Bloggystyle -- The Greatest

There is only one certainty in rap: the best producers don't make the best rappers, and the best rappers most definitely don't make the best producers. In fact, very few try both.

Look at a list of A list producers who have tried and you'll mostly find D list emcees. Dr. Dre of "never let me slip cause if I slip then I'm slippin" fame is a good example. Kanye raps for shit. On the other spectrum, we have good emcees like Marshall trying to produce, and the results show us just how important the producers are in the rap game.

One of the most important producers over the past few years has been The Alchemist. This guy's produced for a bunch of East Coast cats, making strong beats for the likes of Nas and most notably Mobb Deep. Some of his work, like You're Da Man off Stillmatic, is incredible. You almost certainly heard his work on the radio in the form of Mobb Deep's Got It Twisted this summer.

The Alchemist finally decided to release his own album, First Infantry. When it comes to producers dropping an album, they can follow the template of bringing in mostly other rappers for every track, like a Lil Jon, or they can do most of the rapping like Kanye. Thankfully, The Alchemist knows his limits, so this album is filled with guest spots, although he drops a few verses on the album.

Intro

This is basically 50 seconds of Alchemist just cutting samples galore. Whatever.

Dead Bodies, featuring The Game and Prodigy

Everything I keep reading and hearing says that The Game is going to drop a highly anticipated album in January. If someone can explain the difference between this guy and 50, besides a lack of mumbling, I'd love to hear it. And isn't there room for just one 50, or am I just wishing? The Game's verses suck.

Which only makes it right to stick P on there. Back in the day this guy was tight enough to get sampled on Reasonable Doubt. Now he can't even outrap The Game. P's career path has been like Snoop's without the limelight.

Alchemist puts out a fairly generic plodding beat. It actually reminds me of a more refined Marshall beat. The idea for this track would have worked if the collabo was a combo like Jada and Fat Joe.

Your Boy Al

Yeah, this is worthless. But it's not like it stopped any momentum.

The Essence, featuring Lox

Speaking of Jada, he arrives one track later and drops a typically nice verse. The rest of them are just wack on this track.

This beat's definitely better than the first, but it's still missing something that I can't put my finger on.

Hold You Down, featuring P, Nina Sky and Illa Gee

This single's gotten quite a bit of play. It's also the first time Alchemist drops a verse. As far as he goes, the verse is just fine.

A bunch of Alch's tracks use a sample excessively in which the rappers have their lines finished by the same sampled word again and again. My assumption is that this is simply done for mediocre emcees who don't rhyme or flow all that well. But I'd rather take this style than hear them try. Speaking of mediocre emcees, P's back again to drop a few short verses, which is fine. Illa Gee is just a total dreg.

I've heard this track dozens of times and still don't understand the point of having Nina Sky on it. I'm assuming that the guys just figured they'd bring in two hook-singing chicks to bang instead of the customary one. Nina Sky hopefully doubled their pleasure and doubled their fun.



Industry Rule 4080 (Interlude)

This is another pointless skit. It cuts into the same little routine of Your Boy Al. At this point, it should be noted that 3 of the first 6 tracks were unnecessary skits. Maybe producers don't realize the affect that this has on albums when they're producing individual tracks without hearing the entire product.

Stop The Show, featuring Stat Quo and MOP

This is an average beat with some pretty bad rapping. Worst track on the album so far.

D Block to QB, featuring Havoc, Styles and Jae Hood

When I first downloaded this album, I guessed by the title of this track that it had the potential to be the best track on the album. So far, I'm correct. This beat is hot. Styles is better on this track than that first Lox joint. Havoc, who now raps better than P (something many people could have never imagined saying 8-10 years ago), drops a fairly average verse.

Bangers, featuring Lloyd Banks

More G Unit. Yippee. I prefer Lloyd Banks over any other member of G Unit, which is basically another way of saying that I prefer Chinese water torture over the guillotine.

This track is pretty much blah all around.

Where Can We Go, featuring Devin the Dude

I hadn't listened to Devin the Dude for awhile. This track pretty much reminded me why. My tracklist says that the next track features Mobb Deep, so I'm skipping this crap.

It's A Craze, featuring Mobb Deep

This beat was as different from the first 8 tracks as possible. I'm liking it, and apparently so is Havoc, because he's better on this track too. The sample for the hook is nice.

As for P, if I think hard enough I can hear him going nuts on G.O.D. Part III and Shook Ones. Let's pretend he's not on this track.

For The Record, featuring Dilated Peoples

Alchemist keeps using the Alchemist calling card sample and First Infantry sample. I think it's been on every track, and he throws it on there in the middle of people's verses. If someone buys your fucking album, do you have to remind them that you're the producer on every track?

By the end of this track, you will start tearing your hair out to the words "Our boy Al, everybody's pal." Just trust me.

Boost The Crime Rate, featuring Jae Hood and Sheek

Without Jada, you could probably just refer to D Block as D12.

There's a weird tweak in this beat. It doesn't work for me, and none of the rappers help the cause either.

Strength of Pain, featuring Chinky

So after 4 minutes of talking about boosting the crime rate, Alchemist comes right back and hits us with a shitty R&B track featuring a shitty R&B singer. Talk about wrong time and wrong place.

This is the type of track that can turn a classic into merely a pretty good album. Of course, this album is nowhere near a classic, so they didn't really have to worry about a serious downgrade.

Soul Assassin's Tale (Interlude)

Why is there a 90 second interlude about the Lakers? The sad thing is that someone with an imagination could make a hell of a skit given 90 seconds to talk about Kobe Bryant.

Bang Out, featuring B-Real

This is like the 10th track on the album in which the last 30 seconds of the track is its own unrelated interlude bullshit. At this point, I'm not even sure 2/3 of this album is actually music.

Tick Tock, featuring Nas and Prodigy

This track is noticeable if only because it has Nas and P on the same track, a few years after Nas called Prodigy out on Destroy And Rebuild It off Stillmatic.

Maybe Nas was feeling so nostalgic that he dedicated his flow to P by being choppier than usual. Other than that, he's average for Nas, which makes it probably the 2nd best feature verse on the track.

What did I say about ignoring P again? Think of the beginning of Scarface and read the following lyrics:

Keepin you niggaz in perspective
Mobb, representative, call me the specialist
Professional, professor of this rap science
Up in the labratory, here's why your small rhyme bore me
Store bought rap ain't shit, my category
is that of an insane cat who strike back (what?)
I draw first blood, it's over with, and that's that
You wanna square off, forsake and slice that cat
You get splashed, from back of your head, to ass crack
Surgical signs to the end, with iron map
Which bring, apocalypse to this game called rap
Not a game but quite serious and yo in fact
You'll be runnin for dear life so far you might fall off the map
Fuckin with P, you need a gat
At least to have the opportunity to bust back

Can you believe that's the same guy? Me neither.

Pimp Squad, featuring T.I.

I'm probably gonna hear *AAAAAA LLLCHEMISSSSTT FIRST INFANTRY* in my nightmares tonight.

Different Worlds, featuring Infamous Mobb

I've always liked Noyd. His verse on Give Up The Goods, Party Over and his other verses on the mid 90s Mobb Deep tracks were always tight.

Noyd's not given enough to work with on this track. In fact, he should probably replace P in Mobb Deep if they do another album.

This track isn't so bad. In fact, it's even better because it's the end of the album, which means I don't have to waste anymore time reviewing this album.

I don't know exactly who would want to buy this album. If you're a fan of Alchemist's production, it means you're a fan of stuff like Win Or Lose, Got It Twisted, When U Hear The and shit like that. At most you'll find 3-4 tracks that are at best a few notches below that, and those are standouts on this album.

Alchemist is clearly someone I'd rather hear in shorter bursts, and on other people's albums.