Erick the Architect is laying out the blueprint for something brand new. Rather than tear anything down, or thrash against the uncertainty in the music industry, the polymath and founding member of cult rap favorites Flatbush Zombies wants to reinforce his musical vision. “We’re in the weirdest period of existence in history, and nobody’s talking about it in a serious way,” he says. Due February 23, 2024, I’ve Never Been Here Before puts Erick here, in the microcosmic moment, exploring the depths of his musical world on his full-length solo debut. “This is the first time that I’m going to be perceived the way that I am, and I know that. I’ve got a lot of shit to say, and I’m just tired of being quiet,” he says. “My idols are people who revolutionize what they do, Picasso, Brian Eno, Stevie Wonder, Annie Leibowitz, Keith Haring, Miles Davis, people with an iconic style. I think we accomplished that with the Zombies and I’m doing it again now.”

I’ve Never Been Here Before dissects the world through 16 diverse yet cohesive tracks, divided into four thematic song sets: Fearlessness, Black Resilience, Beauty in Darkness, and Unity. Fearlessness provides a turbocharged entryway into Erick’s mind, perhaps best embodied in the nimble and muscly “Parkour”. Experimental electronic hero James Blake produced multiple tracks for the album, and here his woozy synth, clacking percussion, and deep sub-bass provide a portal for Erick to explain how he stays grounded while also backflipping over the mundane competition: “Harlem city lights, Brooklyn still commute/ How he stay astute? ‘Cause he studying his truth.”

“I’m supposed to be a rapper, but I have very little prototypical rapper shit going on. I feel weird, and I wanted to play piano,” he says with a warm smile. “I didn’t have any musical training, but I have a gold record for a song I produced, a song on a Grammy-nominated project, a song I produced in an Oscar-winning movie. Now that’s a unique story, and I don’t like the same stereotyped stories being the opus of what Black culture is.” Instead, I’ve Never Been Here Before offers a complex look at a full spectrum of Black experience, full of unforgettable hooks, intuitive production, razor-sharp wordplay, and honest emotion in equal measure. I’ve Never Been Here Before finds Erick the Architect fully here.

Flatbush Zombies gained a rabid following for their technicolor, frenetic approach—and over the years, Erick has hit unrivaled heights in the music industry, including amassing more than 900 million streams, debuting on the Billboard 200, and collaborating with a veritable who’s who including Denzel Curry, Danny Brown, Tech N9ne, and Portugal. The Man. He’s also performed in festivals around the world, been featured in publications like Rolling Stone and Esquire, and performed on multiple late-night shows with the hip-hop supergroup Beast Coast.

But this record builds equally from the introspective, vulnerable tone of Erick’s 2021 Future Proof EP. That set meditated on the possibility of building a version of ourselves to survive whatever strange future may come—and the radiant timelessness there gets room to breathe and stretch on I’ve Never Been Here Before. Since his move to Los Angeles and establishing a home studio, Erick spent the last few years producing and collecting jigsaw pieces that only revealed themselves as this cohesive unit in 2023. With guests coming to his home and utilizing largely analog gear to produce the record, there’s an undeniable inviting presence at the album’s core.

And then there’s another of Erick’s spiritual influences: his mother, whose life and tragic passing partly inspired the record’s intentionality and clarity. He had accompanied her to church growing up, inspired by the music as well as the bond of a strong community and the connection to his Jamaican roots. I’ve Never Been Here Before has a spiritual vein tied directly to those experiences, with religious allusions and references to family peppered throughout. Erick’s mother had supported his earliest music-making endeavors, helping him afford his first piano and drum machine, and encouraging his experimental approach. In her later years, she even began calling him Q; and while Erick thought she was mistaking him for someone else, she eventually explained the nickname. “Q for Quincy, because Quincy Jones does everything and you do too,” he recalls her saying. And in a spiritually fulfilling twist, not long after her passing and Erick’s relocating to Los Angeles, Erick made a meaningful connection with the music legend.

Jones’ glowing assessment of Erick’s future is borne out in the Linden Jay-produced, Channel Tres-featuring “Ambrosia”—a highlight from the album’s Black Resilience chapter. It’s yet again Erick’s effortless charm and timeless flow that take the spotlight: only he could pull off comparing himself to Van Gogh for making a good impression on a potential date.

That quick wit and charisma have made Erick a go-to collaborator in recent years, across a multitude of genres and styles. His illuminating guest turn on English dance group Jungle’s “Candle Flame” made a powerful imprint, and his verse for "GLT" added a new level to New Zealand pop star Kimbra's latest album. His work—and friendship—with James Blake was a similarly fluid pairing. The duo produced four tracks the first day they shared a studio, most of which wound up on this record. “He’s such a good person,” Erick says of Blake. “I wanted to denounce any reputation I might have as a producer who is rapping, to show my full skill set. And James helped me show myself as a multifaceted artist. I’m writing songs, I’m co-producing records with him, and I’m even producing for him a little bit.”

“Shook Up” accentuates the tone for the album’s Beauty in Darkness section, here summoning memories at the start of a new romantic relationship. Featuring Joey Bada$$, the track centers on taking control when emotions swirl: “Lust or life/ You can choose,” the chorus repeats. Another section highlight is the New York reggae quiver of “Beef Patty”, Erick tapping into his Caribbean heritage and updating it with glitchy vocal distortion and pitch-shifting.

At every turn, Erick conjures clever, musing lines, removing any cliche, lazy flow, or thoughtless boast. He relates this approach to a lesson he learned when his mother had gone blind. “I didn’t care about getting a [Flatbush] Zombies chain. I didn’t give a fuck about clothes and jewelry. If my mother couldn’t see me with it, like, ‘Why the fuck would I care about any of that?’” he reveals. Instead, he learned to focus on his deeper feelings and his connection to others.

Featuring Kimbra’s mellifluous tones on the hook, the elegiac “Leukemia/AM” feels like Erick unlocking his heart and spilling it directly onto the page—exploring the end of a relationship in a waterfall of incisive rhymes. “I promised that I wouldn’t stress about you/ Feeling better now that I’ve learned to live without you/ Can’t believe it’s been some months without your name in blue bubbles,” he says, bounding from wistful feelings to realizing the relationship was broken through two sublime verses. 

Even while Flatbush Zombies have been supercharging crowds around the world, Erick has always felt he wasn’t showing his full, oddball self. “I’m supposed to be a rapper, but I have very little prototypical rapper shit going on. I feel weird, and I wanted to play piano,” he says with a warm smile. “I didn’t have any musical training, but I have a gold record for a song I produced, a song on a Grammy-nominated project, a song I produced in an Oscar-winning movie. Now that’s a unique story, and I don’t like the same stereotyped stories being the opus of what Black culture is.” Instead, I’ve Never Been Here Before offers a complex look at a full spectrum of Black experience, full of unforgettable hooks, intuitive production, razor-sharp wordplay, and honest emotion in equal measure. I’ve Never Been Here Before finds Erick the Architect fully here.

SHORT BIO

Erick the Architect is laying out the blueprint for something brand new, the founding member of cult rap favorites Flatbush Zombies reinforcing his musical vision. “We’re in the weirdest period of existence in history, and nobody’s talking about it in a serious way,” he says. Due February 23, 2024, I’ve Never Been Here Before puts Erick here, in the microcosmic moment, exploring the depths of his musical world on his full-length solo debut. “This is the first time that I’m going to be perceived the way that I am, and I know that. I’ve got a lot of shit to say, and I’m just tired of being quiet,” he says.

I’ve Never Been Here Before dissects the world through 16 diverse yet cohesive tracks, divided into four thematic song sets: Fearlessness, Black Resilience, Beauty in Darkness, and Unity. Fearlessness provides a turbocharged entryway into Erick’s mind, perhaps best embodied in the nimble and muscly “Parkour”. Experimental electronic hero James Blake produced multiple tracks for the record, and here his woozy synth bubbles, clacking percussion, and mile-deep sub-bass provide a heady platform.

Elsewhere, the Channel Tres-featuring “Ambrosia” offers a highlight from the Black Resilience section. Erick’s effortless charm and timeless flow take the spotlight: only he could pull off comparing himself to Van Gogh for making a good impression on a potential date. That quick wit and charisma have made Erick a go-to collaborator in recent years, including his guest turn on English dance group Jungle’s “Candle Flame” and his verse for "GLT" on the latest from New Zealand pop star Kimbra.

Later in the album, the slick “Shook Up” sets the tone for the Beauty in Darkness section. Featuring Joey Bada$$, the track centers on taking control when emotions swirl. At every turn, Erick conjures clever, musing lines, removing any cliche, lazy flow, or thoughtless boast.  Featuring Kimbra’s mellifluous tones on the hook, the elegiac “Leukemia/AM” feels like Erick unlocking his heart and spilling it directly onto the page, exploring the end of a relationship in a waterfall of incisive rhymes.

“I’m supposed to be a rapper, but I have very little prototypical rapper shit going on. I feel weird, and I wanted to play piano,” he says with a warm smile. “I didn’t have any musical training, but I have a gold record for a song I produced, a song on a Grammy-nominated project, a song I produced in an Oscar-winning movie. Now that’s a unique story, and I don’t like the same stereotyped stories being the opus of what Black culture is.” Instead, I’ve Never Been Here Before offers a complex look at a full spectrum of Black experience, full of unforgettable hooks, intuitive production, razor-sharp wordplay, and honest emotion in equal measure. I’ve Never Been Here Before finds Erick the Architect fully here.