Roc Marciano & Alchemist - The Elephant Man’s Bones (Discussion Thread)

[TheDarceKnight]

He's not my GOAT but we've reached a point where him and Madlib are pretty much the only guys who haven't fallen off a cliff creatively. Premo been remaking the same 3-4 beats for decades, and I'm not sure the last time I heard a great beat from him. RZA hasn't seemed interested in music in ages. Pete Rock has some dope beats but you never know whether they're new or old. Dre has been rehashing Chronic 2001 style shyt for 20 years to diminishing returns.

Only thing that hurts Alc in my eyes is that he hasn't had a big record or "banger" in ages. I guess you could count the Benny/Cole record from this year which made some noise. Previous to that there was Break The Bank (Schoolboy Q). Obviously he's had underground tracks I'd consider bangers because they'd knock at a live show or in the whip (some Boldy stuff for instance) but I'm talking about tracks that resonate beyond just the fans. He's checked all the other boxes over the last decade plus.

Agree with all this. Break the Bank and Johnny P'd Caddy are definitely the biggest Al joints in a while. Make It Better by Paak is a pretty big record for Al, but it's not a straight hip-hop record so I understand why it isn't talked about as much.

Also wanted to say I liked your take re: the Alfredo sound and how that's more what I would've expected a RocChemist album to sound like 10 years ago. I definitely like Alfredo, but I think it's the most paint by the numbers batch of Al beats out of all the albums he's done in the past few years. I dig that the energy of Elephant Man's Bones is kind of hectic and all over the place. It's scatterbrained and stream of consciousness sounds mirroring Roc's free association rhyme style.

Boldy still gets the best Alc beats IMO. Not sure if Al saves them for him or if it's just that he's got the best ear out of the frequent collaborators (I suspect it's a combination of both).

 

[TheDarceKnight]

Y’all say things like this and overlook Covert Coup

Tea and China and Bo Jackson crazy too. One day people are gonna look back on the BoldChemist joints and realize that they're one of the best producer/rapper duos to ever do it.

 

[ReWiNd]

Tea and China and Bo Jackson crazy too. One day people are gonna look back on the BoldChemist joints and realize that they're one of the best producer/rapper duos to ever do it.

Don't forget my 1st chemistry set. I think Boldy is slowly becoming a top tier rapper. I didn't think anyone would come close to the chemistry that prodigy and alchemist had together when putting albums together. Boldy just keeps getting better. His pen and work ethic is pretty crazy right now. That album he put out with real bad man-killing nothing, then an album with producers Futurewave and Nicholas craven. I am excited to see how long this run he is on is going to last for.

 

[T.H.E. Goat]

dope album, I even own it on vinyl. I don't consider it a classic album.

That’s fair, what prevents it from being a classic to you?

 

[T.H.E. Goat]

Tea and China and Bo Jackson crazy too. One day people are gonna look back on the BoldChemist joints and realize that they're one of the best producer/rapper duos to ever do it.

I’m in that group of people that thinks both projects are classic but I’m a Boldy stan

 

[REAL6]

 

[spliz]

dope album, I even own it on vinyl. I don't consider it a classic album.

Covert Coup is def a classic.

 

[TheDarceKnight]

Don't forget my 1st chemistry set. I think Boldy is slowly becoming a top tier rapper. I didn't think anyone would come close to the chemistry that prodigy and alchemist had together when putting albums together. Boldy just keeps getting better. His pen and work ethic is pretty crazy right now. That album he put out with real bad man-killing nothing, then an album with producers Futurewave and Nicholas craven. I am excited to see how long this run he is on is going to last for.

All of this is true, and I was just talking to my homie about this yesterday about the bolded. No pun intended. For years I knew M1CS was good but it came out at the worst time in my life, so I never listened to it a ton because I associate it with a ton of shytty memories. I listened to it this week from front to back, which I haven't done in a good 5 years or so. It's been so long I even forgot about the interludes before Reform School and KY Jellybeans.

Man...yeah it's a very good album. I liked it so much more than I remembered. I was tripped out how much conventional song structure it was too. 16-8-16-8 style tracks on almost everything. Fire album, and maybe my favorite batch of Al beats in the 2010's after Covert Coup. And Boldy's voice sounds a little more aggressive. He's definitely better now, but I appreciate that early style too.

this is what made me go back and listen'

 

[Piff Perkins]

Don't forget my 1st chemistry set. I think Boldy is slowly becoming a top tier rapper. I didn't think anyone would come close to the chemistry that prodigy and alchemist had together when putting albums together. Boldy just keeps getting better. His pen and work ethic is pretty crazy right now. That album he put out with real bad man-killing nothing, then an album with producers Futurewave and Nicholas craven. I am excited to see how long this run he is on is going to last for.

I def agree. That album def had some moments where his flow or lyrics weren't on point but the highs showed so much potential, and he's delivered on that ever since. I was thinking about it a couple months ago...at this point Boldy is probably my favorite rapper right now. based on recent/current output. And I say that as a guy who basically had Kendrick in that spot since 2011. Those Boldy albums last year and all of his features this year are strong as fukk.

 

[Corndog]

Tbh I think tracks like Johnny P and Break the Bank are the biggest hits we can expect from an artist like alc these days. The period when straight hip hop shyt could resonate on a wide stage has been over for a minute, it's become a niche sound. Now the only stuff that goes big is straight up pop or trap, which might as well be a separate genre at this point

 

[Deltron]

 

[T.H.E. Goat]

Tbh I think tracks like Johnny P and Break the Bank are the biggest hits we can expect from an artist like alc these days. The period when straight hip hop shyt could resonate on a wide stage has been over for a minute, it's become a niche sound. Now the only stuff that goes big is straight up pop or trap, which might as well be a separate genre at this point

Facts to all of this Johnny P definitely a huge hip hop track for Alchemist and when you think about it the only big name Alchemist hasn’t worked with is Drake


As for the bold I feel like it’s a gift and a curse because it makes it harder to gauge classic songs and albums but it also makes room for more artist to become legendary in their own right

 

[areohbee824]

Fire video and track, still my fav one on this

 

[REAL6]

 

[REAL6]