Beverly Hills producer, DJ & rapper The Alchemist joining forces with Fontana producer, rapper & singer/songwriter Hit-Boy for their long-awaited collaborative LP. Both of whom have respectively become amongst the most in-demand beatsmiths, with Uncle Al ranking amongst my top 10 producers ever. They’ve crossed paths with each other on multiple instances whether it be producing Benny the Butcher’s 4th album Everybody Can’t Go or Big Hit’s sophomore Blacks & Whites, but are finally dropping Goldfish a little over a couple years in the making.
“Doing My Best” finds the 2 trading bars with one another over a sumptuous Hit-Boy beat they cooked up together to begin while the jazzy single “Business Merger” turns up the watts whilst beating up the pots. “Show Me the Way” takes the drumless chipmunk soul route instrumentally thanks to Uncle Al feeling confident they won’t ever be the same people they once were prior leading into the Conway the Machine solo track “Mick & Cooley”.
Alchemist & Hit-Boy get back on the mic during the soulful “Ask for Me” talking about being on the low with the only thing you gotta do is simply ask while “Ricky” hooks up an pretty orchestral sample so Uncle Al can reflect that a 2-parent household is all he & his siblings ever knew. “Groupie Love” brings back the drumless chipmunk soul vibes getting rotation on the radio after doing a freestyle just before “Celebration Moments” talks about wanting the crown now.
“Home Improvement” primarily has a smooth drumless sound until the drums come in full gear near the end of both verses delivered from a deeply introspective place while “Recent Memory” talks about their only competition being themselves. “Walk in Faith” continues the sampling until a switch-up during Hit-Boy’s part freezing because of the cold world we’re in & “Not Much” featuring Boldy James soulfully flexes their own individual spaces as MCs.
Continuing to holding it down by themselves “Drawing Bridges” talks about there being nothing to take because nothing was given in the beginning while “All Gas No Breaks” featuring Big Hit & Jay Worthy finds the quartet applying pressure to the pedal. “God’s Great” officially ends Goldfish giving praise to the most high over a pitched sample while “Morrissey” starts the deluxe run comparing their lives to theatrical films.
“The Main Event” structurally is built a lot similarly to “Slipping Into Darkness” where Hit-Boy’s rhyming over an Alchemist instrumental & vice versa with the exception Johnathan Hulett’s briefly sung verse following Uncle Al’s & the final bonus track “Don’t Be Gone” flips a Chicago Gangsters deep cut going back-&-forth with each other on top of drumless sampling for a little over 3 minutes.
Goldfish isn’t really any different from what The Alchemist has done with Oh No under the Gangrene moniker for the past 15 years aside from the Conway joint & that’s not a criticism because Hit-Boy has already proven himself to be a capable MC on Surf or Drown alongside it’s sequel. The west coast veterans gel with one another exceptionally on the mic as they have in the past producing for other artists.
Score: 8/10