New surprise EP & the 13th overall from Beverly Hills producer, DJ & rapper The Alchemist. Beginning as 1/2 of the duo The Whooliganz in 1993 with Scott Caan, they would only disband a year later after recording a debut album that eventually got shelved & Scott went onto acting like his father. Mudfoot on other end quickly established himself as one of the greatest producers in hip hop history with a resume including ranging names from Mobb Deep & Eminem to Travis Scott & even Drake. The Genuine Articulate found himself rapping more & he’s returning behind the boards once again to drop Liquid Form in celebration of the New York Knicks winning the NBA Finals.
“Gutter Pain” by Kool G Rap begins with a boom bap intro telling hood stories others aren’t his parts weren’t able to whereas “Beat Like a Key” by 2 Chainz maintains the dustiness talking about blowing shit down right when he pulls up. “Streets Don’t Change” by Conway the Machine kicks off the 2nd half on some more dark boom bap shit & Con explaining that the streets will always be the same, but “On the Spectrum” by Boldy James gives us a prelude of an upcoming Boldy LP produced by Uncle Al himself.
This has been a long time coming for the Knicks since their last championship was over half a century ago, so I completely understand why The Alchemist said “fuck it” & hit us with a 4-pack returning behind the boards in preparation of the upcoming self-titled debuts from the Forensics and Abi & Alan. Rather than continuing the abstractly drumless vibes The Genuine Articulate went for, the guests comprised of individually established veterans depict the life of gangstas & there are significantly more drums.
Score: 8/10