The Alchemist

The Alchemist has been one of the most successful producers of hip-hop music in recent years. However, fans of hard-hitting hip-hop are amazed when they find out that one of the top producers of this genre of music is a Caucasian Jew from the affluent suburb of Beverly Hills, California. Al's family was fairly well-off but was considered poor compared to the billionaire families in the neighborhood. Al wanted no part of the snobby rich-kid scene and threw himself into his schoolwork, in which he excelled. He preferred to be around people who were down-to-earth and creative. Al began to identify strongly with the rebellious lyrics and urban sounds of hip-hop, and he began writing his own lyrics as a creative outlet. As a teen, he hooked up with other like-minded kids who wrote lyrics and rebelled strongly against their uptight suburban surroundings, among whom were Seth 'Shifty Shellshock' Binzer and Scott Caan, son of James Caan. They would often hang out in urban areas of Los Angeles