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| Ridiculously brilliant picture taken from http://www.modernmidiclassics.com/flatbush-zombies.html via Google Images |
Hailing from the Flatbush area of Brooklyn, New York, Flatbush Zombies are made up of L.S. Darko, Juice, and Erick Arc Elliott. So far they have only put out a mix-tape called D.R.U.G.S. which can be downloaded for free at the other end of the following link:-
http://www.datpiff.com/Flatbush-Zombies-DRUGS-mixtape.377648.html
If I haven't lost you to the lure of free music or if you need a little more convincing other than the picture up top, let me explain why you and your stereo should check this shit out.
After I'd caught the Nardwuar interview I did the standard YouTube check to see what kind of stuff they put out. The first thing I saw was this video...
That's some nasty music right there, and I'm always on board with that. The production from Erick Arc Elliott is on point and the hook is catchy as hell and will burrow into your head and stay there for days. The thing I dig most about this though is the mental vibe they give off, they have a scary way about them but in quite a fun way, kinda like Sticky Fingaz but if he was on a bouncy castle (yeah I wrote that)!
That track was enough to convince me to download D.R.U.G.S. so I settled down to listen to it, I have barely stopped since. As is par for the course during my ramblings, I'll talk a little about some of the tracks that I have been enjoying the most and come up with more ridiculous ways of describing it all.
The opening track, rather cleverly named 'Intro', sets the left-field tone of everything perfectly. A theremin kicks in shortly after a beating heart and we are treated to Elias Koteas' "Have you ever noticed" speech from The Prophecy,if you start your mixtape with an Elias Koteas speech you've won me over for good. This gives way to a haunting, horror-core type beat for Juice and Darko to go over which they do with with great aplomb. Darko absolutely steals this track though, his flow is absolutely ridiculous. Here are the lyrics but you'd be doing yourself a disservice by not listening to his delivery of them.
In the land beyond living, all things are possible
It's insane to think this really all started from a molecule
Now I'm fucking unstoppable
My past it was hard to do, now my future's remarkable
Fuck fame n*gga, can't you see the bigger picture?
Fuck fame n*gga, can't you see the bigger picture?
Sold your soul to the devil well at least you got three wishes
Young, witty, pompous, arrogant, malicious
Blowing kisses to the devil as I form a ladies vivid
Screen motion picture shit
While, I'm standing idle, fuck a title
Rather American Psycho than American Idol
Chop a clip, reload the clip, barrel hits
Like a vinyl the universe is my shit
Knew it since I was a zygote
This shit I'm spitting got your head spinning like an exorcism
When I was young I fought authority
And reject religion, learned to see from every angle
Never regret decisions, at times I feel like fuck religion
Because religion is division.
On 'Mary, Nothing Above Thee' the trio have crafted their ode to weed. Juice again kicks things off and is channeling a little Bone Thugs in his rap (I love that the Bone Thugs style is coming back a little now) and his voice sits perfectly over the laid back, drifty beats again provided by Arc. I have to give a little mention to the following Darko line too because I bloody love it, it's not particularly clever or deep but it's one of my favourites on the whole mix.
Well I'll be damned, I'll be damned, Aaliyah in her last movie.
'JupiterSound' featuring Kilo Kush is probably my favourite track on the mixtape probably because they're on that Bone Thugs N Harmony again. This track is tremendous, from the aforementioned Bone flow to Kilo's stunning voice on the hook, via a beat that sounds like it's underwater. Everyone involved is just bringing their best on this one, can't recommend this song enough.
On 'YBA' all three members pick up the mic (Arc doesn't get many verses on here but he holds his own when he gets from behind the boards), to be honest the music is fairly standard on this one but I think that helps the track as it puts more focus on what these guys are capable of on the mic. This track as a whole is probably the most accessible on here and could serve as a good intro to folk that might not necessarily listen to this type of thing on the regular.
Over the course of D.R.U.G.S. and as the name suggests, you'll be treated to more odes to Weed or LSD but it would be unfair to write these guys off as being a bunch of weed rappers. It's clearly a massive part of who they are but it's not right to focus on that aspect. In way it's like how the Das Racist shit was (a group I think give a similar vibe to FZ), Das Racist were dope but everyone seemed to focus on the ethnicity like that was their appeal! They were much more than their ethnicity, sure it's a big part of who they are but it's not what you should be focusing on, fact is they made great Hip Hop. Flatbush Zombies make great Hip Hop, I don't do drugs and this music doesn't make me want to. This mixtape ain't about drugs to me, it's about a group of people from New York who happen to do that stuff making damn good music.
Their is plenty more for you to discover on here, even some Houston style chopped and screwed tracks, and I would definitely advise you to follow the link up there and enjoy this for free. Free music without you having to be a pirate is always a good option!
Here is another song by Flatbush Zombies for you to enjoy and I'll also post the Nardwuar interview in case you were curious about that too. Go check it all and hopefully get into it.
Thanks for reading
Mechagodzeala
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