ELUCID and billy woods have pounded the pavement for over 20 years, which might really feel like a number of lifetimes in underground rap years. Collectively as Armand Hammer, and individually on their very own, the catalog runs deep. However at the same time as extra co-signs, options and bigger-name producers take be aware, a deep undercurrent stays: They mirror and refract the horrors and joys of the world, making a type of kaleidoscopic therapeutic. As my colleague Rodney Carmichael places it: The extra difficult the instances get, the simpler it’s to grasp them.
However this ain’t only for the heads; it takes a coronary heart to really feel what they’re placing down. Incessantly backed by warped and warbled manufacturing, these New York emcees commerce reference-heavy and emotionally taut verses like oral histories handed down from entrance stoops. How does that translate to the Tiny Desk? That is the place LA is available in, with producer Kenny Segal, jazz trio Human Error Membership and guitarist Ryan Crosby.
Segal’s preparations channel the core Armand Hammer stress right into a band that leaves smoke trails for the emcees to clear. Guitar fuzz squeals on “Laraaji.” Whimsical chiptune melodies soundtrack an escapist nostalgia loop on “Tremendous Nintendo.” We get solo tracks from each ELUCID (“Spelling”) and woods (“Spongebob” and “Discolated”), whose face is strategically positioned behind a pop filter — anonymity is a part of his artwork. Closing us out, “Stonefruit,” which has turn into a calling card for the duo, embodies a tag-team whose starvation for all times is each contemplative and carnal.
SET LIST
- “Laraaji”
- “Tremendous Nintendo”
- “Spongebob”
- “Spelling”
- “Dislocated”
- “Stonefruit”
MUSICIANS
- billy woods: vocals
- ELUCID: vocals
- Kenny Segal: keys, sampler, Omnichord, music directorÂ
- Ryan Crosby: guitar, bass
- Diego Gaeta: keys
- Jesse Justice: keys
- Mekala Session: drums
TINY DESK TEAM
- Producer: Lars Gotrich
- Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant
- Audio Engineer/Combine: Neil Tevault
- Host/Collection Producer: Bobby Carter
- Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Maia Stern, Kara Body
- Audio Engineer: Tiffany Vera Castro
- Manufacturing Assistant: Ashley Pointer
- Copy Editor: Sheldon Pearce
- Photographer: Vanessa Castillo
- Tiny Desk Group: Josh Newell, Felix Contreras
- Government Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Government Director: Sonali Mehta
- Collection Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton
