Action Bronson & Alchemist’s Lamb Over Rice EP Has Flavor. Listen Here (Audio)

This morning (November 22), Alchemist and Action Bronson released their collaborative EP, Lamb Over Rice. The MC and producer battery regularly work together on television. However, the genesis of the bond has been on heralded mixtapes like 2012’s Rare Chandeliers, which is getting a special limited-edition vinyl re-release. The whimsical bars over dusty samples sound as good at the close of the 2010s as they did at the top. At just seven songs and 20 minutes, Lamb Over Rice (embedded below as a playlist) offers a quick and substantial meal with plenty of sauce.

Opener “DMTri” is a highlight. With some Euro-Jazz vibes, Action sounds happy, revived, and ready to do damage. “Back with a vengeance / Black MAC lookin’ like Janet, with extensions / I’m back doin’ bench-presses / Put the Audi in a red dress / Make 10 lefts / I lost 50 on the Mets / After practice, hit the steps, b*tch / It’s what I gotta do to be the best,” he raps, spitting in a stream of consciousness. “I think I’m back in the placenta / But then I woke up in a Nissan Sentra / In the parking lot of Queens Center” he spits over the perfect groove from the Gangrene co-founder, before making a makeshift bridge about his grandparents learning English from watching Martin, and honoring Slick Rick.

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“Just The Way It Is” is another gem. With a crescendo loop that feels like it’s out of an ’80s “buddy comedy” film score, Action gets busy. “At least I’m famous and I ain’t sh*t / Well, my mother loves me; I’m her ba-by / We still drive each other cray-zy / My man needs a liver, bought it off of eBay / He started snorting Pepsi, now he got a fiend’s face / I pre-game before the pre-game / I let my chicken go, give her free range / This is Jericho, no Jheri curl / Put the pedal to the metal, make the Chevy twirl.” Action blends personal rhymes with inventive imagery about cars, sports, and activities. For an artist who has brought his lifestyle to television, it’s a blurry line between dreams and reality.

This collection of songs is mixed by mid-1990s Gang Starr engineer Eddie Sancho. One year ago, ALC partnered with Freddie Gibbs and Curren$y for FETTI. In 2019, he released Yacht Rock 2, which features Bronson, Roc Marciano, Gangrene, and the Griselda family. In late 2018, Bam Bam dropped White Bronco.

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Last month, ALC and Evidence released a Step Brothers two-pack, Burnt Tree. There is a video to the title track.