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────┤ Info ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Artist | Step Brothers: Alchemist & Evidence
Title | Lord Steppington
Genre | Hip-Hop Format | Album
Source | CD Time | 48:33
Label | Rhymesayers Entertainment Store | 2014
Catalog | RSE0169-2 Rip | 2021
Bitrate | 945 kbps Size | 345.53 MB
Freq | 44.1 kHz Encoder | FLAC 1.3.1
┌────────┐
────┤ Tracks ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
01. More Wins 2:31
02. Dr. Kimble 2:56
03. Byron G (Feat. Domo Genesis & The Whooliganz) 5:38
04. Legendary Mesh 3:12
05. No Hesitation (Feat. Styles P) 2:57
06. Swimteam Rastas 5:30
07. Mums In The Garage (Feat. Action Bronson) 3:16
08. See The Rich Man Play (Feat. Roc Marciano) 3:18
09. Banging Sound (Feat. Fashawn) 3:18
10. Step Masters 2:58
11. Tomorrow (Feat. Rakaa & Blu) 3:48
12. Draw Something (Feat. Oh No) 3:20
13. Buzzing Away 3:27
14. Just Step 2:24
┌────────┐
────┤ Notes ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
The Alchemist and Evidence are old friendsùtheyÆve known each other since
the early 90s. Each is a rapper and a producer, and both are dedicated
students of the rap game with a preternatural awareness of the history and
context of their art that endows the music they create together with
additional meaning. The pair bring that shared understanding to their new
project Lord Steppington, a welcome addition to the collection of solid
boom-bap rap albums that Alchemist has helmed over the last few years.
Alchemist has been a prolific producer for more than a decade, but as the
gangster-rap complex he was once a cog in has evaporated, he's emerged a
key player, uniting a host of veterans and young rap nerds alike to create
classicist rap music. Starting with Return of the Mac, a 2007 collaboration
with Prodigy of Mobb Deep, Alchemist has released a string of solid
projects with rappers like Action Bronson, Boldy James, Curren$y, and Domo
Genesis. What unites these rappers is a reverence for the art form of 90s
rap, combined with a welcome dedication to not taking themselves too
seriously. Jokes and skits that reek of weed abound on these albums, which
add to the sense that youÆre listening to a collection of above-average
rappers who feel supremely comfortable making music with one another.
That sense is heightened given the relationship between Alchemist and
Evidence. The two share an outsiderÆs take on rap music (which may have
something to do with being two of the only non-black kids in their
neighborhood). Since their early days of working together, when Alchemist
used to craft beats for EvidenceÆs group Dilated Peoples, thereÆs been a
sense within their music of striving for credibility. And the way theyÆve
achieved that credibility is by building an insular world of musical
references thatÆs both dense and possibly invisible to those who havenÆt
been listening to rapÆs odds and ends for the last 10 odd years. Lord
Steppington is an album that clowns on Theophilus LondonÆs lips, and Bubba
SparxxxÆs country-rap opus Deliverance. ItÆs an album that refashions the
old New Orleans song ôIko Ikoö as a mantra full of gangster menace. It is
filled to the brim with insider references, so casually delivered in such a
non sequitur fashion, that the uninitiated might not even know what was
going on.
Not surprising then to hear that this sort of music will work best for
those denizens of the rap universe who are well positioned to understand
its in-jokes. But AlchemistsÆ style doesn't rely on stacks of
signifiersùhe's got that postmodern ability to mine new meaning from old
forms and the musicality of Lord Steppington should recommend it to those
who might be put off by its rap-nerd bona fides. AlchemistÆs beats on the
album (Evidence only has one producing credit, on ôByron Gö) fuse the iron
underpinnings of New York boom-bap with either expansive soul or
psychedelic edge, or both. The first track here, ôMore Winsö, may sound
like a simple looped sample, but right before the two-minute mark, the full
force of the original song comes in and the track shifts on its axis.
Elsewhere, ôBanging Soundö (more harmless than the name suggests), combines
disparate elements: a trippy childlike sing-song for a chorus that
contrasts nicely with the descending bassline and minimalist snare on the
verses.
The raps often sound equally pieced together but their hip-hop-almanac
quality makes them feel familiar, comfortable as worn-out clothing. ôStep
Mastersö, for example, feels like something the Beasties would have made
during the Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2 sessions, Ricky Bobby references
nestling nicely besides EvidenceÆs improvised aphorisms (ôI ainÆt the
mover, IÆm the man that you hand the cream.ö). The guest apperances
contribute to the albumÆs happy mixing pot; on ôByron Gö (which starts and
ends with a sample of Kanye at the 2008 Brit awards), Domo Genesis spits
one of the more tightly wound verses of his still-young career, only to
hand the mic off to Scott Caan, who rapped with Alchemist in the Whooliganz
before Varsity Blues jump-started his acting career. Action Bronson, Styles
P, and Fashawn all make appearances, and each sounds relaxed, flowing
naturally. Even the easily-agitated Blu sounds at home on the album,
keeping Evidence and his fellow Dilated Person, Rakaa, company on the
mellow track "Tomorrow".
These sorts of fun surprises can make Lord Steppington feel like a Saturday
morning cartoon, the kind where a lack of depth doesn't matter because the
colors are so bright, the action is so fast, and the jokes are funny. But
the album, like so much of Alchemists' recent work, occasionally unleashes
a Rembrandt. There are two songs here that astound. The first, ôSwimteam
Rastasö, is a memoir-esque take on the rap life from a dialed-in Evidence
elevated by heavenly chipmunk soul in its middle third. ôSee the Rich Man
Playö is even stronger, with an on-point Roc Marciano character sketch
about a mescaline-addled gambler with the fix in contributing to a
three-part meditation on risk.
Songs like these don't diminish the fun collection that they reside in. But
they're so head and shoulders above, so exquisitely crafted, that it makes
the rockist in me wish we could hear a full albumÆs worth, something that
Alchemist has yet to do with any single collaborator other than Prodigy.
(Rap nerds I know have taken to editing together songs from different
albums to achieve these results.) Lord Steppington is just the latest
remarkably solid offering from Alchemist and co. and the artists involved
clearly think of the endeavors as fun and games. Of course, the fun that
the artists are having is what makes albums like Lord Steppington work.
Still, IÆd love to see the Alchemist take a risk and hear the results when
things get more serious.
┌────────┐
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└────────┘