General · EdgepediaSeptember 17, 20265 min read

Life Is Beautiful (Larry June, 2 Chainz and the Alchemist album)

Life Is Beautiful is a collaborative studio album by the San Francisco rapper Larry June, the Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz, and the producer the Alchemist, released on February 7, 2025. The Alchemist produced every track, and the album was released through The Freeminded Records, 2 Chainz, ALC, and EMPIRE.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Release date	February 7, 2025³
Artists	Larry June, 2 Chainz, and the Alchemist (sole producer)⁴
Label	EMPIRE²
Runtime	37 minutes²
First single	"Bad Choices", released with a video before the album was announced³
Precedent	Second Larry June and Alchemist album, following The Great Escape (2023)³
Milestone for 2 Chainz	His first release since leaving Def Jam, where he spent more than a decade⁵

Origin and recording

The project began as a text message. In the spring of 2024, the Alchemist wrote to 2 Chainz proposing "Me, you, and Larry. Let's do a five-pack." By that point the Alchemist and 2 Chainz had already been recording together, and 2 Chainz had worked with Larry June in the past, though the two rappers had not yet met in person. What was planned as a five-song pack grew into a full album; 2 Chainz said they were five songs in before they shook hands for the first time.⁴

A single-producer album. Larry June said that, unlike his earlier projects, which used several producers, locking in with one producer created a unique vibe. The Alchemist picked all the beats himself, presenting one at a time rather than sending batches, which 2 Chainz credited with making the process easier. The trio promoted the record with appearances on The Breakfast Club and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Larry June later released a behind-the-scenes video covering the studio sessions and press tour.⁵^•⁴^•⁶

Music and themes

The album runs 37 minutes and sits in a placid, luxurious register. Pitchfork's review describes serene loops and drumless minimalism across much of the record, with the opener "Munyon Canyon" built on a serene vocal sample reminiscent of old Italian movie theme songs, and sparse callbacks to the Alchemist's boom-bap roots in the mafioso piano loop of "Colossal" and the loud mix and screaming soul interpolation of "Bad Choices". The title track is carried largely by a fluttering flute sample.²

The trio calls the style "lifestyle rap": both rappers focus on elevation and growth, with verses about intermittent fasting, organic eating, financial discipline, and living in buildings with amenities. The Alchemist joked that a listener might finish the album with four new LLCs. He rejected genre labels for the project, saying he does not consider it boom bap and does not consider 2 Chainz's contribution trap per se.⁴

Contrasting voices. The two rappers' styles differ sharply. Larry June works in a nonchalant, laid-back delivery over post-hyphy-influenced sounds, while 2 Chainz brings the larger-than-life spontaneity of a veteran of Atlanta trap. Reviewers consistently found that 2 Chainz drives the album's momentum, with Larry June ceding ground at times, though his verse on "Epiphany" was singled out as a highlight. Larry June said 2 Chainz pushed him to vary his flow, pointing to rapping in reverse on "Colossal" and a different approach on "Generation".²^•⁴

Reception

The album drew a divided but broadly positive response. Complex called it one of the standout rap albums of 2025 to that point, and Tyler, the Creator publicly praised it, which 2 Chainz highlighted as a counterexample to gatekeeping in hip-hop. Pitchfork's review by Matthew Ritchie called the record pleasant but a bit underwhelming, arguing the Alchemist acted more as a floor-raiser than a virtuoso at the album's lowered stakes. The aggregator Album of The Year recorded a user score of 69 from 3,839 ratings, with user reviews split between praise for the Alchemist's production and 2 Chainz's verses and criticism of the chemistry between the two rappers.⁴^•²^•⁷

Independence as a theme. The release was fully independent, and the trio discussed the economics around it. 2 Chainz, who left Def Jam after more than a decade at the label, said independence means controlling release timing but also carrying the budget for videos, promotion, and features himself. The album was followed by a Chopped Not Slopped (Houston remix style: slowed, chopped versions of songs) edition on streaming services.⁵^•⁸

Context in the artists' catalogs

For Larry June and the Alchemist, the album is their second full collaboration after The Great Escape (2023), a record that had marked a peak of interest in Larry June's work according to The Wire's coverage of his catalog. For 2 Chainz, it followed his departure from Def Jam and preceded a one-producer project with Statik Selektah that he had been developing for several years; he described Life Is Beautiful as a bridge toward the kind of rap he wanted to do outside of trap music.³^•⁹^•⁴

References

Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 25, 2026