For those paying attention, 2012 represented a minor hip-hop renaissance in New York, with burgeoning rap acts blanketing all corners of the city. A$AP Rocky and his Mob had Harlem secured; French Montana turned the Bronx sound upside down. Action Bronson was out in Queens fighting Ghostface comparisons. And in Brooklyn, we had Joey Bada$$ and his Pro Era crew and, of course, the Flatbush Zombies, invoking the sound of NY eras past.
While Joey and the Pro Era kids blend Golden Era vibes with mid-90s street rap like Boot Camp Clik and early Nas, The Zombies deliver a more off-kilter adaptation — think Gravediggaz and the Flatlinerz with a touch of ODB. Defined on the 2012 debut mixtape D.R.U.G.S. and the following year's Better Off Dead, their sound was a combination of visionary and the grotesque, evidenced by the equal-parts dark and absurd video for the breakout track "Thug Waffle." However, by the time their 2014 collaboration Clockwork Indigo with fellow Brooklynites The Underachievers dropped, the Zombies had fallen into the periphery, just another talented rap act that couldn't get traction.
Now that their long-awaited debut album 3001: A Laced Odyssey has surfaced, the group—comprised of Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice, and Erick "The Architect" Elliott—seek to hurdle the high wall facing rappers with skill but no significant retail milestones. Songs that have all of the basic food groups (bars, beats, hooks) always help, and perhaps that’s what Flatbush Zombies seem to be lacking the most on 3001. Their talent is obvious—Meechy Darko fills the role of the court jester; Zombie Juice has sharper wordplay, and Erick The Architect fills in for kick offs and clean ups when he’s not producing the hell out of the tracks. But the money-making hooks are missing in action, and so are surprises. This is a group that knows exactly who they are, almost to their own detriment.
Much of the project is a deep dive into psychotropia—the highs and lows—with paranoia and invincibility trading places with suicidal thoughts. The opener "The Odyssey," is an old-fashioned lyrical exercise over beautiful symphonic production that poses the question "Why I feel like the past is catching up to my ass?" The de-facto single "Bounce," has a fitting title with a beat to match, but still falls short of any real hook value. "Fly Away" is a nightmarish dreamscape about questioning life within the context of drugs and suicide, while "Ascension" oozes hypomania with a sort of hook that sounds like a Bonecrusher throwaway. Two tracks "Good Grief" and "New Phone, Who Dis?" pull from the A$AP playbook in their twistedly dismal reflections of fame, the former utilizing singer Diamante to rehash some throwback Aaliyah riffs.
But all of that is filler for a handful of cuts that are the real stars. "R.I.P. C.D." is a flawless tribute to days past, heavy on the ‘90s hip-hop influence and channeling Boot Camp Clik right down to the bassline. The chanting hook "RIP to the CD, can’t even play my hits" is a handy metaphor for how the Zombies see themselves in rap: outdated relics of a realer, prouder era. The closer "Your Favorite Rap Song" is another winner, where the Zombies strip away the bells and whistles of their aesthetic to straight pour out lyrics. "Pave the future for boosters, I'm contributing my two cents / So I'm a nuisance, producing, and I tighten the loop, like it's a noose-sance," spits Erick the Architect.
3001: A Laced Odyssey does an adequate job of reminding us all of Flatbush Zombies’ smart, sharp lyrics. What they lack in hit-single potential, they make up for in talent, but without a calling-card song it's hard to know what their next move is. Their weirdness is a massive selling point, though they’re almost burdened by their dedication to formal, old-school lyricism. It’s a unique quandary to have, begging the question of which asset to forego since right now they live in a rap half-life where they’re too good to be unknown but not distinctive enough to be famous. Now that the group has officially one album under their belt, they can move accordingly from here. But "where to?" is the real question.
