Erick The Architect lets loose a sweeping and ambitious self-reflection on his debut album I’ve Never Been Here Before. Across 16 tracks the Brooklyn rapper and Flatbush Zombies co-founder sizes up the long road that’s brought them to this critical juncture, weaving a deeply personal tale of perseverance and revelatory hope through a constantly morphing array of genres. He is also taking the album on the road with The Mandevillain Tour this month with a stop at The Roxy in Los Angeles on Wednesday, May 1st.
The album opens with the weightlessly ethereal melody of “I Am Still,” where a pluck of resonant strings soundtracks his recollection of childhood fears, contemplating the future with tenous hope as his thoughts turn to his late mother: “I’ma see you in the sky, watchin’ over me, / Saying ‘Notice me.'” He follows it up with“2-3 Zone,” a furiously galvanizing hype track that refuses to settle for anything less than greatness.
It’s also the first of four James Blake-produced tracks to construct an intricate scaffolding of pensive and hypnotic electronica around Erick’s unabashed unloadings: from the sobering confessions that spill agilely from “Parkour” and the spiraling rhythms of “Beef Patty” (feat. Boy Boy) to the sublime synths that radiate behind his affluent bars on “Too Much Talkin.”
“Breaking Point” billows with orchestral beauty as Baby Rose, RÜDE CÅT, and Pale Jay give voice to the brittleness of the human spirit when faced with cyclical pain: “I’m not made of steel / You wouldn’t know how that feels, to die / Death by thousand knives / I’m proud to be alive.” As their soaring harmonies subside Erick enters with spoken-word affirmations that reverentially acknowledge the strength found in survival and the grace of having people (like his mom) as well as an art to rely on during those tribulations.
Pressing down on the throttle “Mandevillain” unleashes his swagger, cutting competitors down to size. “I’m at the peak, funny rappers at my feet / Only accurate if you can say you mastered what you teach (Let’s go),” he spits with suave audacity. “How I break bread, make sure them killers always stay fed / Patience, brought me up the ladder where we shake hands (Got damn).”
Carrying over that intoxicating bravado “Jammy Jam” and “Ambrosia” (feat. Channel Tres) offer up entrancing beats to the tune of Erick’s amorous fascinations, the latter syncing his words to a pulsating rush of bass and breathy vocals. Near the end of the album “Leukemia / AM” (feat. Kimbra) drops a sprawling heart-on-the-sleeve confrontation with lovers old and new.
On “Ezekiel’s Wheel” — the chorus of which features both George Clinton and RÜDE CÅT — he digs into the dissonance of intentions and outcomes: “Can’t repel what’s in my head, I jot in thought and form, and speech / Some say it’s poetry, some say it’s ESP / Read your mind, align your chis, and burn your negativity.” “Instincts” (feat. Westside Boogie) finds Erick delivering further musings on life’s uncertainty and a reliance on the self over a dreamy and glimmering melody.
The personal odyssey of I’ve Never Been Here Before ends with “Liberate” (feat. Lalah Hathaway), another soul-swelling crescendo that grafts the past onto the present as Erick wrests from the wreckage of the former a path through the latter. “Time ticks by, six, seven, eight / Gotta slow it slow down, gotta change your faith,” he implores of himself and others. “I see the God in everyone, on a center stage / That’s liberate, that’s liberate (Liberate).”
Building it from the ground up with momentous precision the album oscillates with uncompromising resolve between rapturous introspection and roguish grandiosity. Guided by a powerful vision of his winding history, Erick The Architect’s debut exists as a towering monument to his status as a masterful engineer of language and sound as mediums of emphatic expression.
Words: Steven Ward
See Erick The Architect at The Roxy in Los Angeles on Wednesday, May 1st.
Visit Erick The Architect on his website and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
Listen to I’ve Never Been Here Before the new album from Erick The Architect below!
Erick The Architect tour
March 25 – Austin, TX – Come and Take it Live
March 26 – Dallas, TX – HOB – Cambridge Room
March 27 – Houston, TX – HOB – Bronze Peacock
March 29 – Orlando, FL – The Social
March 30 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade (Hell)\
April 01 – Washington DC – Union Stage
April 02 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
April 03 – Brooklyn, NY – Elsewhere (The Hall)
April 04 – Philadelphia, PA – The Foundry @ The Fillmore
April 06 – Burlington, VT – Higher Ground (Showcase Lounge)
April 08 – Toronto, ON – The Velvet Underground
April 10 – Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups
April 11 – Detroit, MI – El Club
April 12 – Chicago, IL – Reggie’s
April 16 – Vancouver, BC -Fortune Sound Club
April 17 – Seattle, WA – Neumos
April 18 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne
April 20 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
April 22 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
April 24 – Albuquerque, NM – Launchpad
April 25 – Mesa, AZ – The Nile
April 26 – Santa Ana, CA – Constellation Room
May 01 – Los Angeles, CA – The Roxy
May 03 – San Francisco, CA – Brick & Mortar
May 04 – Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst (The Atrium)
May 08 – Manchester, UK – Gorilla
May 09 – London, UK – Scala
May 11 – Cologne, Germany – CBE
May 13 – Brussels, Belgium – Orangerie @ Botanique
May 14 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Bitterzoet
May 16 – Paris, France – Badaboum
May 17 – Zurich, Switzerland – Plaza
May 18 – Vienna, Austria – Flex
May 20 – Warsaw, Poland – Hybrydy
May 21 – Berlin, Germany – Frannz Club
May 22 – Copenhagen, Denmark – VEGA Small Hall
May 23 – Stockholm, Sweden – Nalen Klubb
May 25 – Oslo, Norway – Parkteatret
Erick The Architect
I’ve Never Been Here Before
February 23rd, 2024
1. I Am Still
2. 2-3 Zone (prod. James Blake)
3. Parkour (prod. James Blake)
4. Breaking Point ft. Baby Rose, RÜDE CÅT & Pale Jay
5. Mandevillain
6. Ezekiel’s Wheel ft. George Clinton
7. Jammy Jam
8. Ambrosia ft. Channel Tres
9. Shook Up ft. Joey Bada$$ & FARR
10. Beef Patty ft. Boy Boy (prod. James Blake)
11. Colette
12. Instincts ft. Westside Boogie
13. Neue Muse
14. Leukemia / AM ft. Kimbra
15. Too Much Talkin (prod. James Blake)
16. Liberate ft. Lalah Hathaway
