I was impressed for sure on my first few listens, but decided to go for a late-night drive bumping the album. Needless to say, it came alive and fed off the crackle of the city: it almost seemed that the streetlights would flicker and fizz as Prodigy rolled past.
Sid Roams handles his share impressively, and in a subtle but intensely melodic way - you always have one key melody to take from any of his beats, even if it doesn't reveal itself straight away. The Alchemist is, with the exception of "Veterans Memorial Pt. 2," extremely solid rather than spectacular - but that is perhaps more fitting for the album, as it helps to make "H.N.I.C. In fact, my only criticism of the album is that perhaps it might be just a touch TOO consistent - there isn't really a true banger on here to break it up or ignite it, not in the vain of what we're used to, nothing that will set the late-night radio stations on fire in the way that "The Learning (Burn)" did, "Got It Twisted" or even (to a lesser extent) "Put 'Em In Their Place." Maybe that just reflects the state of play with Prodigy being in prison - perhaps it just wouldn't feel right to have a massive anthem knowing that he couldn't truly enjoy it for the next few years. And that is part of the attraction of this LP - the connection that was reset when Mobb Deep signed with G-Unit is back online in a big way with Prodigy's second solo offering. The fans that know and love P or Havoc will immediately identify with "H.N.I.C. 2" and will enjoy listening to it, for sure. It is just a damn shame that the main protagonist isn't around to enjoy the success it deserves.
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