In preparation for his upcoming solo album, 1st Infantry, Alchemist, the young producer who got his start as an understudy for DJ Muggs, delivers his second volume in his mix CD series. This time titled Insomnia (“The Alchemist Vs. The Cousin Of Death”), Al once again spotlights his production with upcoming music from groups like Mobb Deep, Infamous Mobb, The Lox, and Dilated Peoples, wonderfully sewn together with random movie and music samples that celebrate the album’s title. 

       If you only like gangster rap in small doses, then take a break from J-Live, Atmosphere, and People Under The Stairs, and give Al’s Insomnia a listen. Reason being is, while something like DMX or The Diplomats might be a little too ig’nant for your tastes, they also don’t have Alchemist doing their beats. Al’s soulful soundtracks make even the most mediocre of thug poets seem legit; case in point is I.M.3. (aka Infamous Mobb), who’ve gotten away clean with average raps of street life that are beautifully animated by his tracks (“3 Minds Combined”). It’s been proven many times over that even Mobb Deep, a group that once could do no wrong thanks to Havoc’s hollow nocturnal beats, needs Alchemist more than ever to lend his beautifully dark imagery to their re-”dun”-dant subject matter. 

      And he does so for the Mobb several times throughout the course of Insomnia. It begins “Carved In Stone”, a blunted head-nodder propelled by a hypnotic militant loop, as Hav and P put it down with classic braggadocio, silencing all fake thugs. Again on “When It Comes To The Beef”, Al hooks up a classic soul loop that perfectly captures Mobb Deep’s nighttime New York essence. The same can be said for “Tick Tock”, a never-heard-before collabo between Mobb Deep and Nas, not to mention Havoc’s luscious “The Illest”. One of the greatest tracks that actually breathes new life into the Mobb Deep franchise is “My Priorities”, a ridiculous collage of xylophones, raw guitars, and soul coughing that puts Prodigy right back in the “Keep It Thoro” shit-talking mode he excels best at. If you are looking for that classic Mobb Deep sound that was lost after Hell On Earth, this is it, but taken to a new level. 

       But it’s not all about Mobb Deep on Insomnia, Al branches out making new affiliations with The Lox on two tracks. He unites the whole crew with Tony Touch on “Fuego” (which was pulled from TT’s album at the last minute), a classic heavy bass banger that reflects Al’s early beats; and also on Sheek Louch’s solo venture, “Turn It Up”, where he creates an uncharacteristically rambunctious track for Sheek to wild out on. Dilated Peoples also chime in over Al’s rolling guitars on “Marathon”, and Nas brings the mixtape favorite “One Never Knows”, dispelling all the rumors and hearsay over an extended intro borrowed from Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock’s classic, “It Takes Two”. 

     Two of the best tracks don’t rely on the vocals of the best known emcees, but instead those of Alchemist himself. The former Whooligan pulls his mic out of retirement on both “Live At The Amphitheatre” and “Respect My Gangster”. Letting hot newcomer Sebb handle the production on “Amphitheatre”, Al shares his mic time with IM3′s Twin Gambino, yet surprisingly outshines him with the line “I’m classic like them old Bally shoes that Slick Rick used a shoe horn to get up into”. However, while Prodigy takes most of the microphone shine on “Respect My Gangster”, Al still steals at least half the spotlight with one of the best produced tracks on the CD.

       When it comes to gangster beats, nobody is fucking with Al. Sure, Dr. Dre’s got the dark west coast orchestration, Timbaland has mastered the bounce, and Kanye’s creating classic hip-hop again, but if you are looking for that forgotten dark and soulful sound that groups like Compton’s Most Wanted, The Geto Boys, and of course, Mobb Deep, showcased in the early 90′s, Al’s got it locked. Don’t sleep, catch Insomnia….