Few Hip Hop producers have mastered the art of the collaborative album quite like The Alchemist.
If you were to only take his classic hits (Jadakiss “We Gonna Make It”), beloved deep cuts (Mobb Deep “The Realest”) and soul-snatching diss songs (Kendrick Lamar “Meet the Grahams”), Alan Maman would comfortably rank as one of the greatest rap producers of all time.
But what also sets the veteran beat junkie apart is his enormous catalog of albums with other artists — over 40, in fact. That’s more than the number of years he’s been in the game.
A student of DJ Muggs and DJ Premier, The Alchemist’s first foray into full-length collaborations came in 2003 with Heavy Surveillance, a rare nine-track project he produced for fellow Los Angelenos Dilated Peoples (which counts his close friend and collaborator Evidence among its members).
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Since then, Uncle Al has forged partnerships with MCs from across the Hip Hop spectrum and pumped out projects at a tireless pace, whether it’s with street corner spitters like Prodigy, Freddie Gibbs and Boldy James, lyrical technicians like Earl Sweatshirt, Roc Marciano and Conway The Machine or weedhead hustlers like Curren$y and Larry June.
No matter who steps foot inside his Santa Monica laboratory, the Mad Scientist always finds a way to cater his deceptively versatile sound to his collaborator and bring the best out of them (and in some cases reveal untapped sides to their artistic arsenal). There’s a reason his long-running series of instrumental tapes is called Rapper’s Best Friend.
“Producing is psychology more than technology,” he said in a 2021 interview with Idea Generation. “A lot of it is knowing how to communicate with an artist in order to get the best version of them. You’re not going to draw blood from a rock; you can’t go in there and force somebody to do something. That’s never been my technique. I want them to stay in their confident bag.”
Looking back on his lengthy career, the breadth and depth of The Alchemist’s discography is a reflection of the rare air that he occupies in the rap game: a widely respected producer who bridges the gap between multiple generations, regions and variants of Hip Hop and whose brand has long been a trusted hallmark of head-nodding quality and uncompromising purity.
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His output in the last 10 years alone — the most prolific spell of his career — makes you wonder whether the man has Bordeaux’s finest Merlot flowing through his veins, becase he only seems to get better with age.
Unsurprisingly, The Alchemist is already hot out the gate this year, dropping Life is Beautiful with Larry June and 2 Chainz and forming a duo with Yasiin Bey (f.k.a. Mos Def) called The Forensics, with their first album set to arrive through Bandcamp next month. By the sounds of it, he’s only getting started. “I can’t even lie, it looks already like [this] year could potentially be the biggest year ever for me,” he recently told Rolling Stone.
Below, HipHopDX ranks The Alchemist’s 10 best collaborative albums so far.
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10. No Idols with Domo Genesis (2012)
One of the most underappreciated entries in The Alchemist’s catalog, No Idols typifies his “rap camp” days when he’d welcome any and every like-minded rapper in L.A. to his Santa Monica studio to soak up the magic that was being made. The result is an all-star showcase of blog era beasts with free-wheeling verses from everyone from Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler, The Creator and Vince Staples to Freddie Gibbs, Action Bronson and SpaceGhostPurrp.
Not to be outdone on his own tape, Domo Genesis more than holds his own as he blesses Al’s psychedelic production with a flurry of tight flows, clever, cocky rhymes and odes to success, brotherhood and buddah. Odd Future heads know that Doms was always the secret weapon of the crew.
9. Rare Chandeliers with Action Bronson (2012)
A blog era favorite which has yet to make the jump to streaming, Rare Chandeliers is as madcap as the artwork itself. Though it’s The Alchemist and Action Bronson’s first in a long line of collaborations, their chemistry is immediately evident as Al’s boom bap-meets-psychedelic rock production provides the canvas for Bam Bam’s wildly funny and outrageous rhymes.
A musical predecessor to their food and travel show Fuck, That’s Delicious, Rare Chandeliers is exactly the kind of music you’d expect from two pals who would travel the world together sampling the finest cuisine, drinking themselves silly and playfully roasting each other.
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8. Fetti with Freddie Gibbs & Curren$y (2018)
A 24-minute appetizer to what would become Alfredo and a palate cleanser after Covert Coup and The Carrollton Heist, Fetti brought two of The Alchemist’s strongest collaborators together — and it didn’t disappoint.
Building on a string of past collaborations that suggested they were a tag-team waiting to happen, the short-but-sweet album blended Freddie Gibbs and Curren$y’s respective styles over Al’s blunted, Blaxploitation-sampling beats. While Spitta cruised in old schools and blazed through all the weed, Gangsta Gibbs sold it by the pound (along with other things), tunneling through Trump’s border wall and tying up your family in the process. Copious amounts of cash were counted by both.
Unfortunately, chances of a follow-up effort from the trio are slim. After Curren$y worked with Gibbs’ rap rivals Benny The Butcher and Jim Jones on his 2023 album Vices, the Gary, Indiana native spoke out on social media and shut down a potential sequel. He also accused the Jet Life pilot of “shitting” on Fetti and failing to properly promote the project through music videos or performances.
7. Voir Dire with Earl Sweatshirt (2023)
Voir Dire was shrouded in mystery for years before its release, and not just because of its foreign-sounding title (which is French for “speak the truth” and was inspired by the “legalese” of Earl Sweatshirt’s law professor mother). First teased in 2019 as a secret album hidden on YouTube under a fake name, the project was eventually released as an NFT in 2023 before being made available on streaming platforms months later (albeit with a slightly reworked tracklist).
Whichever version sits in your library, the wait was worth it. The culmination of a decade-long friendship and working relationship, Voir Dire features some of The Alchemist’s most unique, eclectic beats — like the wonky blues vibe of “Vin Skully” or the cheesy ‘80s soul sample on “Heat Check.” Yet there are still a few quintessential Alchemist head-nodders like “The Caliphate” and “27 Braids” to satisfy that itch for good old fashioned gully rap.
Whether Al is throwing curveballs or aiming straight down the middle, Earl Sweatshirt swings the bat like only Earl knows how and sends it over the fence each time. In addition to two stellar tracks with Vince Staples, the Daz Dillinger to Earl’s Kurupt, the highlight of the album is the heartfelt, Drakeo The Ruler-nodding finale, “Free the Ruler,” which is Earl’s proudest song. “If I left Earth, I’d be OK because of that one,” he told The Guardian.
6. The Great Escape with Larry June (2023)
It’s almost shocking to hear that The Alchemist was initially unsure whether he and Larry June would mesh creatively before they began working together, because it’s hard to think of two artists who combine so effortlessly on an album like The Great Escape. Named after the classic Steve McQueen film (an idea sparked by flicking through an issue of the upscale lifestyle magazine Robb Report), the project perfectly pairs Al’s luxurious, laidback beats with the Bay Area rapper’s playa-smooth rhymes about macking, paper-stacking and backing yourself in business (three letters: LLC).
Close your eyes while listening to The Great Escape and you’d swear you were cruising in the California sun in a classic Porsche convertible with your dream girl riding shotgun and passive income flowing into your bank account. Good job, Larry and Alan.
5. Return of the Mac with Prodigy (2007)
One of The Alchemist’s closest friends and collaborators, Prodigy’s relationship with the producer dates back to the late ’90s when Al scored some of his first major production credits on Mobb Deep’s Murda Muzik. After a string of follow-up collaborations, including the fan-favorite 1st Infantry cut “Hold You Down,” the two pals cemented their bond on P’s sophomore solo album Return of the Mac.
The project may have lacked a hit like “Keep It Thoro,” an Alchemist-produced standout from his H.N.I.C. debut, but it more than made up for it in thematic brilliance as Albert Johnson and Alan Maman combined Blaxploitation and mafioso influences into a slick-talking stick-up classic. Long live Prodigy.
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4. The Price of Tea in China with Boldy James (2020)
Eminem, Danny Brown, Big Sean, Royce Da 5’9″ — The Alchemist has a special bond with rappers from Detroit. But his most fruitful relationship in the Motor City is with Boldy James.
The pair began working together over a decade ago — long before Boldy established the loyal fanbase that he has today — and have cooked up five full-length projects, including My 1st Chemistry Set, Super Tecmo Bo and Bo Jackson.
The Price of Tea in China is arguably the pinnacle of their partnership. The Alchemist’s bleak, bare-bones production brings Boldy’s deadpan street tales to life, providing a menacing thump to his dope boy anthems (“Scrape the Bowl,” “Slow Roll”) and a soulful warmth to his more introspective moments (“Carruth”).
3. The Elephant Man’s Bones with Roc Marciano (2022)
Having produced the bulk of his highly influential solo albums (with the exception of a few Alchemist-produced highlights), Roc Marciano requires no assistance behind the boards. But when the two underground kings finally joined forces in 2022 for The Elephant Man’s Bones, they created a crown jewel of the scene they had both spent years helping to cultivate and elevate.
Despite hailing from opposite coasts (Marci from Long Island; Al from Los Angeles), their styles form one symbiotic entity on the album, with Uncle Al’s minimalistic yet ominous production adding dramatic flair to Marci’s sinister threats and sneering quotables like a director framing an actor in a noir gangster flick. Enhancing the cinematic experience is a chilling cameo from the O.G. pimp rapper himself, Ice-T.
The duo doubled back last year for their second (of hopefully many) joint efforts, The Skeleton Key. “We’re pretty much in sync,” The Alchemist told Rolling Stone of their alliance. “Similar to the flow I had with Prodigy. Two completely different artists, but it was like the [similar] rhythm that we were in. It’s rare when you get connections like that with other artists.”
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2. Covert Coup with Curren$y (2011)
Covert Coup is where The Alchemist’s current (and seemingly endless) hot streak really began. Originally released for free (after much persuasion from the internet-savvy Curren$y), it was the first project that the producer gave away to fans and opened up his eyes to opportunities outside of the traditional label system, setting the blueprint for his successful independent hustle. “Covert Coup changed everything in my mind because I never thought like that in the past,” he told Idea Generation.
The music itself remains a high point (no pun intended) in both men’s discographies. From atmospheric stoner anthems like “Smoke Break” and “Ventilation” to motivational get-money songs such as “Full Metal,” the combination of Spitta’s smooth yet spirited rhymes and Uncle Al’s hypnotic, hydroponic loops is potent enough to give off a contact high. Due to popular demand, Covert Coup was later reissued on streaming services in 2022.
1. Alfredo with Freddie Gibbs (2020)
Inspired by classic mafia movies and Black icons like Michael Jordan and Clarence Avant, Alfredo is a modern-day mafioso rap masterpiece — and arguably one of the few classic Hip Hop albums of the current decade. The Alchemist has admitted that he was initially “nervous” to make an album with Freddie Gibbs given his acclaimed work with fellow producer Madlib (Piñata, Bandana), but that pressure only created diamonds as Alfredo contains his most cinematic collection of beats thus far.
Gangsta Gibbs is in rare form, too. Rapping like rent, bills and child support are due, he attacks “1985” and “God is Perfect” with “God-level” flows and the ferocity of Lucifer, sneaks Black Power-meets-Thug Life sermons into “Scottie Beam” and “Something to Rap About,” and bares his scars on “Skinny Suge.” Each song on the airtight, 10-track project feels like two jigsaw pieces slotting perfectly into place, forming a picture that deserves to be hung in a gilded frame in the Louvre.
Alfredo was deservedly nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2021 Grammy Awards, earning both The Alchemist and Gibbs their first nods as lead artists. Here’s to hoping the duo get back in the kitchen soon to chef up another pièce de résistance.
Honorable mentions:
• Bo Jackson with Boldy James (2021)
• Albert Einstein with Prodigy (2013)
• Faith is a Rock with MIKE & Wiki (2023)
• Haram with Armand Hammer (2021)
• LULU with Conway The Machine (2020)
