I was always a Mobb Deep fan, Prodigy more specifically. I’m from Queens so that should come as no surprise. Havoc, from a production standpoint was always the obvious choice on who brings the best out of Prodigy as an MC. But when the Alchemist came into the picture and gave us gems like ‘Keep it Thoro’ and brought Nas and Prodigy together for ‘Tick Tock’; that sentiment went up for debate.
The Alchemist’s Hip Hop obsession was bred when he was a mere child in Beverly Hills rebelling against his natural environment of lavish homes and private schools. He clearly showed that he had no interest in conforming to the nature of who he was slated to be. He started off MC’ing as a 14 year old in the early 90’s. Years later he honed in on his talents within the genre and made his bones as a producer through his work with Prodigy and on the Jadakiss smash hit ‘We Gonna Make it.’ Alchemist has an ear for music that not many producers possess, with an ability to genre bend and flip samples to bring the rappers he collaborates with to a level that allows them to tap into their artistry. Sonically, Alchemist focuses on the soul in every piece of music that makes MC’s want to write.
What I admire about his work is that he has the ability to work with MC’s of different backgrounds and disciplines. From the likes of Earl Sweatshirt, who despite his Californian roots taps into an East Coast cadence in his coming of age rhymes. Earl was at one point the king of teens who love to skateboard and break rules for entertainment. But his work with the Alchemist comes natural and has opened up his ability to detail his experience of stepping into manhood. Earl as one of the newer acts to work with Alchemist is able to hang with the greats that we grew up on with his MC’ing abilities. He can appeal well to an audience that is used to hearing Queensbridge tales of shootouts and the like without having to even mention violence. Early tracks from the inception of Prodigy’s solo career showcased a new style that slowed up the tempo of hardcore rap and shed light on the fact that the Reality Rapper’s reality was looking a bit different with his tenure in the game. The way he flossed on Keep it Thoro was a new style for Prodigy who normally has a real gritty rhyme style. But only a track from the Alchemist could make Prodigy ease up his aggression in the booth.
It’s clear that the Alchemist only collaborates with artists that he can build a genuine connection with. And it’s clear in the synergy of the music. His work with Boldy James is a testament to that. The Detroit MC is notorious for his hoarse tone of voice telling tales of road running throughout Detroit and other areas within the southern midwest. They first linked up in 2013 and have been making non-stop classics since then. Their work has been so well received Boldy does a different type of road running that keeps him booked in Europe. My favorite from them is a piece they have on Curren$y’s 2022 record with the Alchemist called “No Yeast.” Naturally because Boldy shouts out Queens on that cut. And nobody loves Queens more than me.
But speaking of Spitta, he might be my favorite collaborator with the Alchemist outside of the God P if I had to choose. They have numerous bodies of work together and Curren$y makes his New Orleans drawl into an instrument of itself on all of their work. Alchemist has created his own fraternity of MC’s that have that “Alchemistry” that only few can gel with. Those being guys like Roc Marciano, Curren$y, Freddie Gibs, Earl Sweatshirt, Boldy James, Westside Gunn, and Benny the Butcher just to name a few. The Alchemist is the type of producer that works best with rappers who have a hand in the production of their music to the extent they would consider themselves producers. This a class of folks doing this for the love and the art of it and they are successful in the process. And we have to pay homage to the legend Prodigy may Allah be pleased with him, for being one of the first real wordsmiths to embrace Alchemist.
This that 70’s Soul Green, Al Chemistry - Curren$y
The Alchemist uses soulful samples and instrumentation from Jazz strings and horns to create a bowl of amazing music where some of the most prolific writers of our time can feel comfortable telling war stories, old drug runs, stories of love, pain, and growth to make the perfect movie. A feature film could be made from the life rhymes we’ve received on Alchemist records. Below is the soundtrack to my movie. Check out this mix I made of the Alchemist tracks that made me more of a rap nerd than I could’ve imagined myself being. Peace.
Alchemistry