The Alchemist’s rapping abilities tend to get obscured by his prolific output as a beatmaker, and the West Coast icon has once again reminded fans that he got bars too.
On Wednesday (October 25), the studio cook celebrated his 46th birthday by dropping a surprise in the form of “Nothing Is Freestyle.” Additionally, he announced a new project due out next week.
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“Birthday freestyle. I swear every year keeps getting better. Thanks for the love,” he captioned the Instagram share of the audio-visual package. “FLYING HIGH PT 2 : NOV 3RD.”
“I get a thought then I move on it/ Take a needle, drag it across a plate and cut a groove on it/ It’s solidified, I’m gifted/ Password protected, the hard drive’s encrypted,” Alc raps about his prowess as a producer, prompting a number of his peers to show him love in the comments section.
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“Eskimo jacket bars is something you gotta deal with,” Domo Genesis wrote, while Cookin Soul added: “Mans been spitting [three fire emojis] HBD unc !!”
Czarface also gave the veteran his flowers, saying: “Need. more. verses. one of the best producers on the mic [three fire emojis] happy bday,” while Hit-Boy kept it brief and concise with: “Yessirrr happy gday.”
Earlier this month, Earl Sweatshirt and The Alchemist’s Voir Dire finally made its way to streaming services. The project — which is the first full-length collaboration between the Californian duo — clocks in at 11 tracks and features appearances from Vince Staples and MIKE.
To celebrate the release of the album, the pair also dropped a video for standout track, “Vin Skully.”
The Ryosuke Tanzawa-directed clip finds Earl in a reflective state but striving to move forward. While constantly in motion, he appears in different settings such as a room with dated furniture, a church and a bathroom.
As for the lyrics, there is no shortage of clever wordplay as the former Odd Future rapper makes reference to the career of the late Vin Scully, longtime baseball broadcaster for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers.
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“Big grip, get flipped/ Hand over fist, that’s quick/ Snake oil salesman with the pitch/ Ain’t no tellin’ when it end/ No matter the spend, I know when I got a hit/ That’s it, that shit get sent over the fence/ I’m home, another run on the road, look how I slid,” he spits over a funky loop from Uncle Al.
