This time around, they’ve tightened their lyricism to evoke the same woozy, heady sound explored on their last project, the cinematic and LSD-assisted 3001: A Laced Odyssey.
The Flatbush Zombies have teetered back and forth as rappers that rap about weed and rappers that rap about being rappers who rap about weed. It’s been all good fun, for Flatbush, for drug dealers, and for college kids, and along the way, the Zombies’ I’m-so-high-right-now music has evolved. Their latest release, Vacation in Hell, is another album about—you guessed it—getting high, but it’s also an album that attempts to explore community and friendship, with the trio finally celebrating the parts of NYC that breathe life into their music.
But, again, don’t expect the Zombies to indulge any narratives you haven’t heard in hip-hop before: Women—preferably bisexual ones—are objects (and better in numbers); the government is most likely out to get you (nothing’s confirmed, but there’s an overlying suspicion); and weed is great (especially when it’s enjoyed with said women). Hip-hop, naturally, is a genre that recycles from the old, and the Zombies are comfortable using its most reductive and predictable rules. Thankfully, it’s enough.
The album is a strong listen, decent rhymes backed by Erick Arc Elliott‘s streamlined production. When the Zombies really start rapping, police brutality, the mass incarceration of black males, and crooked politicians are among some of the more thought-provoking and urgent messages relayed. Meechy Darko takes some time from Instagram girls to mourn A$AP Yams on “YouAreMySunshine,” honoring the late rapper alongside other greats like Biggie, Aaliyah, O-D-B, and Jimi Hendrix. “YouAreMySunshine” finds the Zombies playing with fantasy outside of clunky skits soaked in psychedelia. This time around, they’ve tightened their lyricism to evoke the same woozy, heady sound explored on their last project, the cinematic and LSD-assisted 3001: A Laced Odyssey.
“Headstone” is a great show of Elliott’s crisp, clean production and displays the group’s tailored, nuanced flows. And it’s Elliott’s production that elevates this album, focusing in on the group’s strengths: Meechy Darko’s raspy, dark voice and knack for storytelling, and Zombie Juice‘s high-pitched, sporadic and hilarious bars. They both leave room for one another, and on this project, neither one is trying to get the last word, just the right word and, oftentimes, the most ironic word: “Your girls be like, ‘choke me daddy I’m a freak’ / Next week she pop up with all type of hospital fees.”
There are tons of those, along with puns about abortions and clowning mumble rappers. “Facts” is a serviceable banger, one comparing contradictions in rap culture. And “Crown” featuring Portugal. The Man is the most commercial song on the album supported by the sugary vocals of John Gourley, and also features admirable vocal acrobatics from Meechy, who legitimately carries his own on a very short, albeit emotional bridge. It’s clear the group has matured a bit or, at a minimum, acknowledged bonds that exist outside of drugs and random hookups.
In an age where black men are killed without thought, it’s touching to see an album that actually revels in friendship, in brotherhood. There’s no guarantee your neighbor will return in the morning, and 2018 has reminded us of that again and again. No, groupies and an expensive weed habit aren’t newly-explored terrains in hip-hop, but when the Zombies actually have something to say, they say it loud.
Shaun Harris is a poet, freelance writer, and editor published in avant-garde, feminist journals. Lover of warm-toned makeup palettes, psych-rock, and Hilton Als. Her work has allowed her to copyedit and curate content for various poetry organizations in the NYC area.
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