Erick the Architect färdigställer solodebutalbum – se video till ny singel med Joey Bada$$

Flatbush Zombies-rapparen och producenten samarbetar också med Westside Boogie, George Clinton och Channel Tres m.fl.

Erick the Architect gör sig redo för att släppa sitt första soloprojekt i karriären nästa år. “I’ve Never Been Here Before” kommer att bestå av totalt 16 låtar och väntas få release den 23 februari 2024, rapportera HipHopDX som pratar med rapparen och producenten.

Via DX framgår också att han utöver att ha jobbat med James Blake på flera av produktionerna också kommer samarbeta med namn som Westside Boogie, George Clinton och Channel Tres, med flera. Flatbush Zombies-medlemmen har också gjort en låt med FARR och Beast Coast-kollegan Joey Bada$$ med titeln “Shook Up”, som agerar första singel.

Låten släpptes igår tillsammans med en musikvideo som går att se här.

“I’ve known Joey forever! We’ve worked on so many things together, but this is the first time we officially have put out a song as a rap duo. I’ve always admired Joey’s ability to tell stories and he came to mind as soon as Linden and Romeo played me the demo of the record. I think people look at Joey and I as true lyricists. Through him and I never want to appear as one-dimensional, we’ve garnered a loyal fan base that expects us to give them substance”, berättar han för HipHopDX och fortsätter:

“I loved bringing both of these worlds together, as I’m a huge fan of FARR as both producers and writers, and ‘Shook Up’ is the perfect marriage of Hip Hop and soul in a way only we could create. I feel like we can all relate to songs about relationships, especially ones that pose a question: ‘Lust, or life? You can choose.’”

I samband med att Erick the Architect avslöjade releasedatumet, titeln och omslaget för skivan skrev han också om den känslosamma processen bakom det kommande albumet.

“I still haven’t cried yet. I promised myself i would allow myself to, to let the emotions fall as they came to me— but for some reason i’ve just picked up my head and continued to work. as exhilarating as completing/announcing an album is, i can’t help but to think about what this album represents not only to myself, but also people just like me. i really, really, really love this music shit. i really love diving into the work. i never understood why people praise being nonchalant. i used to feel so insecure when i went into studios and i’d see people sit in front of all this shiny gear and i had no idea what any of it did. shit…i still don’t know what some of those buttons do.”

Han avslutar sedan med att skriva:

“This is the most i’ve cared about anything i’ve made, and i want to thank every single person that listened to me speak when i felt crazy. i love you all so much and i promise this album will make some of your favorites think twice about what they put out. that’s my word.”

Utöver “Shook Up” har Erick tidigare släppt låtarna “Ambrosia” och “Parkour” från skivan, som båda ligger uppe på Spotify.