Earl Sweatshirt and The Alchemist have done an excellent job teasing fans about a full-length collaborative effort for years now. On numerous occasions over the past few years, Al told his supporters that a secret joint LP already exists. “We hid a whole album on YouTube under a fake name and YouTube page,” the legendary producer tweeted to fans back in 2021. “Fake album cover, song titles, the whole nine.”
On Tuesday (Aug. 22), Al shared two cryptic posts on Instagram — one that appeared to be a teaser for a song with his longtime collaborator, and another that displays the tracklist for an album titled Voir Dire. Adding to that, a fan happened upon a link on Sweatshirt‘s website that asks the user to find the titles of songs (for a tracklist, no doubt) and figure out “when did Al start snitching.” Another part of said link gave coordinates to London’s Jazz Cafe, raising speculations of a possible show.
Today (Aug. 23), The Alchemist confirmed that the 4 MY DAWGS duo is coming to the aforementioned venue on Friday (Aug. 25) to present Voir Dire. The show will take place following Sweatshirt’s headlining performance at nearby KOKO, the last stop of a four-date tour in celebration of Doris‘ 10-year anniversary. Unsurprisingly, tickets have already sold out for the late-night extravaganza.
In an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Sweatshirt explained why Al is one of his favorite beatsmiths in the game. “He cares a lot, bro, he cares. And it’s like, whoa, there’s a lot going on… him and Madlib, bro,” the Odd Future alum stated. “It’s like, ‘Oh, this is not just a loop…’ You gotta think about the influences. With Al, even with [Black Noi$e], with Madlib… the influences [are] going back to a certain place.”