Alfredo 2 - Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist: Review

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Review by Lavender: 

Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist are a pair of hip-hop veterans who first collaborated on Alfredo in 2020. For the album, Freddie largely adapted to Alchemist's production style, delivering lowkey rapping over lush jazz-sampling beats. For that reason, it's never been a personal favorite of mine in Freddie's discography, despite how proficient and consistent the talent of both veterans is. With a lead single that feels like it meanders for far longer than it needs to, I went into this record hoping for the pair to simply operate at the level I was used to. With that expectation in mind, this was just about as good as I could hope for. 

That was a complaint-heavy intro, so let me go ahead and get my gripes out of the way. Most of those gripes come in a trilogy of tracks right in the middle of the record. Much like the lead single with its lingering, unnecessary outro, "Empanadas" doesn't really feel like there's enough actual song in the song, and it's burdened with a particularly annoying outro. "Skinny Suge II" has the weakest beat on the record with a plonky drum machine that feels far too stiff for an Alchemist beat. The biggest dud on the record is probably "Feeling" and it has everything to do with Larry June. In fact, his verse is so deflating and underwhelming that it sparked an entire online discourse around if he was ever really that good in the first place. 

Between that rough opener and the underwhelming middle, the album actually serves up more variety than I was anticipating in its first half. "Mar-A-Lago" has a fantastic instrumental with vocal samples, chimes and sirens worked into the mix and Freddie serving up laid back but tightly controlled raps. On "Ensalada" Freddie and Anderson .Paak link up once again for another perfect collaboration, Though the song isn't the most thematically focused on the record it's buttery smooth with an absolutely irresistible hook. 




Between then is "Lemon Pepper Steppers," which ups the intensity and delivers the kind of lyrical braggadocia you'd expect. It actually would fit better in the second half of the tracklist where a few more high energy songs pop up. "Gas Station Sushi" may be the angriest point on the record and one of several where he takes shots at various adversaries. His intensity contrasts with the reserved beat in a way that I go back and forth on how much I actually care for. 

A JID feature that pops up on "Gold Feet" shifts the album's relaxed demeanor leading up to its conclusion. JID crushes his feature, and Freddie ups his tempo to match for a great highlight. "Jean Claude" has the sharp thematic hook of everything in life being a fight, so you need to be a fighter. It contrasts a little bit with the relaxed nature of much of the rest of the album, but it's still a great song. That leads right into the finale, "A Thousand Mountains," where Freddie arguably hits his peak confidence on the entire album. 

The best moments on the entire record remain the ones that show off Freddie's immense talent. "I Still Love H.E.R" is fucking hilarious, but it also manages to deliver a great thematic focus with this silly framing of a love song. It's definitely the standout track on the record for me. Speaking of funny, "Lavish Habits" is an exercise in the indulgence of luxury, but one where Freddie can't resist taking some hilarious shots at DJ Akademiks and Gunna in the process. The technical highlight of the album is probably "Shangri La," whose display of lyrical proficiency can really only be described as laser-focused. 

Any complaints I have about Alfredo 2 only exist within the vacuum of Freddie and Alc's long history of releasing great material. Though the record never feels like either artist is pushing themselves, when the bar for their material is so high, even coasting feels like soaring. Though it may not hold a candle to the best rap albums of the year from McKinley Dixon, billy woods, and Clipse, it's still a solid effort from two artists who can seemingly only put out solid efforts. 7.5/10


For more hip hop, check out my review of the new Tyler, The Creator record DON'T TAP THE GLASS

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