Whether you’re familiar with Alchemist‘s [click to read] work by virtue of Mobb Deep, Dilated Peoples, Evidence or countless other artists, it becomes immediately apparent from listening to his beats that Alc is a damn good producer. The most recent example has been his consistently excellent work on Prodigy‘s [click to read] releases, Return of the Mac [click to read] and H.N.I.C. Pt. 2 [click to read] – making a latter-day P not merely listenable, but enjoyable. With a body of work spanning a decade, Alchemist has produced for countless artists, which is a testament to his range and abilities. Want proof? Take a look at the guest list for The Alchemist’s Cookbook: Aside from the expected Prodigy and Evidence appearances, you’ve got Snoop Dogg, Jadakiss [click to read], Pusha T [click to read] (on one song!), Styles P [click to read], Blu [click to read] and more. Keeping in mind that this is just a six-track EP, one might think things would probably get too crowded with so many artists – but that’s simply not the case.
Prodigy is assisted by Nina Sky on the opening track, “Key to the City.” P addresses the haters nicely on the song, showing a rare moment of self-awareness for today’s Hip Hop artist: “They want me to get on my grizzly, and rap like I’m sixteen/They say ‘P got lazy, lately he gets busy’/Ya heard the Mac is back, the H-N-I-Cizzy.” The soulful hook and beat coupled with tough talk from P eases the listener into the heavier tracks ahead.
Alchemist brings the posse cut back with “Lose Your Life,” which features Jadakiss, Snoop Dogg and Pusha T. Easily the most high profile song on the album, all of the artists contribute a ferocious verse, each riding the eerie beat flawlessly. Nineties favorites Capone-N-Noreaga find themselves on the following track, “Follow the Dollar.” Though not delivering nearly as impressive an emceeing performance as the previous track, CNN fit perfectly with the aggressive beat. “Calmly Smoke” is a bit of a reprieve from the heavy tracks as Styles P and Evidence offer an ode to the green over an ethereal backdrop.
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Evidence is featured on the next cut, “Therapy,” and is this time joined by Blu and Kid Cudi. This is another light song, and all emcees deliver over the guitar loop. The same cannot be said for Keak Da Sneak [click to read], whose trademark delivery is simply out of place on “Al Capone.” This, coupled with a weak hook and verse from Prodigy and an uninspired beat makes the EP’s closer a very disappointing way to close out an otherwise solid effort. One weak track may sound like a minor gripe, but on an album with only six of them, it is a glaring blunder.
The Alchemist’s Cookbook is definitely worth checking out. It’s an extremely solid release, and aside from one instance, there isn’t much to complain about. As with all EPs, there’s little room for error. Alc seems to be aware of this; forgoing the obvious cooking reference, The Alchemist’s Cookbook is a compilation of a mostly stellar group of emcees and beats.
