Alan Daniel Maman has spent two decades building a reputation as hip-hop’s most patient archaeologist—the man behind some of the most well-known beats for Mobb Deep, Snoop Dogg Eminem, Freddie Gibbs, Larry June, Armand Hammer, Action Bronson, and Earl Sweatshirt, who dredges soul and jazz samples most people forgot existed out of crates, then warps them into something that sounds like a like a welcomed memory. Yes, under the name The Alchemist, he has been responsible for popularizing the sounds of the underground, a lackadaisical rap sound that incorporates boom bap, lo-fi, and a whole lot of samples. He’s why I know rappers Larry June, Conway the Machine, and Curren$y exist. He’s the reason I still listen to everything Freddie Gibbs has put out since Fetti in 2018. The man is also a beat-making monster at putting out new material. He put out a new Larry June and Curren$y collab album in February called Spiral Staircase, and dropped a new EP called LIQUID FORM in late June. He’s also about to drop another new album with Boldy James and a super not-so-secret album with Erykah Badu…
I had no idea what to expect from his live DJ performance at Club Soda during JazzFest. Was it just going to be a soundtrack of his recent and old greatest hits? Honestly, it was that and a bit more. The Alchemist has an indefinable energy to him, a guy who has LA energy that can get anyone moving. He had the fists pumping and the head bopping during his set. His setup was pretty standard: a DJ mixer with some scratch pads that ring in that nostalgic boom bap West Coast rap sound. He also had his own microphone to scream out a few “WHAT” or “You Feeling and Fuckin with me Montreal?’
Most of the songs were basically quick mixes that he blended with other ones. Everyone lost it for his collab song with Nas’ “No Idea’s Original,” which he morphed into the piano-led “89 Earthquake,” from his first collab with Larry June, The Great Escape. He spun “60 Days” from the same album a few minutes prior, and surprised me and some of the crowd genuinely when he rapped his own verse. I never really clued in to this, and I feel dumb for it, but The Alchemist can rap like a seasoned pro, and whenever you can’t tell who is rapping on his albums without the feature, it’s usually him. This makes total sense when you dig into his history. He was in a rap duo called The Whooliganz and went on tour with Cypress Hill and House of Pain back in the 90s.as part of the rap collective Soul Assassins.
He brought a bit of that 2000s East Coast rap flavour as he led the crowd through “We Gonna Make It,” by Jadakiss. I never really cared for the song, but live, you can’t deny the energy, especially when ALC is on the mic. We, of course, heard some Alfredo 2 tracks, his big follow-up album with Freddie Gibbs, and it seems like The Alchemist’s favourite album he’s worked on is the fantastic Life is Beautiful with Larry June and 2 Chainz. Overall, the set was thoroughly enjoyable, especially from above. It lasted close to two hours and made me realize there are so many beats made by The Alchemist that I haven’t dipped my toes into.
