The Hip-Hop scene in the East Coast, particularly New York has been rising over the past two summers. Flatbush Zombies, have been rising up ladder and are keen to make a name for themselves. The trio consists of Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice, and Erick Arc Elliott. Their video “Thug Waffle” went viral last summer, the group flashed gold fangs at the camera and ate large quantities of waffles, the randomness and oddness of the group drew in a lot of fans and were praised for their uniqueness. They created more of a buzz for featuring on A$AP Mob’s track titled “Bath Salt” which started the group’s rise to recognition.

They released their mixtape D.R.U.G.S. around mid July which stands for “Death And Reincarnation Under God’s Supervision”. The mixtape was a success with listeners and a fanbase was growing for the trio. They haven’t been paid much attention as expected, which is odd since the group are creative enough and poses the rapping skills to be successful in the hip-hop scene

The strong tracks in the mixtape are “Face-Off” which gives us the the day in the life of rapper Meechy Darko, I appreciate the opener which contains a sample of the Bath Salt News in Miami. Another song that stood out to me was “YBA” which had a silly-happy feeling to it and the trio rapped over it in a comical way and their flow matched the structure of the beat. The mixtape is diverse in the sound it contains, the track “JupiterSound” featuring Kilo Kish, is one of the most relaxing songs on the mixtape. Kilo Kish’s vocals fit so well with the eerie sound of the song and the verses mixed with it in a great way. “S.C.O.S.A” is where you can hear how the trio is influenced by zombies. The beat is very dark and eerie, the song contains metaphors that involve the living dead like “hip-hop dead, that’s cause we here” and “not another zombie sucking the life out the game.”

The only thing that the mixtape lacks is the content being rapped about, which isn’t fair to say about Flatbush Zombies since every rapper nowadays raps about the same thing. The groups main strength is Erick’s horror-esque beats, the grotesque vividness that spew out the mouths of Meechy and Juice. The trio deserves more of the spotlight for their creativity and hardwork that they put into their music. To Zombie Juice’s blond dyed hair and hobo beard and Meechy’s gold fangs and crazy personality are the colorful characters hip-hop needs to keep the genre interesting. Flatbush Zombie takes the mindless pleasure of everyday life to a dangerous extreme and D.R.U.G.S. is the window into that carefree lifestyle.