Covert Coup
Producer: Alchemist
Released: April 20th, 2011
Essential Listening: “Scottie Pippens” feat. Freddie Gibbs
From the opening beat on “BBS” it’s clear that Curren$y and Alchemist are a great duo. Alchemist is a producer from Beverly Hills, California that found his sound crafting boom bap beats for the likes of Jadakiss and Mobb Deep and plenty of other artists from New York. His guitar loops and creeping drum cadences are the strong points of his production throughout the tape and Curren$y floats over these instrutmentals effortlessly. Beats that jump out at you like “Smoke Break” is an example of great producing and Curren$y matches Alchemist’s intensity with some unforgettable lines. He starts off the track saying “Prime time/It’s Mr. Go-left-on-a-bitch-who-can’t-find-her-right-mind/ I’m squeakin’ past a yellow light doin’ 65/Hope that wasn’t one of them camera joints, traffic eyes in the sky.” He’s able to bring you in the life of a stoner with his amazing word play and his ability to paint a picture.
Most of the tracks on Covert Coup don’t have hooks, and for Curren$y that’s just fine. There’s a verse, a little mumbling, another verse, and then Spitta usually just lets you enjoy the rest of the beat and he may mumble a little more. If you’re a Spitta fan though, it’s nothing out of the ordinary and we’ve all grown to love it. Somehow, Curren$y finds the perfect backdrop over these beats that sound like they could have been home to the 90’s boom bap scene. Aside from the beats and Curren$y’s raps, the features on this tape are some great moments for those involved. Fiend lends a great hook (sort of) and a even better verse on “Blood, Sweat And Gears,” Smoke DZA comes through and puts him and Curren$y’s chemistry on display on the hazy “Life Instructions” and Mobb Deep’s Prodigy sounds like a wise uncle that clearly still has a flow that’s impeccable on “The Type.”
The best feature on the tape though belongs to Freddie Gibbs, though. Honestly, Freddie probably has the best verse on the entire mixtape. He raps double time on “Scottie Pippen” about 2 blunts, the price of life and the devils palace. Let’s not forget about the “turkey sammich” or him majoring in home invasions either. Moments like this are what makes Covert Coup such a fantastic and classic tape, and it stands as one of the strongest projects in his nearly endless catalog and the best collab mixtape he’s done. He’s doing a follow-up to Covert Coup with Alchemist titled The Carrollton Heist, and fans can’t wait for it.