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The Alfredo collaborations showcase two hip-hop now-titans that played the long game. Or as Freddie Gibbs puts it on "Mar-a-Lago": "Walked away from multiple crashes but it ain't break my status." Signed to Interscope nearly 20 years ago, Gibbs was dropped with his debut album shelved at a time when many rap fans were turning their focus to artists trapped in similar circumstances, like Clipse's cult classic Hell Hath No Fury, which the group said was in label limbo for three years before it finally saw release. Alchemist started out as Eminem's DJ before going onto produce everyone under the sun; he's allegedly got separate full-length collabs with Yasiin Bey and Erykah Badu coming in 2025. Gibbs and Alchemist have spent the last two decades making careers catering to the cult-classics demo, so naturally they've worked together a couple times before, including 2020's Alfredo, which cemented their elder statesmen status and earned first Grammy nominations for both.
This being hip-hop, a sequel was inevitable, and Alfredo 2 is just as gorgeous and understated as the first. Gibbs' best work has always been with one musical auteur overseeing the whole album, especially Madlib's Piñata and the even tighter Bandana. As a rapper, he famously clings to a beat for dear life, though guest JID holds his own on the raunchy, OutKast-interpolating "Gold Feet." Stopping and starting different flows on "Lemon Pepper Steppers" or skipping through the raunchy "Feeling" in a singsong double-time, Gibbs is a human contrast to Alc's loungey production, like the latter track's tipsy piano. Alchemist both has a style (essentially rap easy-listening) and a bent, unpredictable streak (a sample of sped-up, Santana-style electric soloing features prominently on opener "1995"). They're both masters of the familiar (Gibbs still "speaks that Trapanese" to quote "I Still Love H.E.R.," which also rhymes "nincompoops" with "hula hoops") and the element of surprise (the kick drum on "Skinny Suge II" is a dead ringer for a dribbling basketball). Anderson .Paak's hooky rasp cuts through the waltz-time "Ensalada" and the great MF Doom would have eaten up the harmonized guitar loop on "Lavish Habits." But the co-headliners are the ones who make it all sound timeless. © Daniel Aaron/Qobuz
Tracklist
1. 1995 (4:49)
2. Mar-a-Lago (2:59)
3. Lemon Pepper Steppers (2:46)
4. Ensalada (feat. Anderson .Paak) (3:46)
5. Empanadas (3:08)
6. Skinny Suge II (3:11)
7. Feeling (feat. Larry June) (3:55)
8. I Still Love H.E.R. (2:52)
9. Shangri La (3:02)
10. Gas Station Sushi (3:29)
11. Lavish Habits (2:57)
12. Gold Feet (feat. JID) (3:41)
13. Jean Claude (3:04)
14. A Thousand Mountains (4:05)
Cat no: 0198704347634
The Alfredo collaborations showcase two hip-hop now-titans that played the long game. Or as Freddie Gibbs puts it on "Mar-a-Lago": "Walked away from multiple crashes but it ain't break my status." Signed to Interscope nearly 20 years ago, Gibbs was dropped with his debut album shelved at a time when many rap fans were turning their focus to artists trapped in similar circumstances, like Clipse's cult classic Hell Hath No Fury, which the group said was in label limbo for three years before it finally saw release. Alchemist started out as Eminem's DJ before going onto produce everyone under the sun; he's allegedly got separate full-length collabs with Yasiin Bey and Erykah Badu coming in 2025. Gibbs and Alchemist have spent the last two decades making careers catering to the cult-classics demo, so naturally they've worked together a couple times before, including 2020's Alfredo, which cemented their elder statesmen status and earned first Grammy nominations for both.
This being hip-hop, a sequel was inevitable, and Alfredo 2 is just as gorgeous and understated as the first. Gibbs' best work has always been with one musical auteur overseeing the whole album, especially Madlib's Piñata and the even tighter Bandana. As a rapper, he famously clings to a beat for dear life, though guest JID holds his own on the raunchy, OutKast-interpolating "Gold Feet." Stopping and starting different flows on "Lemon Pepper Steppers" or skipping through the raunchy "Feeling" in a singsong double-time, Gibbs is a human contrast to Alc's loungey production, like the latter track's tipsy piano. Alchemist both has a style (essentially rap easy-listening) and a bent, unpredictable streak (a sample of sped-up, Santana-style electric soloing features prominently on opener "1995"). They're both masters of the familiar (Gibbs still "speaks that Trapanese" to quote "I Still Love H.E.R.," which also rhymes "nincompoops" with "hula hoops") and the element of surprise (the kick drum on "Skinny Suge II" is a dead ringer for a dribbling basketball). Anderson .Paak's hooky rasp cuts through the waltz-time "Ensalada" and the great MF Doom would have eaten up the harmonized guitar loop on "Lavish Habits." But the co-headliners are the ones who make it all sound timeless. © Daniel Aaron/Qobuz
Tracklist
1. 1995 (4:49)
2. Mar-a-Lago (2:59)
3. Lemon Pepper Steppers (2:46)
4. Ensalada (feat. Anderson .Paak) (3:46)
5. Empanadas (3:08)
6. Skinny Suge II (3:11)
7. Feeling (feat. Larry June) (3:55)
8. I Still Love H.E.R. (2:52)
9. Shangri La (3:02)
10. Gas Station Sushi (3:29)
11. Lavish Habits (2:57)
12. Gold Feet (feat. JID) (3:41)
13. Jean Claude (3:04)
14. A Thousand Mountains (4:05)
Cat no: 0198704347634
