Producer and Flatbush Zombies member Erick the Architect talks about stepping behind the mic, his guiding musical philosophies, and collaborating with James Blake and George Clinton.
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Erick the Architect, aka Erick Arc Elliott, is a rapper, producer, and founding member of the beloved NYC rap group Flatbush Zombies, known for putting a psychedelic punk spin on the gritty and rowdy East Coast hip-hop sound. For over a decade, Erick has pushed countless boundaries as the group’s primary beatmaker and via various side projects but he’s now presenting new sides of himself with the drop of ‘I’ve Never Been Here Before,’ his solo debut album. The 16-track LP features artists Joey Bada$$, George Clinton, Westside Boogie, Channel Tres, and Kimbra, as well as several tracks with prolific electronic/pop producer James Blake. Exploring themes of fearlessness, Black resilience, unity, and finding beauty in darkness, Erick steps behind the microphone and channels his personal experiences to make a powerful statement of authenticity. Ahead of the project’s release, Erick the Architect called in to share more about his musical philosophies, tips on collaboration, and ways he uses SoundCloud.
How did your 2021 EP ‘Future Proof’ help set the stage for your debut album?
I’ve been secretly working on this album for the past five years. The ‘Future Proof’ EP gave me so much traction and working exclusively with London-based artists and producers was really impactful. It showed me that, although there was a separation between me and the people I was making [the record] with, when you make real stuff, you can travel across an ocean and reach people that have the same ethos as you. It really sparked my confidence to want to do this in a bigger capacity. There was a tone on ‘Future Proof’ that allowed me to be relatable to people and be vulnerable in a powerful way. After my mom had passed away, I moved to California [right before COVID] for a reset and to shift my life in a different direction – I felt like the music had to resemble that transition. During COVID, a lot of musicians didn’t put out music because they couldn’t tour it or they were scared to speak on the state of the world. I didn’t want to be quiet. I was actually more inspired. It was just time to speak on how I was feeling and hopefully offer guidance for people who are going through something.
Can you share more about the themes and sounds you’re exploring on the new album?
I called the album ‘I’ve Never Been Here Before’ because it’s a perspective on life that I’ve never really had before. I’ve lost so much. We’ve all lost so much. It made me slow down and zoom out and think about the things I’ve lost within these past couple of years that I’m okay with losing – that can be emotional baggage or bad habits or people or clothes, all the things you feel like you need forever. There’s an anxiety associated with losing stuff – like your keys or your phone or your money – where if you lose it, you’ll freak out. Through this album, I discovered that some sh– is actually okay to lose.
Musically, I think it’s transcendent. I want to widen the hip-hop space. Most of the stuff that gets traction is just what’s popular and I don’t necessarily think it’s good music. I want to be an example for people who feel like I do. I don’t care if it’s a couple of people – that means that’s the people this is for. I believe this is an expansive, multiple genre-defying album. It’s not just a straight-up hip-hop album; there’s dance music, reggae, traditional hip-hop, futuristic hip-hop, and alternative rock. It’s all things I’m inspired by, and this is the first time I’ve been able to put them together. I was trying to perfect these styles before I released them to the world. I like mysticism in music. I like growing in private. I don’t like the ‘This is what I did today’ content. As much as making music is a money-oriented business, I want to make music that’s going to be here until we die. I don’t want the hottest song right now but if a song can live for five years longer than everyone else, I’ll take it.
What was it like working with James Blake?
I’ve known James for about five years. I think “A Song I’ve Never Learned to Share” was the first song that I heard from him and I was really into his early dubstep sh– too. I met him and he became somebody I could trust with anything, not just music. It’s a dance, right? I think the rhythm in the studio you create with somebody is a type of harmony. He’s somebody that we always are dancing at the same tempo; we’ve always had the same mindset. We have so many songs that we’ve done together that have been sitting on our laptops collecting dust, but I think that the ones that I chose on this album really show what him and I are capable of together. None of them were hard to make. I would say the average time that we spent on these songs is 45 minutes. Then the song will just sit and by the time we hang out again, we’ll make another three songs and we’ll forget and come back to it. We’ll be like, ‘Yo, do we need to change anything about that?’ The answer is usually no. There’s very minimal fine-tuning. When you make music with somebody that you really gel with, it’s timeless. I want every artist to have that type of connection with another producer or an artist.
How has SoundCloud impacted your career as an artist and producer?
SoundCloud brought so many people to discover me that maybe weren’t active on other platforms. For me, the app is about discovering artists. I go on SoundCloud to find different flips or remixes or edits that are artists’ reinterpretations of a song that’s popular. SoundCloud has the ability to reach people in a different way, because [of its] community. The people who are there want to listen and want to comment. You can’t comment on songs on the other competing DSPs, so you don’t really know if the plays matter. It makes a lot of people feel like if a song is not popular, it’s not good. But on SoundCloud, the person listening has an opportunity to pick their favorite part of the song and tell you about it. That to me was always helpful as a producer, because then you know, ‘Alright, this intro’s too long,’ or ‘This part of the song isn’t as interesting’, or ‘What’s the part of the song that all these people are excited about?’ That’s why I started using SoundCloud. As a producer, I want to know what people think.
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How did your collaboration with George Clinton come together?
The song “Ezekiel’s Wheel” was originally called “Outbound Flight” and I wrote it really quickly while I was on a flight. I remember thinking about being in the clouds and doing something that seems as if it’s impossible, like getting into an iron bird and leaving one place to go somewhere else. As I kid, I didn’t go anywhere and I never got the chance to travel like that, so I always take advantage of that perspective I have when I’m up in the sky at 30,000 feet. I was like, ‘Yo, it’d be crazy if we got George Clinton on this.’ George was the perfect person because the song is psychedelic and trippy and thought-provoking and unique. I felt like I had to just speak it into existence.
I don’t know how many months had passed but I got a text from Mike Cherman from Market, the clothing brand, asking if I wanted to be part of a photoshoot with George Clinton. I was like, ‘What?!’ [George] knew so much about hip-hop and he was tapped into what I listened to. I told him about the song and asked if I could send it to him, even just to have him listen to it and get his blessing. [After his tour ended], he did a pass of the whole song and did more than what I had asked him to. It’s still kind of surreal that it happened the way it did, just because of who he is. That portion [of the song] where he’s talking at the end, we had written a fake monologue [as a placeholder] and that’s exactly what he did. Whether or not people believe in manifestation, I try to put out an energy that is warranted by the universe – this is just proof that sometimes if you believe in something and it makes sense, the universe grants you your wish.
How do you connect with other artists and build community on SoundCloud?
My method is to hit them up directly through direct messaging. Usually, I hit up an artist when I see something interesting in them – as deemed by me, not by analytics or numbers or blue checks. Sometimes (and I’ve been in this position too), artists may not know what your intention is for hitting them up or if you’re just trying to ride a wave. But if I messaged you when you released your first song ever, that means I saw the vision of where you were trying to take your music and I believed in you. I warrant anybody to never feel like ‘This person is out of my reach’ or ‘They’re too big for me to recognize’ or ‘I’m too big to recognize them.’ Who gives a shit? It’s music, man! I compare it to sports – if I was a coach and I was scouting for new talent to come into the next season, I wouldn’t let what other people say to determine if I want to bring a player onto my team. I’d go watch them play. You should go see someone live if you’re interested in them and maybe that will [influence] how actively you pursue them to collaborate.
Learn more about Likes, Comments and Direct Messages on SoundCloud
What advice has stuck with you over the years that other artists may find helpful?
Because I have a producer mindset, sometimes people are intimidated to play stuff for me. If they don’t know where to begin, I’ll play some songs that inspire me and that will help set the tone as to what I want to talk about. I don’t want people to feel pressure to make music with me. When I first went to RZA’s house to record [with Flatbush Zombies], we were in his studio and he said, ‘You know, we could just watch movies all day. I don’t need to make music with you if you’re not in the mood. We can watch horror movies or kung fu movies and make music next time.’ Him telling me that, because of how great he is and all of the accomplishments he’s had, helped me. It humanized him for me in a way that I probably needed. It was like, ‘Damn, he just wants to chill. So if I do anything today, it’s a reward.’ We ended up making tons of music together but I took that from him: there’s no pressure to make anything.
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Click here to learn more about Erick the Architect’s SoundCloud journey.
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