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Each people has as much heaven over its head as it has land under its feet. Hayyim Nahman Bialik |
Alan Daniel Maman (born October 25, 1977), better known as The Alchemist, is an American hip hop producer, DJ and rapper. He hails from Beverly Hills, California. After rising to prominence in the late 1990s as a close associate of Dilated Peoples and Mobb Deep, he went on to produce for many of hip hop's leading artists in the 2000s, and has been hailed as one of the genre's leading producers. He is currently working as a DJ with Eminem and is also signed to his label Shady Records. His earlier nickname was "Mudfoot", in the times of The Whooliganz
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Alan was born to Jewish parents in Beverly Hills, California. As a teenager, Al began to identify strongly with the rebellious lyrics and urban sounds of hip-hop, and he began writing his own lyrics as a creative outlet. He joined up with other like-minded artists who wrote lyrics and rebelled against their suburban surroundings. He was also associated with Shifty Shellshock of Crazy Town, Evidence of Dilated Peoples and Scott Caan, son of James Caan. Al and Scott decided to become a duo named The Whooliganz. While rhyming at a party in L.A., they attracted the attention of B-Real of Cypress Hill. He invited the teens to join his crew, The Soul Assassins, which also included the groups House of Pain and Funkdoobiest. In 1993, the Whooliganz released their first single, "Put Your Handz Up." The song received little radio airplay and their record label, Tommy Boy Records, decided to shelve their album. Rejected, Scott focused his creative energy on acting while Al became interested in process of making hip-hop beats
DJ Muggs took Al under his wing and taught him how to use a sampler and mixing board. After helping to produce a few tracks for Cypress Hill, Al became the main producer for his childhood friend, Evidence and his group Dilated Peoples.
When Dilated debuted in 1998, they were an underground sensation creating a huge buzz about the man behind the beats. Alchemist also produced several tracks on the debut album Focused Daily by Defari, another Dilated and Alkaholik affiliate. In 1999, Muggs introduced Al to his good friends, the popular hip-hop group Mobb Deep. Al produced two songs for their Murda Muzik album. Impressed by his production skills and street smarts, Mobb Deep took him under their wing, using his beats on all their subsequent albums. As Alchemist's profile increased, he went on to produce for many of hip hop's most successful and prominent artists, such as Nas, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Ghostface Killah and Snoop Dogg. He has also remixed songs for bands and artists in other genres such as Linkin Park and Morcheeba. Al stayed loyal to his old friends, continuing to produce for Dilated, Cypress Hill, Everlast (formerly of House of Pain) and Crazy Town. He also enjoys producing for lesser-known underground rappers, often giving them some of his best beats. In 2004, six years after his rapping career folded, The Alchemist returned with his long-awaited debut album, "1st Infantry." The album yielded the hit single "Hold You Down" (featuring Prodigy, Illa Ghee and Nina Sky), which hit number ninety-five on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2005. Also Appeared in the segment of Tim Westwood TV.
In 1999, The Alchemist was set to produce 3 tracks for rapper Ras Kass' upcoming album, "Van Gogh", which was scheduled for a late 2000 release at the time. One of the said tracks was "Home Sweet Home", which was to be the lead single for Ras Kass' album. After The Alchemist received the first half of the payment for the beat, he says Ras Kass' record label (Priority) was ignoring him. They later met up in August at the Source Awards in Pasadena, California where Alchemist informed Kass that he'd been showcasing the beat to other artists. Jadakiss would then go on to record "We Gonna Make It" over the same beat, on his 2001 release, Kiss Tha Game Goodbye. When Ras Kass took notice, he attempted to stop the release by releasing his version of the song on mixtapes, but to no success. This prompted Ras to diss Alchemist in freestyles and on a track from Van Gogh. Eventually the beef ended so he could concentrate on his legal problems but still cited a loss of respect for the producer. However, during 2006, The Alchemist was featured on a skit in the Revenge of the Spit mixtape. Furthermore, in an interview with www.hiphopgame.com, Ras admits that he was being stubborn and refused to listen to what the Alchemist was trying to tell him. The two have since squashed the beef and Alchemist produced the song "Past, Future, and Present" and did the intro for the song that appeared on Revenge of the Spit. In 2011, Ras Kass appeared together with rapper Raekwon on fellow rapper Evidence's album Evidence, on a song called "The Red Carpet", which was produced by The Alchemist
Alchemist was signed on as the official tour DJ for Eminem on the 2005 Anger Management 3 Tour, replacing the recently-ousted DJ Green Lantern. On July 13, 2005, the tour bus carrying Eminem's entourage (including rapper Stat Quo as well as Alchemist) swerved off the road and turned over. Alchemist was treated for broken ribs and a collapsed lung.
The Alchemist is one of the music producers behind the 10th installment of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars released by Rockstar Games. He was also on Tim Westwood TV, when Eminem, Royce Da 5'9" and Mr. Porter freestyled. During an interview with Worldwide Conspiracy Radio, The Alchemist revealed he would be dropping a 2-part project with fellow west coast producer Oh No entitled Gangrene, the first to be released in July, the second in November, both on Decon. He also shed some light on a joint project between himself and long time friend Evidence called Step Brothers, saying "I wanna create a sound for it. I don't want Step Brothers songs to sound like it could've been a Dilated Peoples song, or an Evidence song, that'd I'd rap on. He will also be handling the production of Curren$y's Warner Bro's debut album, Covert Coup, exclusively.". Alchemist was also the DJ for the Eminem set on the popular BBC1 chat-show Jonathan Ross on 4 June 2010.
Alchemist is Eminem's official DJ, since DJ Green Lantern departed from "Shady Records", because a dispute, related to the feud of 50 Cent and Jadakiss. On March 6th, 2011, he signed a label deal with Shady Records for his next and upcoming album.
In 2006, Eminem released a mixtape called Eminem Presents: The Re-Up. Since the Alchemist is his official DJ, he produced a handful of tracks on the mixtape, as well as compiling the album in a mixtape fashion.
In 2007, the Alchemist and his friend and rapper Prodigy, came together for a studio album called Return of the Mac, that came out in the March 27, 2007. The Alchemist did the productions of the whole album and he produced two tracks with DJ Muro.
In 2009, The Alchemist produced an entire mixtape with the rapper Fashawn, called The Antidote.
Back in Chemical Warfare, there were two songs, named "Act of Violence" and "Under Siege", that were collaboration songs of The Alchemist and the rapper Oh No, under the collaboration name " Gangrene".
During an interview with Worldwide Conspiracy Radio, the Alchemist revealed he would be dropping project with fellow west coast producer and rapper Oh No.
The Alchemist and Oh No came together for an EP Sawblade EP and the studio album Gutter Water.
The Alchemist and Oh No shared the production of the two projects.
Gangrene and the rapper Roc Marciano came together for an EP, called "Greneberg", that came out in July 19th, 2011.
In the middle of 2011, The Alchemist and the rapper Curren$y came together for the studio album Covert Coup. The album came out April 20, 2011. The Alchemist produced the whole album.
The Alchemist and his long time friend and fellow rapper Evidence are planning a project together, under the duo stage name Step Brothers.
Official websites
Interviews
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