New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Erick the Architect has released the music video for his first single of 2023, "Parkour," produced by James Blake, which beckons viewers into a mysterious, shadow-clad forest chase from Erick's former self to his evolved persona. Directed by Ellington Hammond + Darryl Richardson, the video serves as a symbol, illustrating the fears and uncertainties associated with embracing changeover. "Parkour" has already been covered by Stereogum, Consequence, Hypebeast, SPIN, KCRW, HipHopDX, Brooklyn Vegan and WNYC, which calls out Erick's "striking wordplay," continuing: "whole essays and books have been written on "othering," but it's hard to imagine anyone putting it more succinctly than Erick's 'it's regular to me/it's foreign when it's you.'" He also just performed with JamesBlake in London and is featured in a COLORSxSTUDIOS collect campaign.
It's also a taste of more new music on the way in the months ahead from Erick, who is also known as one-third of Flatbush Zombies and the Brooklyn rap group's primary producer. The single itself features a nimble flow from Erick, washed in woozy production, deep bass and shapeshifting vocal lines to give the track a mysterious, menacing feel. Watch the video for "Parkour" here:
While this is Erick's first solo single of the year, it's been a major year for him thus far. He's featured on Jungle's "Candle Flame" (over 12 million streams on Spotify), and Whyte Fang's "Scream," which Erick performed with Alison Wonderland's alias at Coachella. He's also featured on Kimbra's recent album, did a Market collaboration with George Clinton, was a recent guest on the Mad Happy Podcast, performed with Loyle Carner in London this spring, was profiled in Esquire's Five Fits fashion column and this Day In The Lifepiece with Hypebeast. Last fall he completed his first-ever solo headline tour, selling out shows in NYC and Los Angeles and released "No Ice" feat. AKTHESAVIOR. He's also featured on Mazen's "Ghost" with Powers Pleasant, which just dropped last month.
Erick has millions of streams and record sales globally, as a solo artist and member of Flatbush Zombies. In 2021 he released his solo Future Proof EPfeaturing Col3trane, Pip Millett, Loyle Carner, Linden Jay, Sophie Faith and FARR. It was covered by Complex, XXL, Consequence, SPIN, Hypebeast, NPR Music, High Snobiety, The Fader and beyond.
