Roc Marciano’s run in the last 12 years puts him in rarefied air. When Busta Rhymes announced that Roc Marci is top 5 DOA a few years back (2018), it seemed obvious to me, but the uninformed disregarded it. In today’s world it is even more obvious, as Griselda used his formula to achieve more fame and status than anyone in recent years with boom-bap roots, and now there are tons of clones doing the same thing. It clearly traces back to Roc, so there are many people who owe their careers to this man. 

The Elephant Man’s Bones was something that The Alchemist has been talking about for years, saying he had something with Roc cooking. Alc pumps out so many collaborative albums of varying quality, that I wasn’t sure what he would bring here, but my gut told me that he would bring his best for Roc Marci.

Since I’m now writing about it, it’s obvious that is what he did. For me, this is both Roc Marci and Alc at their finest. Roc’s penmanship is insane, and he didn’t relent for one bar on this album, everything uttered is cold as ice and potent. Alc came with some of the craziest beats of his ENTIRE career. A lot of them don’t even sound like The Alchemist to me, such as Daddy Kane, Quantum Leap, JJ Flash, Stigmata, and Think Big. They just sound like perfectly crafted Roc Marci beats. Roc himself is a phenomenal producer, and said he enjoyed having Alc handle all the beats so he could focus on the raps. 

This is a no-skip type of album, every song holds its own. I was glad to see dumbass Pitchfork show it love, and that it appeared on many year-end lists. To discount this album would be blasphemy, as Alc’s name gives it enough namepower to ensure that every blog is aware of its existence. This is one of those collab albums that will go down in history, alongside DOOM and Madlib’s Madvillainy and NxWorries Yes Lawd! You never get a top tier MC working with a top tier producer like this, it’s a once every decade if you’re lucky type of thing, so enjoy this album damnit. 

My fav track is oddly enough a bonus track that is a bit hard to find though you can with some YouTube skills. Momma Love is the name of my top track, the sample on it just melts my soul. I’m a sucker for a tasty vocal sample. Since I ranked this runner-up, you can only imagine how great Hughie FKA Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire’s album is/was.