My Gut Reaction: Havoc & The Alchemist - The Silent Partner (May 19, 2016)

Babygrande Records may have mishandled Jean Grae, but they seem to have done alright by producer-slash-rappers Havoc (formerly of Mobb Deep) and The Alchemist, having released their collaborative effort, The Silent Partner, back in 2016. Neither man seems to have complained about the experience, anyway. It was unleashed to the hip hop community with very little marketing muscle behind it, which sounds like a horrible thing until you realize that the only rap albums that get big-budget pushes are those from major labels that are carefully calculated to appeal to as many audiences as possible in order to maximize sales. Neither Hav nor Alan ever gave a shit about any of that, so freed from the constraints of higher expectations, they gave us this project.

For Promotional Use Only; The Alchemist - No Days Off (September 26, 2006)

Daniel Alan Maman, known as The Alchemist by his accountant and two of his five bounce house suppliers, has been producing mostly hip hop records for seemingly eight hundred and ninety-three years now. There’s certainly never been a day this very blog has been alive where The Alchemist wasn’t already heavily involved in our chosen genre, and he doesn’t seem to show any sign of stopping anytime soon, even though he’s certainly spent a lot more time on Twitter lately. The West Coast-based producer-slash-occasional rapper who embedded himself with both the Soul Assassins collective and Mobb Deep has worked his ass off to provide his employers the grimy, authentic street shit he’s best known for, and even though I tend to find him falling on the “fine, just... fine” side of things more often than not, his work ethic cannot be denied, and when everything clicks, he’s easily one of the best beatmakers hip hop has ever gifted us.

The Alchemist - The Cutting Room Floor 2 (2008)

Because his name is so entrenched with the thugged-out street shit the two of you prefer to listen to a lot of the time, at least according to the comments and e-mails I receive, it's easy to forget that producer-slash-rapper Alan "The Alchemist" Maman actually hails from the decidedly non-gangsta Beverly Hills, California.  The man has certainly more than earned his place in the hip hop pantheon: there is no disputing that point, and that's not what I'm trying to do anyway.  I'm merely here to remind you two of the fact that not everything The Alchemist touches turns to actual gold.

My Gut Reaction: Prodigy and The Alchemist - Albert Einstein (June 11, 2013)

Although I know a lot of you two have been waiting around for this post for quite a while, there's at least one reader who's going to run through this quickly while wondering just when I plan on getting to the actual new Prodigy album that dropped last month, that joint effort with something called a Boogz Boogetz.  To which I have two responses: (1) I don't know, but that shit definitely won't be happening anytime soon, and (2) stop fucking complaining and just read this thing, please.

The Alchemist - 1st Infantry (June 29, 2004)

After multiple mixtapes and false starts, Alan "The Alchemist" Maman finally managed to release his debut album, the long-promised 1st Infantry, ten years and a few weeks ago, thanks to the help of the Koch graveyard system, which had been floating hip hop albums onto store shelves with little to no publicity since God knows when.  To celebrate, Alan decided to take a shit near a fabricated street curb in front of a green screen, which, honestly, isn't much worse than what most other artists put on their album covers.

A Reader's Gut Reaction: Curren$y & The Alchemist - Covert Coup (April 20, 2011)

(Today's Reader Review is a Gut Reaction piece from Jay, who decided to find out what the big deal was surrounding the collaborative project between The Alchemist and Curren$y, Covert Coup, that a lot of you two seem to like. Leave your thoughts for him below.)

My Gut Reaction: The Alchemist - Russian Roulette (July 17, 2012)

Alan Maman, best known as one-half of rap duo The Whooliganz the producer-slash-sometime-rapper The Alchemist, is probably best known in our chosen genre for his gangsta-tuned street backdrops, which he tends to give to like-minded artists (such as the Infamous Mobb, Mobb Deep, or Nas, the guy I'm sure you two actually wanted to see reviewed today) who convert the music into bite-size crime parables. 

For Promotional Use Only: The Alchemist - Insomnia: 1st Infantry Mixtape Vol. 2 (2003)

In a way, I'm happy for Al Maman's success. The man who produces under the name The Alchemist has parlayed an alliance with both the Soul Assassins and Infamous Mobb camps into an impressive career, one where he isn't exactly a household name, but he consistently works with some of the hottest rappers in the game; not for nothing does his name continue to pop up on the hip hop blogs to this day. And he's never compromised his vision: he essentially records whatever he feels is right at any given time, and that is an admirable trait: it's difficult to find an artist in the current musical climate that isn't solely focused on gaining radio airplay in the hopes of earning enough money to pay back the record company for their advance.

On the other hand, though, I never realized that I was so unimpressed by Al's instrumentals until I started this site. The Alchemist almost exclusively works in moody gangster music, aiming for the cream-filled center between sinister and melodic, but more often than not, his shit doesn't click. “But the man is one of hip hop's most valued treasures”, you say. “How can that be possible?” It took me a while, but I think I've figured it out. Back in the day, like most of you two, I used to record my own mixes to play in my car (this was before I sprung for satellite radio, which remains one of the best inventions since the George Foreman Grill); unlike some of you, though, I'm fairly anal, and I liked to group the songs together in specific categories. As such, The Alchemist scored a mix of his own, as I compiled a disc or two of solely Al-produced material. And I enjoyed the shit out of those songs. But after starting this blog, I realized that there are actually a lot of Alchemist songs out in the world, and the ones I like are far outnumbered by the rest of the man's work: I never knew that I wasn't a big fan of Al until I jumped right in to his catalog, which, like everyone's catalog, has songs that I like and songs that I want to stab in the face. The man may have never compromised his integrity, but in the decade-plus that he's been working, he's only deviated a handful of times from what he believes to be his winning formula, and that doesn't always work for me.

In truth, his hit-and-miss nature may have caused his record label, the affable Koch graveyard, to postpone the release of his debut album, 1st Infantry, as producer compilations don't necessarily sell many copies (unless your name is Dr. Dre). So in an effort to appease his fanbase and to try and convince me that he was worth continuing to follow, Al followed up his first mixtape, The Cutting Room Floor, with the subject of today's post, Insomnia: 1st Infantry Mixtape Vol. 2. Unlike the earlier project, Insomnia: 1st Infantry Mixtape Vol. 2 was specifically conditioned to promote 1st Infantry, as it contained all-new tracks not taken from Al's vaults of unreleased material, including one song that actually appears on 1st Infantry. The guest list contained all of the usual suspects (Mobb Deep, Infamous Mobb, Dilated Peoples) alongside some more surprising names (Nas, Saigon), and Al occasionally takes to the microphone himself, as a way to get in on the fun. This mixtape is built around the idea that this project was put together while Al was battling insomnia, which is just a way to work in a sound bite from one of the most popular David Fincher films ever made, but I have no complaints.

I keep feeling that The Alchemist deserves better treatment than what he's received on HHID, but at the same time, I have to be honest with myself (and, by proxy, you two). Perhaps that's why I keep insisting on writing about his shit. Hopefully Insomnia: 1st Infantry Mixtape Vol. 2 is entertaining enough for this to not be a complete waste of my time.

1. INSOMNIA INTRO

Since David Fincher's Fight Club is the tits, I was excited the first time I played this mixtape, thanks to the sound bite from Edward Norton's narrator. Nice choice, Al. A good way to kick off a mixtape.

2. CARVED IN STONE (FEAT. MOBB DEEP)

I would have been more shocked if Mobb Deep didn't have anything to do with an Alchemist project (but we all know that'll never happen). Al's beat is actually pretty fucking fascinating, and Hav and P sound refreshed, spitting rhymes with the fervor of their younger selves. As a song, this is incomplete and lacks context, but as a quick two verses buried in a mixtape, this actually wasn't bad.

3. DOUBLE TROUBLE 2004

This skit leads into the next track. While it wasn't necessary, at least it serves its purpose.

4. LIVE AT THE AMPHITHEATER (FEAT. TWIN)

The artist also known as Twin Gambino's gravelly voice adapts well to a simple, soulful loop from Sebb, as Al was too busy writing lyrics or some shit: as such, he doesn't embarrass himself when he takes to the mic. It helps that he was a rapper himself before the second phase of his musical career started, I suppose. Do you think he stays in contact with Scott Caan? Because that's guy's show (the reboot of Hawaii Five-O) is blowing up in the ratings right now.

5. TURN IT UP (FEAT. SHEEK LOUCH)

When the beat first kicked in, I assumed Fat Joe would start spitting, as it sounds like something he would half-assedly attempt to rip to shreds before resorting to a guest appearance from Lil' Wayne while he catches his breath and takes a bite out of a slice of stuffed-crust pizza. Then Sheek Louck (from The Lox) arrives instead to provide listeners with a solo track. I'm not sure who he's trying to fool by brushing off non-comparisons to Rakim and Kool G. Rap, but hey, whatever helps him sleep at night, I guess. The hook is traditionally awful, but Sheek pumps some energy into his performance, so this wasn't all that bad, even if it won't ever make me run out and buy a Sheek solo album or anything.

6. MARATHON (FEAT. DILATED PEOPLES)

I don't know what is up with that lame-ass chorus: chalk that up as yet another misstep in the career of persons Dilated, one which is littered with them. Okay, I really have to stop bashing Dilated Peoples based on past experience and just listen-slash-write about The Platform already. Al's beat is a non-starter, and Evidence's opening verse leaves a lot to be desired, but Rakaa-Iriscience actually picks up the slack, so this could have been much worse. I guess. (This song eventually ended up on Dilated's album Neighborhood Watch, for those of you two who give a damn.)

7. SHOOTEM UP PRELUDE

This should have just been combined with the next track.

8. SHOOTEMUP PT. 2 / GOTCHA (FEAT. NOYD)

This is the same song that I already wrote about during the review of Big Noyd's Only The Strong, albeit now with a screwed-up title that does it no favors. For the record, this still sounds alright, but that's a testament to the beat more than anything else.

9. PASS CODE

Skit...

10. LETTING GO (FEAT. CHINKY)

Al gives the frequent Mobb Deep songstress a solo showcase, but while his production accurately apes that of some old-school R&B, Chinky (which is a terrible name for a singer, by the way: I wonder how well she plays over in Japan or Korea) proves that she isn't quite ready for the spotlight. Still, it was pretty interesting to hear her not singing about some thug shit, so at least she got the chance to show some range.

11. FUEGO (FEAT. TONY TOUCH & THE LOX)

Even though Insomnia: 1st Infantry Mixtape Vol. 2 isn't supposed to be a collection of cutting-room-floor leftovers like its predecessor, I wouldn't be surprised if this was snipped from one of Tony Toca's The Piecemaker projects. (Man, I really hope he brings that series back, as it showed a lot of promise.) Tony, who receives top billing, sticks with scratches while Jadakiss provides the (shitty) hook, so it's up to Styles P. and Sheek (again) to save the day, which they actually manage to do. Al's beat pulsates and embeds itself into the website of your mind, as well. This was actually very goddamn good. Maybe the kid still has it in him after all.

12. IN WITH THE DRAMA KING

Skit...

13. WHEN IT COMES TO THE BEEF (FEAT. MOBB DEEP & I-20)

Well, credit goes to Al for conjuring up a collaboration that I didn't see coming. Havoc and Prodigy share the microphone with I-20 (from Disturbing Tha Peace, best known as the merry band of weed carriers that surrounds Ludacris at any given moment). The beat (sampled from “Joy Part 1” from Issac Hayes) is soothing, and, strangely, a pre-prison Prodigy sounds better than he has in the past few years, while Havoc continues to up his writing game. If only I hadn't already written off the Mobb, I would admit that they could still win me over with another good album. But, yeah, that will also never happen.

14. U KNOW THE RATIO (FEAT. IM3)

Apparently the Infamous Mobb also goes by the name IM3, signifying the number of members in the crew, but only Twin Gambino and Ty Nytty make appearances on this track. This wasn't that bad, but it's hard to remember anything that either of these two guys were talking about. Oh well, at least it only runs for the length of two verses on this mixtape. This non-Alchemist track (which appears on this mixtape why?!) apparently ended up on Infamous Mobb's second album, Blood Thicker Than Water Vol. 1, for those of you two who are fans of Sebb's production work.

15. 3 MINDS COMBINED (FEAT. IM3)

To make up for missing out on “U Know The Ratio”, G.O.D. Father Part III (man, what a silly idea, taking your rap name from the worst movie in the fucking series) pops up on here to kick a single verse, on a track whose very title seems to imply that a longer version of this song exists somewhere, but I wasn't able to find one. This is over before it seems to actually start, fading into a useless skit that loses the battle as to whether you'll want to skip it or not.

16. ONE NEVER KNOWS (FEAT. NAS & LAKE)

This was pretty fucking stupid. For one, it's edited, which never makes sense to me on artist-compiled mixtapes: why would The Alchemist believe that his fans would be okay with clean radio edits? Secondly, it features the atrocious Lake, although he only gets to appear on half of the chorus, so maybe I could let that slide. Finally, God's Son provides a meh verse and punctuates the hook with the grammatically frustrating phrase, “One never knows, do one?” You should know better than to pull that kind of shit, Nasir.

17. TICK TOCK (FEAT. NAS & MOBB DEEP (sort of))

This sampler track only runs for one minute and forty-five seconds, so it's fairly obvious that you won't really get to hear from the entire guest list as promised (and you never will: regardless of what this mixtape proclaims, only Prodigy appears on the final product). I guess you'll have to pick up the actual 1st Infantry to get the full experience. Nasir provides an awful hook on here, too, but at least his verse (which is the only one that you'll get to listen to on here) sounds much better than that “One Never Knows” horseshit.

18. THE ILLEST (FEAT. HAVOC)

I'm fairly certain that this is the same song that I wrote about during my review of Mobb Deep's Free Agents: The Murda Mixtape. The “chorus”, which consists of a Cellblock P sound bite that doesn't fit the flow of the track itself, still annoys the shit out of me, which doesn't bode well for this offering's success when presented in a different context.

19. MY PRIORITES (FEAT. PRODIGY)

Since Havoc got a solo spotlight, of course Prodigy has to receive the same consideration. Too bad Al fails his boy on the production tip (his hit-or-miss ratio has remained consistent throughout his entire career, so at least that's something), but it isn't as though P's vocal contribution could have sounded better otherwise. Remember his performance on the entirety of Hell On Earth? Those days are so far back in the past that your great-grandchildren are tired of hearing your fucking stories already. They are fucking gone.

20. RESPECT MY GANGSTER (FEAT. PRODIGY)

Al takes his second turn behind the mic on Insomnia: 1st Infantry Mixtape Vol. 2 over a 1970s-esque instrumental (that could be interpreted as the inspiration for his work on Prodigy's Return Of The Mac project) that sounds pretty good. Cellblock P sounds distracted as always, but Al's own rhymes, while awkward, are actually pretty polished. This wasn't bad, although it did feel a bit empty.

21. STALKING CAP (FEAT. SAIGON)

Once proclaimed to be the next big thing in hip hop (in the blog universe, anyway), Saigon parlayed his many mixtapes and a recurring guest spot on HBO's Entourage into a major label album, executive produced by Just Blaze, which was only just released on an indie this past February after serving time in a vault, with cockroaches occasionally holding their dinner parties on it. Al's beat is annoying, and there's an obvious spelling error in the song's title that might even piss off Saigon (what the fuck is a “stalking” cap supposed to be, anyway? Do you wear one when you follow your ex-girlfriend around the city, sticking to the shadows and monitoring her every movement while slurping on an Icee in a fairly unsettling manner?), but at least his performance ends Insomnia: 1st Infantry Mixtape Vol. 2 on an up-ish note.

SHOULD YOU TRACK IT DOWN? Insomnia: 1st Infantry Mixtape Vol. 2 isn't as consistently interesting as The Cutting Room Floor: the beats aren't as sticky, and The Alchemist relies a bit too heavily on rappers who ran out of things to say several years ago (*cough* Mobb Deep *cough*). And it doesn't create any level of excitement for anyone to hear the eventual 1st Infantry album (which, once again, only contained one of these songs - “Tick Tock” - when all was said and done), so it fails at its primary purpose. But as a producer-specific mixtape, it's okay enough. Al's beats are either banging or middling: there is no middle ground ever. But some of the musical choices made on Insomnia: 1st Infantry Mixtape Vol. 2 are decent enough, so it isn't a complete waste of your time. It isn't anywhere near great, and you most certainly should not go out of your way to listen to this, but if you already happen to have it in your possession, you should know that it isn't a waste of space, whether on your shelf or on your hard drive. Yeah, that's the most praise I can give the project.

-Max

RELATED POSTS:

Catch up with The Alchemist here.

For Promotional Use Only: The Alchemist Presents - The Cutting Room Floor: 1st Infantry Mixtape 1 (2003)

Ever since ancient times, alchemists have been trying their hand at the task of turning base metals into gold.  This long-forgotten art has not been lost on hip hop producer Al Maman: in taking on this pseudonym, he assumed the duties of experimenting with whatever works to turn mere noise into something valuable.


Al's specialty just so happens to lie within the confines of hardcore thug rap.


After cutting his teeth with two of the genre's more popular crews, the Soul Assassins and Mobb Deep's extended familia, The Alchemist decided that what he really wanted to do was rap.  Go figure: the guy whose gritty instrumentals were often more memorable than the artists performing over them wanted to step to the forefront and be promptly forgotten his damn self.  This transition wasn't really an unnatural one for Al: he used to be one-half of the rap duo The Whooliganz, alongside Scott Caan, son of James and best known as Casey Affleck's brother in the Ocean's Eleven trilogy.  They were once signed to Tommy Boy Records (where hip hop lives!), but were promptly dropped after their first single, "Put Your Handz Up", tanked on radio airwaves.


Undeterred, Al promptly took up with as many rappers that would have him, in an effort to hone his craft, with varying degrees of success.  So when it came time for The Alchemist to record his first album, 1st Infantry, he looked to those same connections to fill in some of the empty space in between his verses.  When it came time to market the motherfucker, Al turned to the mixtape scene to get his name out there, but unlike most artists, he quickly differentiated himself with a fantastic gimmick: the mixtape in question, The Cutting Room Floor: 1st Infantry Mixtape 1, was made up of nothing but older, unreleased material that hip hop fanatics that read blogs fucking fiend for, and as a result, this project took off like a police chase in Los Angeles. 


Oddly, none of the tracks on The Cutting Room Floor feature any vocals from our host: I suppose Al was trying to save the best for last.  Or something.


1. INTRO
Well, at least this introductory skit adheres true to the theme of the mixtape.


2. STREET TEAM (REMIX) (M.O.P. & KOOL G RAP)
So is this an actual remix to a track originally featuring the Mash Out Posse and Kool G Rap, whose lyrics are now laid over the exact same beat Al Maman gave Ghostface Killah for his “The Forest”, or is this a blend especially crafted for this mixtape? I'm not sure either way, because while Ghostface is a much bigger name and, as such, could have made Al much more money, the pairing of Billy Danze and Lil' Fame with the Kool Genius of Rap seems like a much better fit for him. Regardless, this track could be real, so I'll go with that. Everybody on here sounds decent enough, but Wu stans such as myself will find themselves distracted by the background music; I halfway expected Pretty Toney to burst through the studio walls, Kool-Aid Man-style, and start singing. Interesting in an archival way, I suppose.


3. FRIDAY NIGHT FLAVAS
Skit...


4. WALK WITH ME (HAVOC)
Hold on. The drops laid over the beginning of this track imply that “Walk With Me” was produced by Havoc. What the fuck? Four tracks in and The Cutting Room Floor already loses its main focus? Anyway, if this was ever truly locked in for an early version of Havoc's solo debut (this track doesn't appear on The Kush, but it did finally pop up on Hidden Files, strangely enough), it could have done fairly well: it isn't that bad, even with the traditionally weak chorus that most rappers feel to be adequate enough. The shout-out to Ron Artest also made me laugh, given his recent game-winning shot against the Suns.


5. DEEP MEDITATION (LIL' DAP)
I rag on Group Home a lot, especially whenever the topic of DJ Premier is brought up, because they truly suck behind the mic. However, that statement is unfair to Lil' Dap, as at least that guy tries to write some decent bars, while his partner Melachi the Nutcracker just spouts random sentence fragments like a developmentally challenged three-year-old. On what I can only assume is an Alchemist beat (that was a joke, by the way), Dap drops the dead weight and doesn't sound half bad. I'd be willing to bet that Primo and Al could link up and produce a solo Lil' Dap album that would be at least as interesting as that Blaq Poet album was to other bloggers.


6. MOBB SHOW INTRO
As a longtime listener to hip hop albums and mixtapes, I've been conditioned to expect that a track that is titled “Mobb Show Intro” should lead into a follow-up song entitled “Mobb Show”, or at least into a song on which Mobb Deep actually appears. (I'm also conditioned to believe that most rap album intros suck, but you two already knew that to be true.) So when Al threw me for a loop by leading into a Freeway song, I was upset, but it's his mixtape, after all: he can do whatever the fuck he wants.


7. STILL IN EFFECT (FREEWAY)
Beardy spits some near-unintelligible bars, thanks to the fact that this is a censored version of the song. Really, Al? You keep radio edits of your production work in your vault? Anyway, Freeway sounds awkward over a soulful instrumental that laps him at least twice, even jogging the last leg backwards while giving two middle fingers to the song's star attraction. But it's okay; Freeway can always just run home to Jay-Z for comfort, as those two will be friends forever.  Right?


8. FIRST TO DROP A BEAT THE BOLDEST (HAVOC & G.O.D. PART III)
Why is Al keeping Havoc's old songs in his vault? And why does he think that including sound bites of Cellblock P calling the listeners “bitch ass n----z” is a good thing? Who knows? But I'm glad that The Alchemist unleashed this song, at least, because it's actually really good. Havoc's work recalls a simpler time circa Murda Muzik, an honor that none of the tracks on The Kush can ever achieve. G.O.D. Part III's second verse was a bit weak, but then again, that's probably why this never saw the light of day until now.


9. IN JAIL (NASHAWN)
Unless you're such a huge fan of Nas that you even follow the man's business transactions, you've probably never heard of Nashawn, who used to be signed to Nasir's Ill Will Records before God's Son realized that he didn't know jack shit about running a vanity label, especially one that nobody was interested in. Nashawn sounds okay enough over this old school-tinged instrumental that uses one too many samples from other songs, but the beat is truly, spellbindingly terrible. Oh well, this could have been a good idea for a song.


10. P BROKE THE SWITCH (PRODIGY)
Prodigy gives up on the ad-libs for a brief moment to actually perform on a song, and I have to say, so far his partner Havoc has him beat in the entertainment department. This song is boring. One of my biggest fears is that Cellblock P will actually break “the switch”, causing this track to play on an endless loop forever and ever. That, and clowns. Those are my biggest fears. Those, and Sarah Palin.


11. THUG SHIT, QUEENS CLIQUE (CAPONE-N-NOREAGA & KOOL G RAP)
Capone's line “My [phones] stay tapped like Gregory Hines” was pretty funny, but the rest of this song lacks any attempt at humor whatsoever, making this a trying listen. It's not the fault of the artists, though: G Rap sounds pretty good. Instead, it's the Alchemist beat: I can't imagine any rapper that could make this music sound like anything except incidental music for a 48 Hours investigation. Kind of sucks that Al feels the need to cut this song short, as if it would be released in full in the future: doesn't that defeat the purpose of including it on a mixtape called The Cutting Room Floor?


12. FRIDAY NIGHT FLAVAS PT. 2
Skit...


13. THIEVES (DILATED PEOPLES)
Pairing West Coast stalwarts Dilated Peoples with East Coast has-been Prodigy isn't the beat of ideas: shit, the Dilated/Kanye West collaboration sounded more natural. Cellblock P hardly ever collaborates with underground artists that don't also happen to carry his weed and help him remember his wedding anniversary, though, so this sounded interesting for about thirty seconds, before I realized that Al's beat was dull and that I'm also not a Dilated Peoples fan. Sue me.


14. THAT'S MY STYLE (RAPPER NOYD)
I was waiting for Rapper Noyd to pop up on The Cutting Room Floor, as The Alchemist is close with him: apparently, Al sees something in this young scrapper that everyone else that listens to his post-Episodes Of A Hustla output simply doesn't. Big Noyd returns the favor by not boring the audience to death. I wouldn't ever sit through this entire track if it appeared on an actual album, but as a mixtape relic, it'll do.


15. STAY BENT (INSPECTAH DECK)
As, apparently, the only member of the Wu-Tang Clan thugged-out enough to appear on The Cutting Room Floor (what can I say, The Alchemist serves a niche market, and he's happy to do it), Inspectah Deck represents well enough. The track is cut short by our host for the evening, but at least “Stay Bent” proves that Deck can sound pretty good when he doesn't have to also worry about handling the beat. Yes, this paragraph was yet another roundabout attack on Deck's production skills. Believe me, if he were consistently decent, we wouldn't continue to discuss this.


16. BACKWARDS (MOBB DEEP)
Finally, Hav and P find the time to appear on the same track together. “Backwards” wasn't really a leftover song from Al's vault: it was intended to appear on 1st Infantry, which, of course, The Cutting Room Floor was just a carefully constructed infomercial for. (It never made it that far, by the way.) But I'm not really upset, as this doesn't sound that bad, even though these two find themselves spitting over the poppiest beat I've heard from Al in a long while. While it evaporates from your short term memory very soon after the track fades out, it sounds decent enough when in progress.


17. KAY SLAY SHIT (INFAMOUS MOBB, PRODIGY, & CHINKY)
Al's other Mobb Deep affiliate homeys show up to close out the proceedings, with a couple of verses that would sound alright if every other bar wasn't about sucking DJ Kay Slay's dick. (I don't follow Kay Slay's mixtapes, so I have no idea if this track ever appeared on any of them.) Cellblock P makes a surprise cameo (maybe not a surprise to you, since I listed him in the song's credits, but still) to introduce the Mobb's resident studio singer Chinky, who uses the beat from Mtume's “Juicy Fruit” to prove that she should probably stick with hooks. And there's the exit, so I guess this tour is over.


SHOULD YOU TRACK IT DOWN? The Cutting Room Floor is an interesting concept: hip hop would be much more interesting if artists and producers compiled their own leftover scraps of material, as opposed to having individual tracks leak online. This way, we could also benefit from any commentary from the artist in question (at the end of “Deep Meditation”, it is mentioned that, had the track been mixed a bit differently, it would have been good to go). So in that respect, The Alchemist wins over the audience. The surprising part of The Cutting Room Floor is that most of it is very entertaining. There are bad tracks, of course, but for the most part, Al's castoffs sound better than some of the tracks he's actually landed on other albums. Since I'm not the biggest fan of Al Maman's chemistry set, I was shocked at how much I enjoyed this mixtape (although, to be fair, my favorite track was the Havoc-handled “First To Drop A Beat The Boldest”), so if you're a thug rap fanatic (as this is all Al knows how to do), you should probably look this one up.


-Max


RELATED POSTS:
The Alchemist – Chemical Warfare

My Gut Reaction: The Alchemist - Chemical Warfare (July 7, 2009)

Producer Al Maman, who works under the alias The Alchemist (or simply "Alchemist", as it appears on the album cover at right), is best known for providing sinister gangsta landscapes for rappers to graze upon. During his storied career, he's been a part of both the Soul Assassins and the Mobb Deep camps, affiliated with Dilated Peoples, and he currently acts as a deejay in residence for the biggest rap star on the fucking planet. But, of course, what he really wants to do is rap.

Al's first solo album, 1st Infantry, has the same blueprint as his newest offering, Chemical Warfare: Al laces all of the beats while his more well-known friends handle duties behind the mic, with Al himself stepping into the booth occasionally. If memory serves, Chemical Warfare features more Al Maman rhymes than 1st Infantry, but I haven't heard that disc in several years, so I'm probably wrong. The blueprint he's following, by the way, is exactly the same as what DJ Muggs (of Cypress Hill fame) has been using for his past three Soul Assassins albums, which is why I thought it was weird that Chemical Warfare was released within such a close proximity to Intermission, the latest DJ Muggs everyone-but-the-kitchen-sink effort.

I think Al has Muggs beat when it comes to bigger celebrities on the album, though. Chemical Warfare features no less than two Academy Award-winning acts: Eminem and Three 6 Mafia. Somebody should take that comment and add it to a sticker to be affixed to physical copies of the album. Just make sure to credit Max at Hip Hop Isn't Dead.

I'm only half joking.

1. INTRO
A useless rap album intro! Hooray!

2. ALC THEME (FEAT KOOL G RAP)
Maybe having Al rhyme on the same track as gangsta rap pioneer Kool G Rap (on his own “theme” song to boot) started life as an in-joke told in the studio, but then G Rap became involved, and the gag progressed to such a degree that neither man could back down from recording a collaboration without coming off as a “p-unk” (Al's word, not mine). However this really played out, though, this shit turned out awkward as hell.

3. LOSE YOUR LIFE (FEAT SNOOP DOGG, JADAKISS, & PUSHA T)
So Snoop doesn't even contribute a verse? Why even include the man, then? Didn't he have a football game to coach? I could have provided the chorus with the same level of apathy as Calvin Broadus! Jadakiss (from The Lox) sounds alright, and I'm now strangely curious as to how a Clipse album would sound with more beatwork from Al's chemistry set, but the most memorable thing about this song is the skit immediately following, which is actually fucking hilarious, albeit only the first time one hears it, I'm sure.

4. CHEMICAL WARFARE (FEAT EMINEM)
More Sarah Palin references, Marshall? How fucking old is this song? (The Octomom references don't help the song sound less dated, by the way.) This sounds pretty fucking stupid, even though it's only one verse long: Marshall must have been test-driving his Return of Slim Shady persona when he spit this shit in one take, as I would not be surprised if this verse predates all of Relapse. Al's beat ranges from okay to decent, for what it's worth, but this is so entirely skippable that I shouldn't even be using this many words to discuss it.

5. GRAND CONCOURSE BENCHES (FEAT KRS-ONE)
Other than hearing KRS-One state “Anytime I'm in the club, it's like I'm really at home” (especially since this sounds nothing like a club banger), this shit was unexpectedly awesome. The history lesson KRS provides during his second verse is a must-hear. The skit at the end is also pretty funny, especially the upset fan who sounds like every single blogger ever (including myself).

6. THERAPY (FEAT EVIDENCE, BLU, TALIB KWELI, & KID CUDI)
The preceding skit is actually a pretty hilarious segue into this track, featuring some of the more well-known names in underground hip hop and Kid Cudi, who is technically a mainstream star right now, but that will surely change once his confusingly-named debut album drops. Blu and Evidence (Al's partner in his rap duo Step Brothers) sound pretty good over Al Maman's instrumental, but Kweli I can take or leave on here.

7. THAT'LL WORK (FEAT THREE 6 MAFIA & JUVENILE)
I don't even think The Alchemist saw this collaboration coming. I imagine this kind of song will piss off the fans that appreciate his work with no-name artists bubbling under everybody's radar, but I've never professed to be Al's biggest stan, so I could give a fuck about whoever the man chooses to work with. This sounds like something one would hear booming from some kid's car speakers in a high school parking lot right after the final bell rang, which was probably the entire point. For what it's worth, it is what it is.

8. SMILE (FEAT TWISTA & MAXWELL)
This just proves my theory that every rapper that pairs up with (Tung) Twista feels the need to switch up their own flow just to match his pace; I'm convinced that I can never have Twista over at my house, as I don't want to have to reconfigure my living room to accommodate him. Maybe other rappers should follow that lead? I never wondered before what Al would sound like speed-rapping, and now I'll never have to wonder again. Twista's verse sounds more like a gimmick than a legitimate contribution to any song. The inclusion of Maxwell, though, was interesting, especially since the man just basically started his musical comeback. Excellent timing, Al!

9. KEEP THE HEELS ON (FEAT PRODIGY)
Al makes sure that the world hasn't yet forgotten about his boy, Cellblock P (the imprisoned half of Mobb Deep). Too bad a decent beat is wasted, as it houses some of Prodigy's most ridiculous rhymes to date. The track consists of sex raps that P must be trying to mold into a workable fantasy that he can use while he remains behind bars.

10. ACTS OF VIOLENCE (FEAT OH NO, ROC C, & CROOKED I)
This isn't that bad (read: Alchemist working alongside no-name rappers that are bubbling under everybody's radar), although Al's beat isn't as sinister as you would expect from that title. However, Al himself sounds much more aggressive than you would expect from a man who also ran with Cypress Hill. I don't remember any of the lyrical content from any of the artists involved (including Oh No, Madlib's brother and partner in Al's other rap duo, Gangrene, and Crooked I from supergroup Slaughterhouse), but this still sounded good.

11. LIGHTS, CAMERAS, ACTION (FEAT LIL' FAME)
Fizzy Womack takes time off from A&R-ing Wu-Tang Chamber Music to lace an above-average Al beat with a hype verse. It could have been much better, sure, but it also could have been much longer, which would kill everybody's spirits, so I'm kind of glad Lil' Fame kept it half short and twice strong.

12. SOME GANGSTER SHIT (FEAT FABOLOUS)
Al's beat (which includes some Dr. Dre dialogue snippets and a bit of “Ironside”, the Quincy Jones track Quentin Tarantino used multiple times in his Kill Bill flicks) is boring as shit, and someone should probably inform F-A-B-O that referencing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is far removed from being gangsta.

13. ON SIGHT (FEAT THA DOGG POUND & THE LADY OF RAGE)
Daz and Kurupt both suck balls on here, but their reunion with former Death Row Records labelmate The Lady Of Rage is the real draw. She sounds downright refreshing, probably because we haven't heard much from her in the past decade, unlike a certain Dogg Pound. I see that Snoop, the leader of this pack, was too busy laying down a hook and not rapping on another track for Chemical Warfare to be bothered with making an appearance on this song. That sucks.

14. TAKE A LOOK BACK
Al takes to the mic all by himself to spit a couple of autobiographical verses. He isn't bad (he's certainly better than I would be), but I would much rather hear him tweak a beat. The skit that completes Chemical Warfare is hilarious, though: I would pay cash money to see The Alchemist perform with Pat Benatar, REO Speedwagon, and Tears For Fears on a cruise ship. Live Nation should get to work in putting that package together.

The following is considered a bonus track from a different Alchemist project.

15. UNDER SIEGE (GANGRENE (OH NO + ALCHEMIST))
My understanding is that “Under Siege” is the first single from Gangrene's forthcoming album. The beat is alright, but Oh No sounds bored as shit, and Al comes off as even less convincing than he did on the previous song. The best (and funniest) byproduct of this truly unfunny song is its accompanying video, with its “I just rented a video from Blockbuster and this is suddenly 1993” quality. You'll see what I'm talking about below.

THE LAST WORD: Chemical Warfare misses the mark on so many levels that you're left wondering is The Alchemist was even aware that there was a target involved. Many of his instrumentals sound incomplete (and they all pale in comparison to some of his more classic work from previous years). Al has a much higher profile now than he ever did, thanks to his role as Eminem's deejay, so the caliber of guest stars has been inflated accordingly (unlike his last “solo” album, 1st Infantry, which features Mobb Deep involvement on nearly half of the disc), but the inclusions of Fabolous, Snoop Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, and Twista are questionable. Al's heart is clearly in the right place (see: “Grand Concourse Benches” with KRS-One and “Therapy” with Evidence, Blu, Talib Kweli, and a Kid Cudi performance that could have been rightfully deleted), but as a whole, Chemical Warfare is a package that would be best returned to sender. Overall, the disc is meh, although, oddly, the skits are pretty funny, so I have to give Al credit for that.

BONUS VIDEO:
Gangrene (Oh No + Alchemist) - "Under Siege"



-Max