The Alchemist (musician)

Alan Daniel Maman (born October 25, 1977), known professionally as the Alchemist, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. Critically acclaimed for his sample-heavy production style, he is regarded as one of the most influential producers in modern hip-hop and underground rap. His frequent collaborators include Mobb Deep, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Action Bronson, Freddie Gibbs, Roc Marciano, Schoolboy Q, Griselda, Boldy James, and Earl Sweatshirt.
Raised in Beverly Hills, California, Maman began his career in music as a rapper in the early 1990s as part of the duo the Whooliganz. He transitioned to production in the late 1990s, gaining recognition for his work with Dilated Peoples and Mobb Deep. Maman relocated to New York City to further his career, during which he worked extensively with East Coast artists including Nas, Jadakiss, and Prodigy.
Maman gained wider recognition for producing the 1999 single "The Realest" for Mobb Deep, which helped establish his signature sound. He was credited on a string of critically acclaimed projects throughout the 2000s and 2010s, including work on Action Bronson's Mr. Wonderful.
As a solo artist, Maman has released several instrumental albums and collaborative projects. His debut solo album, 1st Infantry (2004), featured a mix of well-known and underground rappers. He has since released numerous acclaimed projects, including Russian Roulette (2012), the Rapper's Best Friend series, and The Food Villain (2020). Together with collaborators Oh No (with whom he forms the group Gangrene), Woody Jackson and Tangerine Dream he composed the official score to the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V and hosts the radio station "The Lab" in it.
Furthermore, he has released collaborative projects with various artists, including Covert Coup (2011) with Currensy, Albert Einstein (2013) with Prodigy, Fetti (2018) with Freddie Gibbs and Currensy, Haram (2021) with Armand Hammer, The Great Escape (2023) with Larry June, Voir Dire (2023) with Earl Sweatshirt, and Alfredo (2020) with Freddie Gibbs, which was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. As a member of a duo with Boldy James, they have released four studio albums and one EP.
The Alchemist hails from Beverly Hills, California. As a teenager, he began to identify strongly with the rebellious lyrics and urban sounds of hip-hop, and he began writing his own lyrics. He joined up with other like-minded artists who wrote lyrics and rebelled against their suburban surroundings. These included Evidence and Scott Caan, son of James Caan.
In 1991, a 14-year-old Maman and Scott Caan decided to become a duo named the Whooliganz. While rhyming at a party in Los Angeles, they attracted the attention of B-Real of Cypress Hill. He invited the teens to join his crew, 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, Caan focused his creative energy on acting while Maman became interested in the process of making hip-hop beats.
DJ Muggs took Maman under his wing and taught him how to use a sampler and mixing board. After helping to produce a few tracks for Cypress Hill, Maman became the main producer for his childhood friend Evidence and his group Dilated Peoples.
When Dilated Peoples debuted in 1998, it helped promote Maman as a key part of its sound. The Alchemist also produced several tracks on Defari's debut album Focused Daily, another Dilated Peoples and tha Alkaholiks affiliate. In 1999, Muggs introduced Maman to his good friends the popular hip-hop group Mobb Deep. Maman produced two songs for its Murda Muzik album. Impressed by his production skills and street smarts, Mobb Deep continued using his beats on all of the group's subsequent albums. As the 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.
In 1999, the Alchemist was set to produce three tracks for American rapper Ras Kass' then-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 said Ras Kass' record label Priority was ignoring him. They later met up in August, at the Source Awards in Pasadena, California, where the 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, to no avail. This prompted Ras to diss the 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. In an interview with www.hiphopgame.com, Ras admitted 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 the Alchemist produced the song "Past, Future and Present" and did the intro for the song that appeared on the 2006 mixtape Revenge of the Spit.
In 2004, six years after his rapping career folded, the Alchemist put out his debut album, 1st Infantry. The album yielded the single "Hold You Down", featuring Prodigy, Illa Ghee and Nina Sky, which hit number ninety-five on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2005.
Since DJ Green Lantern departed from Shady Records in 2005 because of a dispute related to the feud of 50 Cent and Jadakiss, the Alchemist is Eminem's official DJ.
On July 13, 2005, the tour bus carrying Eminem's entourage, including rapper Stat Quo as well as the Alchemist, swerved off the road and turned over. The Alchemist was treated for broken ribs and a collapsed lung.
In 2006, Eminem released a collaboration album with Shady Records called Eminem Presents: The Re-Up. The Alchemist produced some of the tracks on the mixtape, as well as compiling the album in a mixtape fashion.
In 2007, the Alchemist and Prodigy came together for a studio album titled Return of the Mac, that was released on March 27, 2007. It debuted at number thirty-two on the Billboard 200, selling 27,000 copies in its first week. As of December 2007, the album has sold 130,000 copies.
The Alchemist is one of the music producers behind the video game Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars released by Rockstar Games in 2009.
On July 7, 2009, the Alchemist released his second studio album, Chemical Warfare. It contains two tracks by Gangrene, the group consisting of the Alchemist himself and Oh No. Since then, they released three studio albums and, along with Tangerine Dream and Woody Jackson, contributed music for the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V.
In 2009, the Alchemist produced an entire mixtape with rapper Fashawn, called The Antidote.
On July 17, 2012, the Alchemist released his third studio album, Russian Roulette.
In August 2012, he produced Odd Future member Domo Genesis mixtape, No Idols. It was later released on a limited edition vinyl.
Rare Chandeliers, a collaboration mixtape with Action Bronson, was released on November 15, 2012.
Prodigy's second album with the Alchemist, Albert Einstein, was released on June 11, 2013. It debuted at number 175 on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 3,000 copies in the United States.
In 2012, Boldy James signed a record deal with Decon for the Alchemist produced album; My 1st Chemistry Set was released on October 15, 2013.
On December 18, 2013, the Alchemist was named the runner-up for Producer of the Year by HipHopDX.
Since 2008, the Alchemist and fellow rapper Evidence have performed as the duo Step Brothers. Their debut album was announced to be titled Lord Steppington and released on the Rhymesayers Entertainment label. Talking about the album in 2010, the Alchemist said, "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 I'd rap on." A release date for the album was scheduled for November 19, 2013, but later the release date was pushed to January 20, 2014.
In an interview for Dead End Hip-Hop, the Alchemist stated that he had been working on a project related to the gospel. Later, on March 2, 2014, he posted a teaser photo to The Good Book, which will be a collaboration between the Alchemist and producer Budgie, and also retweeted a tweet from Frank the Butcher, the founder of BAU, which the project is going to be released on, announcing the project and saying that more information will be released two days after.
Later, on March 5, they announced that the project is named The Good Book, and released the first single "In Heaven's Home", featuring Roc Marciano and Prodigy. It comes in a well-designed cover in a shape of a bible book, covered in leather, and will be limited to one thousand. It released on March 11. The project includes mostly instrumentals and also some raps featuring Prodigy, Roc Marciano, Action Bronson, Domo Genesis and Blu.
On March 6, 2015, a while after Rockstar Games announced the release of the PC version of Grand Theft Auto V, it was announced that the Alchemist and Oh No would have a new radio station called The Lab in the game. In addition to that, a new song "Play It Cool", featuring Earl Sweatshirt and Samuel Herring, was released. The song is apart from a new album of tracks inspired by GTA V named Welcome to Los Santos that was released on April 21, 2015. The album is a compilation album of new songs from a wide range of artists. The Alchemist and Oh No were involved in the production of the songs, and the album was released for the release of the PC version of the game.
On November 18, the Alchemist released a single on his SoundCloud, featuring Mac Miller and Migos, titled "Jabroni". Later he said on Twitter that it would be released on limited 45 vinyl single with an instrumental version, as part of a new single series, called Craft Singles. On February 11, the Alchemist announced the dates of release of every one of the four Craft Singles vinyls. The tracks were: "Hoover Street (Original Version)" by Schoolboy Q (March 11, 2016), "Any Means" and "Supply" by MC Eiht and Spice One (April 8), "Cobb" and "Palisades" by Blu (May 6) and "Jabroni" (June 3). Some of those were already released online and the Alchemist released the "Hoover Street (Original Version)" online on the same day of the announcements. On August 11, another song was released: "All for It" by Roc Marciano.
On January 13, 2016, the Alchemist and Currensy announced their second collaboration, titled The Carrollton Heist. The mixtape was all recorded in one day, January 4, 2016. Later, Currensy announced a release date and cover art on his Instagram. The release date was set to February 14, 2016. This second collaboration of the Alchemist and Currensy was very long-awaited since rumors of a Covert Coup sequel were floating online back in 2012 until the Alchemist dismissed them in an interview. The mixtape was, indeed released on February 14, on DatPiff. Later, the Alchemist noticed that the version there was not the final mastered one, so he uploaded the full mastered version to his SoundCloud page.
On March 2, 2016, Havoc posted a photo on his Instagram stating that his next album is produced by the Alchemist, and is coming soon. The title was revealed to be The Silent Partner and the first single, "Maintain", was released later. The album was released on May 20.
In December 2016, mixer Eddie Sancho revealed that he was mixing a joint project by the Alchemist and rapper Jay Worthy. Much later, in April 2017, the Alchemist revealed the name and June 2 release date of the project, titled Fantasy Island EP.
The Alchemist teased the sequel to The Good Book project with producer Budgie on his Instagram Story a couple of times. Then, on May 7, 2017, he surprisingly tweeted a link to pre-order the project and a first single, "Brother Jedediah", featuring Action Bronson and Big Body Bess. The project was released on July 21. Like the previous Good Book, it contains two parts, one by the Alchemist and one by Budgie. The Alchemist's part features lyrics from Mobb Deep, Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine, Royce da 5'9", Action Bronson and more, as well as beats and some audio collages.
Fetti, a collaborative album with Currensy and Freddie Gibbs, was first announced on January 4, 2017, through an Instagram post by Currensy.
On September 21, 2018, nearly two years later, Currensy announced on Instagram that he had completed his half of the project. In the post, Currensy is recorded saying, "This message is to one Fredrick Gibbs. My half of Fetti is done. All produced by Alchemist." Gibbs would publicly respond to the post shortly after, commenting "N***a. Send It. I'm by the booth." On October 25, the tracklist and release date were posted by Gibbs on Instagram. In an interview with the Grinds TV, Gibbs stated that his half of the album took two days to complete.
In November 2019, the Alchemist and Action Bronson announced that a new special edition vinyl of Rare Chandeliers is coming soon, along with a brand new collaboration EP, Lamb over Rice. The EP was released on November 22 and it contains seven tracks. Five of them are brand new, but it also contains two previously released singles: "Descendant to the Stars", that was released on 2016 for Action Bronson's Antient Aliens show, and "Just the Way It Is" that was a part of the Alchemist's Coca-Cola mix "Diagnosis" from 2013, sampling a Coca-Cola commercial.
Lulu, a collaboration EP with Conway the Machine, was released on March 30, 2020.
On May 27, 2020, Freddie Gibbs and the Alchemist announced the release of new music via social media, before confirming the collaborative project named Alfredo shortly after. The announcement came alongside the option for pre-ordering the album in digital and physical format, including a comic book stylized based on the album.
On October 3, 2020, the Alchemist released A Doctor, Painter & An Alchemist Walk Into a Bar, a collaborative project with DRx Romanelli and Spencer Lewis.
On August 25, 2023, Voir Dire, a collaborative project with Earl Sweatshirt, was released for free on the Gala Music website.
On May 5, 2024, the Alchemist produced "Meet the Grahams", a diss track by Kendrick Lamar towards Drake as part of their ongoing feud.
On February 7, 2025, Life Is Beautiful, a collaborative project with Larry June and 2 Chainz was released. The album's press run saw the trio in New York City where they would perform on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
The Alchemist is Jewish, and was named as one of the 10 most influential Jewish artists in rap over the last 50 years. His father is Israeli, and when he was visiting Israel he "conceived of creating an entire album made from Israeli samples." In 2023 he returned to Israel once again for a concert, saying that "he never expected to feel so at home in Tel Aviv, and he emphasized it will always be home for him".