The Alchemist

Boldy James & The Alchemist Sneak In One More Release Before The Year Is Over With ‘Super Tecmo Bo’

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Super Tecmo Bo
Boldy james

Less than a minute to go, game on the line and Bo Jackson proceeds to just run circles around everybody for the win. Boldy James and The Alchemist have delivered their best NES Bo Jackson impression by sneaking in one final heater of an album in 2021 with the just-released Super Tecmo Bo. Earlier in 2021 the pair dropped one of Uproxx’s Best hip-hop Albums of the year in Bo Jackson. Our Aaron Williams ran those very same Bo-Jackson-like circles in describing it when he said: “Boldy stacks syllables like Jenga blocks, building precariously teetering constructs of assonant vowel sounds to the point you wonder how the whole thing supports its weight.”

Super Tecmo Bo picks up where its predecessor lets off and it’s streaming everywhere now. Listen to it here, check out the tracklist and NES cartridge-inspired album artwork below. Also check out Boldy James & The Alchemist’s Tour dates with Earl Sweatshirt and Action Bronson below.

Boldy james
Boldy James

1. “Level Tipping Scales”
2. “No Laughing Matter”
3. “Hot Water Tank” (with Icecoldbishop)
4. “Bumps and Bruises”
5. “Great Adventures”
6. “Moth In The Flame”
7. “300 Fences”
8. “Guilt”
9. “Francois”

01/29/2022 — San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
01/30/2022 — Hollywood, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
02/01/2022 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
02/05/2022 — Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
02/06/2022 — Vancouver, BC @ Harbour Event Centre
02/09/2022 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
02/11/2022 — Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
02/12/2022 — Minneapolis, MN @ Fillmore
02/14/2022 — Toronto, ON @ History
02/16/2022 — New York, NY @ Terminal 5
02/19/2022 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem
02/22/2022 — Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
02/23/2022 — New Orleans, LA @ Fillmore
02/25/2022 — Houston, TX @ House of Blues
02/27/2022 — Dallas, TX @ The Factory in Deep Ellum
03/03/2022 — Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre

Earl Sweatshirt is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Super Tecmo Bo is out now via ALC.

Best Hip-Hop Producers of 2021

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Hats off to a solid effort by these impactful producers. Continue reading…

Action Bronson, The Alchemist, And Earl Sweatshirt Team Up For Their 2022 ‘NBA Leather World Tour’

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The rollout for 2022’s run of long-awaited tours continues. Today, the trio of Action Bronson, The Alchemist, and Earl Sweatshirt announced their entry into the increasingly crowded arena with their NBA Leather World Tour kicking off in San Diego, CA on January 29. They’ll run through March 3 at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe, AZ, with more dates to be announced. The tour will see the trio of frequent collaborators reunite after sharing a similar bill at The Warfield Theater in San Francisco in 2015 — one of the venues on this tour.

All three will have plenty of new music for the tour as well; The Alchemist has been more prolific than ever, even despite a pandemic, dropping two EPs this year and producing albums for Armand Hammer and Boldy James, as well as the Rapper’s Best Friend instrumental album. Meanwhile, he and Earl have apparently completed a new album, Sick, to be released in early 2022. And Action Bronson, despite not releasing new music in 2021, has his 2020 album Only For Dolphins to perform, as he was never able to play it live.

You can check out the tour dates below.

1/29 — San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
1/30 — Hollywood, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
2/1 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
2/5 — Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
2/6 — Vancouver, BC @ Harbour Event Centre
2/9 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
2/11 — Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
2/12 — Minneapolis, MN @ Fillmore
2/14 — Toronto, ON @ History
2/16 — New York, NY @ Terminal 5
2/19 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem
2/22 — Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
2/23 — New Orleans, LA @ Fillmore
2/25 — Houston, TX @ House of Blues
2/27 — Dallas, TX @ The Factory in Deep Ellum
3/3 — Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre

Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2021

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Vince Staples And Alchemist Reunite On The Jazzy ‘6 Five Heartbeats’

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It’s been a while since we heard from The Alchemist or Vince Staples about that project they supposedly worked on recently but as a consolation prize, Vince appears on the second installment of Alc’s EP series, This Thing Of Ours, which dropped today. Vince features on the song “6 Five Heartbeats,” spitting a ferocious verse in that languid delivery of his over a jazzy beat that belies the menace of Staples’ lyrics. “You had a blog, we had Berettas,” Vince sneers on the intro. The combination of the two always makes magic — the EP they’ve completed can’t come soon enough.

Vince revealed that the pair had been working together during an interview in which Vince said he recorded “30 verses on 30 beats,” blaming a delay in its release on the fact that “Alchemist moves at a very cryptic pace — he’s hella slow.” However, Alchemist refuted that account on Twitter, announcing “Vince is full of sh*t. I’ve had a finished 6 song EP with JUST HIM for over 3 months!! MIXED! Plus mad songs with him and Thebe [Earl Sweatshirt].” This got fans more hyped up but since then, the two have kept mostly mum about their plans for all these songs. Whether “6 Five Heartbeats” is one of those coveted verses remains to be seen, but it certainly bodes well for the eventual project.

Listen to “6 Five Heartbeats” above and stream This Thing Of Ours, Vol. 2, out now via EMPIRE.