An album by the now deceased oil and pharmaceutical businessman? Nah. It’s the latest from hip hop duo by the same name, Armand Hammer. On their fifth record, Haram, the New York group, consisting of Billy Woods and EUCLID, have collaborated for the first time with legendary producer The Alchemist. Fans of the genre will know the west coast producer and DJ always brings a unique style to the table, and on this release there’s no shortage of that. The music is a blend of dusty LPs delivering samples of jazz and blues, cut with haunting, minimalist sounds. The rhymers themselves give the record it’s true rhythm as they shift and change meter with their flow. Lyrically experimental, the verses are as dense as a forest. Seemingly about a hundred things, and at the same time nothing at all. But the enjoyment isn’t in the deciphering. Let the thicket of poetry surround you. Like the NY entrepreneur they too deal in fuel and drug, just in a more metaphorical and rewarding way.
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