Repping for both coasts, The Alchemist has been making music since his teenage years, growing up in Beverly Hills and getting down with the Soul Assassins collective as a member of short-lived kid-rappers the Whooliganz. Mentored by DJ Muggs (Cypress Hill, House of Pain, etc), he paid dues for years, crafting beats in anonymity before really bubbling up in the late ‘90s, when he started getting shine for his work with Dilated Peoples, Mobb Deep, and Capone-N-Noreaga, among others. Al's compositions are known for their cinematic feel — lush arrangements, slinky basslines, hard drums and dark synths — and he has since become a superstar in his own right, concocting hits for G-Unit, Snoop, Eminem, and countless others. Rapper's Best Friend features 14 instrumentals from his massive discography, conveniently stripped free of all rhymes and choruses, ideal for fledgling emcees to test their mettle. Most impressive are "Gun Check," "Bring You Light," and the Barry White chop-job "Stop Fronting."