The Great Escape Album Review: The Alchemist Show

 Music 

The Great Escape Album Review: The Alchemist Show

By Dylan Barbee

Release Date: 3/31/2023

When the Alchemist collaborates with any lyrical artist it is bound to be a treat for listeners. The Great Escape serves as a laid-back but thought-provoking album where San Francisco rapper Larry June advocates for the power of individual mindfulness over The Alchemist’s smooth boom-bap production style. 

 
The Great Escape contains 15 songs and is a short listen at 46 minutes. Most of the features on this album performed very well. Verses on The Great Escape come from Action Brunson, Big Sean, Boldly James, Joey Bada$$, Slum Village, Wiz Khalifa, Evidence, and Jay Worthy.  

 
Larry June mostly raps about his hard work ethic and his rags to riches life story. He lets his listeners know that with hard work and self-care, one can accomplish many things in their lifetime. “Invest in yourself, f*ck what they said, you can accomplish anything with a solid plan.” June raps on the song “Solid Plan.” While advocating for self-reliance on The Great Escape, June also boasts about the way he splurges the money he has worked hard to earn throughout the entirety of the album. On the song “Palisades, CA” June nonchalantly mentions how he spent $5,000 on candles. 

 
I was impressed with The Alchemist’s versatility when it came to some of the beats on this album. With collaboration albums with artists like Freddie Gibbs and Curren$y in the past, The Alchemist is well known for perfecting the gritty and hard-headed gangster coke rap style of production. However, when producing beats for The Great Escape, The Alchemist can shift to a more chill, lush, and at times hypnotic west coast hip-hop style where Larry June’s meditative lyricism flourishes at times. 

 
Another aspect I enjoyed about this album are the contributions from each of the features, more particularly Wiz Khalifa and Big Sean. On “What Happened To The World?” Khalifa delivers a satisfying cadence with rhymes that boast about his lavish lifestyle.  The Alchemist’s production style does not seem to be a consequential shift for Big Sean as he naturally flows over the dreamy production style on the song “Palisades, CA.” 

 

The issue to recognize about The Great Escape is the lack of replay value. With many songs containing Larry June’s monotone voice, the only element that really makes each song stand out in its own way is the different production techniques implemented within each song by The Alchemist. I could understand how this album may be a boring album for some listeners.  

 
The Great Escape is a project where both The Alchemist and Larry June challenge each other stylistically when consolidating their musical talents together. It’s a project that serves as a surprise to some listeners as The Alchemist clearly went out of his comfort zone more than Larry June. I do think The Alchemist outperformed Larry June greatly and some of his beats on this album are unfortunately going to be overlooked by Larry June’s lyricism which was at times surface level. Although the replay value is low due to June’s slow lyrical delivery, The Great Escape is still a somewhat adventurous experimental album where many songs are guaranteed to give listeners a relaxing experience. 

 
Rating: 6.5/10