Sometimes a song or a video drops and you instantly know the magnitude of the release. I had no idea that Hit-Boy and The Alchemist were working together but I did know that they had both been hustling in their own right. Hit and Nas have been knockin out amazing albums left and right and ALC stays working with everybody from Larry, Boldy, to Freddie and behind all of that we see he’s dusting off his book of rhymes and spittin once again. In case you needed to be reminded of how dope he is on the mic, I got you….
But I guess I’m the one who is sleeping on Hit-Boy because I had no idea he could rap. I’m even ashamed to admit this right now because I hit YouTube and I’m scrolling and scrolling seeing tracks he’s rapped on.
Hit-Boy and ALC’s track they dropped earlier this year is dope on so many levels. While they’re both known for their skills behind the boards, sometimes you gotta just flex and let the world know that you can merk a beat as well. Is there a better flex than being a rapper/producer? But the way they rolled this out was brilliant. Al over a Hit beat and Hit over an Al beat. It all reminds me of what J-Dilla and Madlib did with Jaylib back in 2003. That album on Stones Throw was Madlib rapping over Dilla beats and Dilla rappin over Madlib beats.
But the structure of the Jaylib album was broken down into solo tracks with one artist rapping over the other’s beats. And then that flip-flopped throughout the album. So seeing “Slipping Into Darkness” drop with the video and have both emcees and both producers flexing their shit all on one track is immaculate. Has that been done before? We all know how best changes within songs popped off with 9th Wonder and others but incorporating the beat change with a rapper change while both artists give admiration to each other? Too damn good! Here’s a 9th beat change track with Murs on the rhymes if you needed a reference...
So with Hit-Bit and ALC’s track you get them introducing the concept for the track and then Al just starts rapping in a mirror with a a gangster trench coat on? I’m here for all of the flexing. But then you got Hit-Boy going after other producers with his bars?? A little friendly competition never hurt anybody so Metro, let’s see what you got on the boom bap tip kid! And producers are all up in their feelings with this like when Kendrick dropped his “Control” verse. Kendrick Lamar is a competitor so yeah he was here for the smoke because he knew nobody could touch him. It want a diss track… it was a step up and show me what you got track. Here’s a refresher in case you needed it….
All of the producers that Hit mentioned are getting shine out of this. And if anybody is feeling a certain way about him callin out names they just need to stop. Step up to the challenge and show us your versatility on the boards. Or shit… get on the mic over your beat if you feel like you need to. But let’s get back to the main point here… this track is absolute fire and if you missed it, please stop sleeping. Watch the video… stream the track… let your friends know about it. It’ll go down as one of the best tracks of the year. 🔥🔥🔥🔥