Alchemist is always moving several steps ahead. Whenever I interview him, there are least two future projects locked and loaded and ready for war. When I interviewed him for the Step Brothers album, the Chemist was already talking about his gospel record. He didn’t elaborate much and I didn’t ask specifics because sometimes you want […]

Brian Josephs will save his rioting for when Coke Boys 4 gets snubbed next year. You’re not about anything if you’re not saying something in hip-hop. It’s one of the only genres — with its beginnings as the “CNN of the ghetto,” the voice of the voiceless, and such — where artists have a perceived […]

Harold Stallworth is like the hip-hop version of Nicky Tarantino. Roc Marciano’s guest features can be unremarkable. His style is a bit too esoteric to gel with D-list underground acts. Even most of his collaborations with like-minded up-and-comer Action Bronson have suffered from a somewhat reluctant chemistry, like haphazardly splicing scenes from The Mack and […]

Harold Stallworth would rather be rich than famous. As much as I enjoyed contributing to several 2013 year-end lists, blurb-season admittedly took a massive toll on my desire to write about music. But after a two-week hiatus, I’m ready to make up for lost time. Here’s a few notable rap songs I neglected to share […]

“Call my nine Nina and my glock E-40 and the Click.” Boldy James got last month’s Hip Hop quotable whether you were aware of it or not. The obvious reference point is Big L’s “Ebonics,” but I also endorse Rafael Casal’s Bay Area slang song. In 2013, there’s Moochie, nicknaming everything. I want Boldy to […]

Max Bell murdered Jar-Bar Binks.  There isn’t one Star Wars reference on Roc Marciano’s The Pimpire Strikes Back. It’s not a blatant disregard for source material so much as it is honest and telling revisionism. In other words, a young Marciano probably wasn’t rushing off to see George Lucas’ The Empire Strikes Back. Instead, he […]

This is written by the man branded MobbDeen, so you should already know. Here are a few universal truths: death, taxes and the Alchemist being responsible for one of my favorite rap releases of any given year. Since 2007, the Alchemist has been responsible for critical favorites such as Prodigy’s ‘Return of the Mac (aka, […]

Crime family rap. Dingy and dirty. Too little has been written about Alchemist’s grow science that has resuscitated the murda muzik wing of what was once called “underground rap.” We don’t use the word anymore because it got played out and brings back acid flashbacks of too-tight backpacks, too baggy jeans, and fitteds instead of […]

Alchemist unleashing the hordes smoking girl scout cookie strains inside his Santa Monica Game of Thrones (copyright Disco Vietnam). This is a maxi-single stuffed with three kippah-slapping songs featuring Bam Bam Bronson, Gibbs, Domo Genesis, Blu, Despot, Roc Marciano, Hodgy Beats, and Mayhem Lauren. A resume that you can’t acquire on Linkedin. You know what […]

Ask Deen about this theories of Relativity Records. I’m too lazy to go back and find exactly what I wrote about my expectations for Prodigy and The Alchemist’s ‘Albert Einstein’, but I’m fairly certain that I said I’d probably be satisfied with the project if The Alchemist refrained from handing Prodigy those psychedelic beats he’s […]