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===Mixtapes===
===Mixtapes===
*''[[The Cutting Room Floor (mixtape)|The Cutting Room Floor]]'' (2003)
*''[[The Cutting Room Floor (mixtape)|The Cutting Room Floor]]'' (2003)
*''[[Insomnia (mixtape) | Isomnia]]'' (2003)
*''[[Insomnia (mixtape) | Insomnia]]'' (2003)
*''[[No Days Off]]'' (2006)
*''[[No Days Off]]'' (2006)
*''[[The Chemistry Files]]'' (2006)
*''[[The Chemistry Files]]'' (2006)

Revision as of 10:38, 3 May 2010

For other uses, see Alchemist.
The Alchemist

Alan Daniel Maman (born October 25, 1977), better known as the Alchemist, is a hip hop producer and emcee. He hails from Beverly Hills, California.[1] After rising to prominence in the late 1990s as a close associate of Dilated Peoples and Mobb Deep, he went on to produce many of hip hop's leading artists in the 2000s, and has been hailed as one of the genre's leading producers[2].

Career

Early

As a teenager, Al began to identify strongly with the rebellious lyrics and urban sounds of hip-hop, and he began writing his own lyrics as a creative outlet. He joined up with other like-minded artists who wrote lyrics and rebelled against their suburban surroundings. He was also associated with Shifty Shellshock of Crazy Town, Evidence of Dilated Peoples and Scott Caan, son of James Caan. Al and Scott decided to become a duo named The Whooliganz.[1] While rhyming at a party in L.A., they attracted the attention of B-Real of Cypress Hill. He invited the teens to join his crew, The Soul Assassins, which also included the groups House of Pain and Funkdoobiest.[1] In 1993, the Whooliganz released their first single, "Put Your Handz Up." The song received little radio airplay and their record label, Tommy Boy Records, decided to shelve their album.[1] Rejected, Scott focused his creative energy on acting while Al became interested in process of making hip-hop beats

DJ Muggs took Al under his wing and taught him how to use a sampler and mixing board.[1] After helping to produce a few tracks for Cypress Hill, Al became the main producer for his childhood friend, Evidence and his group Dilated Peoples.

Present

When Dilated debuted in 1998, they were an underground sensation creating a huge buzz about the man behind the beats. Alchemist also produced several tracks on the debut album Focused Daily by Defari, another Dilated and Alkaholik affiliate. In 1999, Muggs introduced Al to his good friends, the popular hip-hop group Mobb Deep. Al produced two songs for their Murda Muzik album.[1] Impressed by his production skills and street smarts, Mobb Deep took him under their wing, using his beats on all their subsequent albums. As Alchemist's profile increased, he went on to produce for many of hip hop's most successful and prominent artists, such as Nas, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Ghostface Killah and Snoop Dogg.[1] He has also remixed songs for bands and artists in other genres such as Linkin Park and Morcheeba.[1] Al stayed loyal to his old friends, continuing to produce for Dilated, Cypress Hill, Everlast (formerly of House of Pain) and Crazy Town. He also enjoys producing for lesser-known underground rappers, often giving them some of his best beats. In 2004, six years after his rapping career folded, The Alchemist returned with his long-awaited debut album, "1st Infantry." The album yielded the hit single "Hold You Down" (featuring Prodigy, Illa Ghee and Nina Sky), which hit number ninety-five on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2005.

Ras Kass feud

In 1999, The Alchemist was set to produce 3 tracks for rapper Ras Kass' upcoming album, "Van Gogh", which was scheduled for a late 2000 release at the time. One of the said tracks was "Home Sweet Home", which was to be the lead single for Ras Kass' album. After The Alchemist received the first half of the payment for the beat, he says Ras Kass' record label (Priority) was ignoring him. They later met up in August at the Source Awards in Pasadena, California where Alchemist informed Kass that he'd been showcasing the beat to other artists. Jadakiss would then go on to record "We Gonna Make It" over the same beat, on his 2001 release, Kiss Tha Game Goodbye. When Ras Kass took notice, he attempted to stop the release by releasing his version of the song on mixtapes, but to no success.[3] This prompted Ras to diss Alchemist in freestyles and on a track from Van Gogh. Eventually the beef ended so he could concentrate on his legal problems but still cites a loss of respect for the producer. However, during 2006, The Alchemist was featured on a skit in the Revenge of the Spit mixtape. Furthermore, in an interview with www.hiphopgame.com, Ras admits that he was being stubborn and refused to listen to what the Alchemist was trying to tell him. The two have squashed the beef and Alchemist produced the song "Past, Future, and Present" and did the intro for the song that appeared on Revenge of the Spit.

Anger Management Tour

Alchemist was signed on as the official tour DJ for Eminem on the 2005 Anger Management 3 Tour, replacing the recently-ousted DJ Green Lantern. [4] However on July 13 2005, the tour bus carrying Eminem's entourage (including rapper Stat Quo as well as Alchemist) swerved off the road and turned over. Alchemist was treated for broken ribs and a collapsed lung. [5]

Upcoming projects

Alchemist is also the music producer of the 10th installment of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars released by Rockstar Games.He was also on Tim Westwood, when Eminem freestyled. During an interview with Worldwide Conspiracy Radio, Alchemist revealed he would be dropping a 2-part project with fellow west coast producer Oh No entitled Gangrene, the first to be released in July, the second in November, both on Decon. He also shed some light on a joint project between himself and long time friend Evidence called Step Brothers, saying "I wanna create a sound for it. I don't want Step Brothers songs to sound like it could've been a Dilated Peoples song, or an Evidence song, that'd I'd rap on".[6].

Discography

Production discography

Main article: The Alchemist production discography

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Brown, Marisa "The Alchemist Biography", allmusic, Macrovision Corporation
  2. ^ Birchmeier, Jason "1st Infantry review," Allmusic.com, Macrovision Corporation
  3. ^ Alchemist Responds To Claims Of Double Dealing
  4. ^ http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?I=4380
  5. ^ Anger Management Tour Bus Crashes; Stat Quo, Eminem's DJ Among Those Injured | News | VH1.com
  6. ^ http://conspiracyworldwide.podomatic.com/entry/eg/2010-04-10T10_18_53-07_00
  • Winning, Brolin (2004-12-01). "The Alchemist—Popular Science". Remix. Retrieved 2007-10-03. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

Official websites

Interviews

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