Flatbush Zombies

In the New York hip-hop renaissance, circa 2012, the cacophonic trio known as the Flatbush Zombies were a part of the Beast Coast Movement, accompanied by friends the Underachievers, collective Pro Era and Joey Bada$$. While the movement often centered on golden hip-hop pastiche, there was something different about the jarring Brooklyn trio. Known for LSD-happy and zombie-obsessed joints like “Thug Waffle” and “S.C.O.S.A.,” they spiral on their psychedelic leanings: drops of acid, rolled up joints and listening to Jimi Hendrix. This isn’t anymore apparent than in their Stanley Kubrick-inspired 3001: A Laced Odyssey, where they wink from their third-eye as they channel the headier concepts and surrealistic narratives of Gravediggaz. At times, however, their unconventional, purple-hazed narratives overshadow their introspective musings on the societal ills of growing up in Brooklyn. In “Blacktivist,” Zombie Juice becomes a parable rhymesayer: “And where are we going when our pops and moms would left? I’m still smoking in the hood on the project steps.” While in “Amerikkkan Pie,” Meechy Darko channels a modern day Malcolm X, growling “Hate my black flesh / You cannot change, rearrange my chemical make-up.”