Album Review - The Alchemist: Flying High

SOFT 7/10

The Alchemist has collaborated many times with the rappers featured on Flying High. (Photo courtesy of HipHopDX)

The Alchemist is a chef when it comes to his solo projects. Some ingredients here and there, a little bit of garnish, and it’s always filling. The issue with this mindset, as opposed to producer-orchestrated albums from the likes Metro Boomin or Madlib, is that sometimes The Alchemist cares more about taste than presentation. Flying High wields an array of different flavors, whether it’s the baritone delivery of Billy Woods and Boldy James or the nonchalant braggadocio from Larry June, but this EP presents itself more so as a compilation rather than something with more cohesion.

“RIP Tracy”’s instrumental begins with what sounds like The Alchemist testing out different chopped up drums and kicks, where it eventually comes together to make a smooth sample-driven beat. The production is repetitive enough to give total liberty to Earl Sweatshirt and Billy Woods to spit bars without giving the song structure much thought. It’s not like structure is ever truly a necessity for The Alchemist, barring his collaborative projects, so this amorphousness is something that many fans should be used to by now. There are some quotables, like Woods’ mockery of celebrities’ false humility when he raps “What do I know though, I’m just a regular guy/Put designer jeans on one leg at a time,” but this track is pretty much the standard for what is expected from The Alchemist.

On the other hand, “Trouble Man” is perfectly tailored towards its co-stars, T.F and Boldy James. The production is heavy and dark, featuring occasional alarm sounds that evoke a sense of lyrical predestination for the subject matter of the track. The song is fatalistic in nature; emphatic talk of violence and establishing credibility sets the tone without lacking any candidness. This beat was particularly appropriate for James, with how reminiscent it is of Real Bad Man’s production for the Detroit rapper on their partnership Killing Nothing (2022). That being said, James feels right at home, coming in as cold as ever with his opening lines stating “Just caught a body in my sleep, I need a dream chaser/Pics of John Gotti and me, saved on my screensaver.”

“Bless” has personality with its shining keys and upbeat guitar melody. MIKE and Sideshow sound desperate for validation while seemingly attempting to convince themselves of their potential. When MIKE says “I was not in tune, droppin' juice I hadn't drunk yet/Bless, droppin' jewels I hadn't thunk yеt”, you get the sense that the duo is trying to materialize their success into existence. The talent is there and the mass appeal will inevitably come as well. This is reaffirmed by Sideshow when he states how “Rappin' easy when you talkin' factual”, and that’s generally applicable to everybody on Flying High. The features on this EP don’t seem to rap just for the art of hip-hop, but because they feel as though they need to express themselves and The Alchemist merely provides an outline and blueprint for them to map out their vision.

“Midnight Oil” features Larry June and Jay Worthy rapping over an instrumental that could have easily been thrown on June and The Alchemist’s latest collaborative album The Great Escape (2023). While it might sound incongruent in terms of the darker content of its preceding tracks, the beat aligns so well with June and Worthy’s style that their performances almost sound routine. 

Flying High has as much replay value as practically any other excerpt from The Alchemist’s discography, but it can plateau without the thematic consistency of an overt artistic idealization that has been apparent in his other works. The Alchemist tries to serve a sloppy smashburger at his own fine-dining establishment, and while it’s still scrumptious food, there is a clear lack of aesthetic.

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