"Seeing them, these white Jewish guys who were rapping and on tour with Run-D.M.C. was crazy to me," said the hip-hop producer, whose real name is Alan Maman. "It gave young guys like me a little bit of hope. As a kid growing up in Beverly Hills with an itch for L.A.'s subcultures, the Alchemist spent the '80s and '90s break-dancing, doing graffiti, skateboarding and rapping."
"He says he would do basically anything that felt "rebellious and expressive." Looking back at these formative interests, he says he had no idea that music was going to be the thing that stuck. Today, the 48-year-old artist is considered one of rap's most prolific tastemakers. Over the last three decades, he has built an arsenal of sample-heavy beats beloved by rappers across all walks of hip-hop, from anyone between Fat Joe to Earl Sweatshirt."
Alan Maman, known as the Alchemist, discovered hip-hop early after seeing the Beastie Boys and pursued Beverly Hills subcultures like break-dancing, graffiti, skateboarding and rapping. He now produces sample-heavy beats and is regarded as a prolific tastemaker whose work spans three decades and collaborators from Fat Joe to Earl Sweatshirt. This year he released or plans multiple collaborative projects including albums with Erykah Badu, Larry June and 2 Chainz, Hitboy, Freddie Gibbs, Mobb Depp, Armand Hammer, and a pending album with Yasiin Bey. He keeps an early studio routine and attributes his busy release schedule to "the stars aligning."
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