#013 | Hit-Boy & The Alchemist Dropped a Sick Diss Track

Muse-Letter 013 - March 27, 2023

Yoooooo! What's up fam!

Welcome back to The Muse-Letter. Today’s article covers the name-dropping track by Hit-Boy and The Alchemist, and Questlove’s new endeavor into publishing. It’s sick to get an insight into producers’ opinions of their industries and also see producers like Questlove stepping into other roles to share more knowledge of music production and culture. Let’s get into it.

This Week in Producer News 📰

Producers Hit-Boy and The Alchemist release “Slipping Into Darkness” Track That Includes Name-Drops of Other Producers

Hip-hop producers Hit-Boy and The Alchemist have joined forces on their new track “Slipping Into Darkness”, and music video that includes them rapping over each other’s production. Each producer has worked with their share of well-known names in the industry.

The Alchemist starts the song by delivering a verse over Hit-Boy’s groovy beats, rapping about his easygoing lifestyle while bragging about his success in the hip-hop industry. It’s an easy listen and shows that The Alchemist can spit bars, but the exciting stuff lies in Hit-Boys verses over The Alchemist’s track.

About halfway through the song, we switch up to Alchemist’s production, and Hit-Boy takes over the rapping. This is where the name drops of Metro Boomin, Mustard and Hitmaka come in.

“When you move how you wanna move, you gon' make somebody mad / My n***a, I'm the best student Kanye ever had," he raps in his first verse. "I'm usually homeboys with producers I get compared to / But on this one, I wanna see 'em stretched out, extra legroom / I don't really know dude, he seem like a cool cat / But I never once heard Metro Boomin do boom bap / I never heard a Southside beat without an 808 in it / HB in drunk-driver mode, I swerve in every lane with it.”

The track had gained some attention from Hit-Boy’s preview of his verse which was presumably in response to Hitmaka’s opinion that he got more radio play. “I fuck with Mustard, he can make that ratchet shit with his eyes closed / But now I’m starting to wonder, can that n***a chop soul? / I just seen Yung Berg spoke on the wave, I should do him like Trick Trick and snatch Hit out his name.”

Having fired some shots at these rappers in the same field, Hit-Boy ends the second verse by stating that it’s all out of respect. “And I ain’t dissin’ on nobody, I ain’t even write this / They came to me in a dream, they had it out for Hit / So I freestyled this verse over The Alchemist,” he closed the track.

After the song ends, the video finishes with a snippet of Hit-Boy on the phone with The Game via FaceTime talking about his frustration with rappers currently in the hip-hop industry. “I was texting somebody this morning, I’m like, ‘It’s really no way to tell who the best producer is no more cause it’s four, five n***as on every beat,” he said. “I’m one of the only n***as that can make a beat by myself I feel like these days, n***a, shit crazy.” The Game and Hit previously worked on Drillmatic: Heart vs. Mind together.

It’s always interesting to hear artists talk about other musicians in the industry on their tracks and gain their ideas and opinions on the current state of the world and their industry. The track shows two great producers and rappers with something to say to the world. Check out the track below!

Article of the Week 📜

Questlove Adds Another Job Title to His List: Publisher

Musician and producer Ahmir Thompson, otherwise known as Questlove, is making his own stamp in the publishing world with hints of memoir, history and more.

Questlove commented on his new project saying “I’m trying to rebuild the world I never had myself as a kid,” he added, “Through this imprint, I’m offering a platform.”

You may recognise Questlove from his appearances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Questlove is also known for his many job titles including D.J., producer drummer, Academy Award-winning director, filmmaker, member of the hip-hop band The Roots, culinary entrepreneur, scholar of Black musical history, and author. He’s written and co-authored seven books, including best-sellers like “Creative Quest,” “Mo’ Meta Blues,” and “Music is History,” and an upcoming children’s book about time travel. Questlove is now adding a new job title to his list of prolific ventures: publisher.

Questlove is beginning his own imprint within MCD books, a publishing distribution at Farrar, Straus and Giroux, where he’ll promote a diverse mix of fiction and non-fiction that spreads from memoirs from well-known figures and social media stars to collections about business and music history.

The imprint was described by Questlove, which he titled AUWA books, as being similar to starting a music label.

“I would like to think of myself of what Def Jam was trying to be back in 1985 — keep my ear to the streets, keep it underground and keep my eyes on people that you otherwise would have never have heard of, but who I feel can really do a paradigm shift,” he said.

Questlove said creating the name for the imprint was the hardest part. His idea was to make the name a tribute to Prince, an artist he admires. The answer came to him when he was listening to a Prince song in the car and heard Prince make a wild birdcall sound: ah-oh-wah. He settled on the name for the imprint AUWA Books.

“When I heard this bird call, I was like, that’s it,” he said. “That’s my tribute to him.”

The idea of starting an imprint came to Questlove a few years ago when he was beginning his work directing “Summer of Soul,” a documentary about a wild 1969 cultural festival and concert in Harlem. He didn’t like the fact that the concert acted as a pivotal moment in American Cultural history, but wasn’t remembered as such. “With the rapid influx of death happening with Black creators and no one to pass the recipes down I wanted to bring action to a dire situation,” he said.

In 2024, Questlove is due to release his own book, “Hip Hop Is History,” also co-written with Ben Greenman. While awaiting this new book, check out Questlove’s book “Music Is History,” which looks at popular American music from recent decades and how it shaped culture and history. This book acts as kind of a prequel to his new book.

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Thanks for reading this week's newsletter. I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to providing you with more content that helps you level up throughout 2023. In the meantime, make sure to take a look at the top-quality sounds I use on my website! 👇🏿

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-Ocean