Alfredo 2
With the release of 𝘈𝘓𝘍𝘙𝘌𝘋𝘖 2, the highly anticipated return of Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist is finally here. The sequel to the 2020 self-titled album immediately shows elements of continuity: first, the cover, which also depicts a hand manipulating puppet strings inside a full bowl. This time the dish is ramen, which more explicitly references the Tokyo criminal underworld which is the core of the project's very first track and lead single, namely "1995" (whereas 𝘈𝘓𝘍𝘙𝘌𝘋𝘖 began with the track "1985"). In outro, we discover that the Yakuza has asked the producer himself to find Gibbs to create a new collaboration: “I have a message for you and your partner today”, says the Yakuza's chief henchman, played by Yo-Yo Tome, “You probably know what it's about”, echoed by his mate, played by Kyokuto: “This is an order from your boss, so get that through your head”. Thus begins a journey where Alc's beats provide the sonic backdrop for Gibbs' rhymes, in an album with a strong cinematic flavor in the pacing and sequence of the tracks. The featured artists are also top-tier, with Anderson .Paak, JID (with a stunning verse on 𝘎𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘵), and Larry June. In 𝘌𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘢, we find condensed into a single verse both the gangsta attitude of its author and his endogenous self-critique, his ease in difficult environments, and the hope of escaping exposure to ruin: “𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬-𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘯***𝘢 / 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘯***𝘢 / 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘐 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘻𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 / 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 / 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 [...] 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 / 𝘈 𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 / 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 / 𝘚𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯', 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘯𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 / 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯' 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯”.
Mattia
@_bearhop