NPR

Freddie Gibbs And The Alchemist Perfect The Rap Duo Recipe

Alfredo not only pairs Freddie Gibbs' top-tier lyricism and The Alchemist's gritty rhythms but also engages a hip-hop tradition going back decades.
Freddie Gibbs (right) seems born to spit over The Alchemist's productions. Their new album,<em> Alfredo</em>, is a delicious portmanteau of their names.

Many hip-hop albums that top the Billboard 200 these days share a few telltale characteristics. Future's latest No. 1 album High On Life sports 21 songs and some two dozen producers, while the just-released "deluxe" edition of Lil Wayne's Funeral swelled the January 2020 original's already ample offering to a gluttonous 103 minutes, bringing it to about the runtime of your average modern horror movie.

Meanwhile, the underground continues to cook with concise and consistent rap projects that clock in closer to the half-hour mark. Less concerned about gaming the system than feeding the streets, these nimbly released and digestible efforts come from talents like the Eminem-endorsed Griselda crew, out of Buffalo, and lesser-known artists using highly accessible digital platforms like Bandcamp for self-promotional aims beyond their cities' limits.

The one-rapper-one-producerand often the best results. In keeping with that tradition, we now end up with , a highly-anticipated albeit surprise-released collaborative album from rapper and producer whose title serves as a delicious portmanteau of their names.

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