Alchemist: Chemical Warfare

There are few producers that can be as consistent as Alchemist has been over the years. While I think more producers have more “heavy hitters” on their resume, it’s safe to say that Alc has a marvelous ratio of good-to-bad beats attached to his work. He’s a very good producer. As a rapper? Well, not that great. However, we have seen 2008-2009’s production golden boy, Black Milk, rise in caliber from being a barely mediocre emcee to an unjokingly good presence on the microphone. Still, whether or not Alc can perform on the mic, he has gathered an impressive guest list of familiar faces to help him out on his latest project, Chemical Warfare, including Talib Kweli, Snoop, Blu, Prodigy, Kool G Rap, Pusha T, Krs One, Kid Cudi, Three 6 Mafia, and Eminem amongst some other big namers. How do all of these A-list names match up against Alc’s usually impressive production? Meh…

The album starts off strong with the “ALC Theme” featuring Kool G Rap and an undoubtedly impressive verse from the producer himself, Alchemist. The beat is in typical Alchemist form, sound and caliber, while KGR flows effortlessly on it, speaking with a violent tongue. “Lose Your Life,” despite being a little old, still remains fresh thanks to the addictive beat and fine contributions from Snoop, Pusha T, and Jadakiss. The KRS appearance is welcoming on “Grand Concourse Benches,” a track where he doesn’t talk about how un-hip hop hip hop is at the moment. The beat meshes with Mr. Parker, and it certainly elevates the concept of the joint.

The bright, shining moment of Chemical Warfare is on the most recent single, “Smile,” which features the album stealing Maxwell chorus and a Twista appearance that outmatches anything off of the dreadful Category F5. Hey, even Alc is great on it too, both on the microphone and on the boards. It’s a beautiful joint. The same can’t be said about a majority of the album though. The sadly misleading and underwhelming title track featuring Eminem is far from fulfilling, so is the huge collab of Evidence, Blu, Talib, and Kid Cudi on “Therapy.” In fact, each verse seems lackluster and messy against the numbing and boring beat. So yeah, don’t get your hopes up.

There’s a type of trend that develops throughout Chemical Warfare after frequent listens, and it only adds to the frustration some will feel towards this project. Look at “Keep The Heels On,” featuring the usually great connection of Prodigy and Alchemist. P talks weird, sexual nonsense over a great beat, essentially drowning out any remote interest one may have in the track. More importantly, an artist like Lil’ Fame (on “Lights, Cameras, Action”) becomes redundant and slightly boring as the album comes to an end. Same can be said for Fabolous on “Some Gangster Sh*t.”

With this project from Alchemist, the listeners have to pick their battles as there are a few extremes. A song like “Acts of Violence,” which features Oh No, is yawn worthy lyrically, but the beat bangs. “That’ll Work” features Three 6 Mafia and Juvenile, and provides more of the same, but at least here, Alc matches the style and shape of these artists. Especially with this joint, we really see the beauty of Alchemist- The Producer, a persona we don’t see clearly enough throughout the album, at least in a positive light. The album simply suffers from inconsistency on all angles, thus, rarely is there a moment of satisfaction that lasts more than 6 minutes straight.

66/100

“Smile”

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“Acts of Violence”

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“Therapy”

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