Alchemist

Coming to prominence as a member of the hip-hop duo The Whooliganz with Scott Caan, Daniel Maman was first spotted rapping at a party by Cypress Hill's B-Real in 1991, who invited the duo to join his crew The Soul Assassins. The duo took all the tuition they got from artists who were now their peers, like House Of Pain and Funkdoobiest, and released their first single “Put Your Handz Up” in 1993. Unfortunately, the single tanked, and their label decided to shelve their album indefinitely. Wounded, the band decided to split up, with Caan going into acting and Maman looking into production. Fortunately, Manan still had a place in The Soul Assassins, and Cypress Hill's DJ and producer DJ Muggs took him under his wing to show him the production ropes.

After gaining some genuine respect for his work on some Cypress Hill tracks, Maman joined Dilated Peoples, the band of his childhood friend Evidence. He debuted with the band in 1998 and almost immediately the band got some serious praise for their beats, and Maman became a hugely in-demand producer almost overnight. After some high-profile work producing for Mobb Deep, Maman found himself producing tracks for everyone from Nas, to Ghostface Killah to Snoop Dogg, but also remained steadfastly committed to hip-hop's underground artists, working with as many unsigned rappers as legends of the genre.

Ever since then, he's remained one of hip-hop's true artists, as renowned in the mainstream for his work as Eminem's official DJ as he is for he collaboration albums with underground sensations like Action Bronson, Boldy James and Willie The Kid. For this true dedication to his art, and his sheer skill behind the decks, behind the mic and behind the mixing desk, The Alchemist comes highly recommended.