshirt and The Alchemist are also set to present the album at the Jazz Cafe in London on Friday night.
Located at 5 Parkway, London, NW1 7PG, UK, the show will take place from 10:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. Free entry is available before 11:30 p.m. and will cost £10 after, with entrees running on a first come, first served basis.
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Fans have been crying out for an album between Earl Sweatshirt and The Alchemist ever since the producer claimed they made a project and secretly dropped it on YouTube under a different name.
“We did one and dropped it already under a fake name. Youtube. Go find it,” he tweeted in January 2019, before adding in another tweet two years later: “We hid a whole album on youtube under a fake name and youtube page. Fake album cover, song titles, the whole 9. Nobody found it yet.”
The Alchemist teased his album with Earl Sweatshirt once again last year, telling Complex: “We have a pot that’s been bubbling. We have several things in motion. I’ll just say that. But stay tuned.”
The pair have collaborated a number of times over the years on songs such as “Uncle Al,” “E. Coli” and “Mtomb.” Most recently, they teamed up on “RIP Tracy” alongside billy woods on The Alchemist’s Flying High EP in June.
During an interview with Apple Music‘s Zane Lowe in January 2022, Earl Sweatshirt explained what it’s like to work with The Alchemist.
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“He cares, bro, he cares a lot,” he said at the time. “[You listen to his music] and it’s like, ‘Whoa, there’s a lot going on here.’ Him and Madlib, bro. It’s like, ‘Oh, this is not just a loop.’”
