Of course, nobody expects to see Eminem’s name on any list of something good, if this list is published in Complex. It would be a sign that this year went even crazier than it is so far. But at least they have guts to admit that artists from Marshall’s camp released some fire in 2020.
On the list of 50 best albums of 2020 so far you can find three albums from The Alchemist, two from Griselda and one from Royce da 5’9”. Here are their entries:
36. Royce da 5’9”, ‘The Allegory’
As a member of a squad as ferocious as Slaughterhouse was, it’s been awesome to see Royce da 5’9 be the one who has been the most consistent in terms of output. Just look at the last six years of his career. He’s dropped multiple projects with DJ Premier, as well as steadily released solo projects, The Allegory being the eighth solo studio project from the Detroit emcee. It’s a testament to how he’s improved both as a writer and a selector of sound; he’s operating at the peak of his abilities here. It may be on the long-ish side, but the handful of interludes laced throughout the album are well worth hearing Royce spaz on a beat.
29. Conway the Machine & the Alchemist, ‘LULU’
Those Griselda boys keep serving marvelously dense packs in 2020, like they didn’t put up a quality 2019. There’s no rest for the wicked, which is the best way to describe the combination of Conway and Alchemist, who is one of the most captivating producers of our time. If you’re familiar with these two, you can smell it coming through the pack, and cuts like “14 KI’s” exemplify just how raw and delicious this collab is for hip-hop lovers. The project is light on features, and Conway makes his guest picks count. Schoolboy Q is very capable over ALC instrumentals, and at this point in 2020, it feels like Conway was the only artist who could get Cormega to take it back on “They Got Sonny.” At this point, anything Griselda-related is guaranteed satisfaction before you rip off the plastic, and with so much material hitting the streets, you truly don’t need to listen to anyone else. Word to LULU.
26. Boldy James & the Alchemist, ‘The Price of Tea in China’
The old saying about making your work universal by being specific may have been beaten into the ground by lazy creative writing teachers, but Boldy James proves the truth of that dictum. On The Price of Tea in China, the Detroit rapper doesn’t just talk about drug dealing and street life in the abstract. It’s about deaths in his family and the never-ending beefs they inspire. It’s dumping a particular make of gun “with the barrel smoking.” It’s worries that his time on the wrong side of the law will make “my son think that I don’t love him.” And all of this is set to ominous Alchemist beats that perfectly match the mood of each track. Even the producer’s interludes are well-thought-out, as they move us smoothly from one track to another. By the time Boldy makes a Coming to America joke on “Speed Demon Freestyle,” it’s a rare and well-needed moment of levity. The singularity of the mood, the detail in the writing, and the coherence and beauty of the sound make this not only Boldy’s strongest release to date, but one of the best rap albums of the year, period.
5. Westside Gunn, ‘Pray for Paris’
The Griselda crew has been on an incredible run for the last half-decade or so, and Westside Gunn is a big reason why. Conway the Machine and Benny the Butcher had both been trying to make a go of things for years, but it took Gunn’s vision to really make things happen. That vision, from the beginning, has involved mixing high and low culture. Pray for Paris, inspired by Gunn attending Virgil Abloh’s January 2020 Off-White show in Paris, provides a perfect canvas for these obsessions. On the very first song, following an art-auction intro, Gunn raps about having “bulletproof Bentleys parked outside the Whitney,” and the dichotomies keep going from there. The rapping is excellent, and the beats (from the likes of Premier, Alchemist, Muggs, longtime associates Camoflauge Monk and Daringer, and even Tyler, the Creator) are lush. But more importantly, Gunn, a reluctant rapper from the beginning who makes constant threats of retirement, plays a curatorial role as well, bringing in just the right guest voice at the perfect moment—including a standout rap verse from Tyler. With projects this high-quality and well thought out, there’s no need to pray for anyone. Westside Gunn’s got everything under control.
4. Freddie Gibbs & the Alchemist, ‘Alfredo’
“This album’s going to be a classic,” Freddie Gibbs told Complex a few days before Alfredo’s release. It sounds like the type of thing rappers normally say about upcoming albums. But after a string of incredible-to-instant-classic albums (Piñata, Shadow of a Doubt, You Only Live 2wice, Freddie, Fetti, Bandana), chances were good that this wasn’t just idle boasting. Alchemist is also on a hot streak—in 2020 alone he has superb collaborative projects with Boldy James and Conway the Machine under his belt. And Alfredo meets all our expectations. The album finds Gibbs looking backwards, examining tough times and lamenting lost friendships and deceased relatives. Technically, he’s on top of his game. No longer the beat-switching champion he was on Bandana, he instead concentrates on bringing a head-spinning variety of flows and approaches to each Alchemist soundscape. And what soundscapes they are: simple, beautifully layered and arranged, and varied. Alchemist’s beats make the project sound like nothing else we’ve heard this year. “Ain’t nobody rapping like this right now. Ain’t no project like this right now,” Gibbs said in our interview. “The game need it.” Yes, it does.
You can find the full list here. Or you can save your time, the list proclaims Lil Uzi Vert, “Eternal Atake” the best album of the year so far with Tame Impala, “The Slow Rush” at the second place.
