Flatbush Zombies member Erick the Architect has returned with “Parkour,” his first new single of 2023 which is produced by James Blake. Stream the track below.
A reflection of Erick’s journey after moving to Los Angeles from his native Brooklyn, “Parkour” starts with pitched-up vocals that are then slowed down to a sinister tone before the rapper’s normal voice cuts through Blake’s spacy production. On the track, Erick describes coming up in New York City with lyrics like, “When I was growing up, we all had different crews/ I always knew what’s up/ If you down to bust a move.”
Back in 2020, Blake produced the Flatbush Zombies loosie “Afterlife,” after which Erick returned the favor by contributing to “I Keep Calling” on the producer’s EP Before. Prior to “Parkour,” Erick’s most recent solo singles were 2021’s “Self Made” and last year’s “No Ice” featuring AKTHESAVIOR.
He’s also stayed busy by working with his Flatbush Zombie compadres. In 2021, the group teamed up with RZA for a pair of singles called “Plug Addicts” and “Quentin Tarantino” — both inspired by Reservoir Dogs. Earlier this year, Erick the Architect produced a pair of tracks on Zombie Juice’s debut solo album, Without Conditions. He also branched outside of hip-hop by teaming up with
Whyte Fang (aka Alison Wonderland) on “Scream.”