3001: A Laced Odyssey

Following a string of gritty underground mixtapes and collaborations with titans like RZA, Brooklyn rappers (and Joey Bada\$$ affiliates) Flatbush Zombies release their first official album. Channeling the surrealistic violence that made Wu-Tang Clan a phenomenon in the \'90s (and continues to play out through the supersaturated wordplay of guys like Earl Sweatshirt), *3001* is murky and dense but highly colorful too, led by the septic growl of Meechy Darko and the casually sinister beats of Erick the Architect. Special mention goes to “Bounce,” the soulful “A Spike Lee Joint,” and the mob music of “Ascension,” where Meechy declares time an illusion one minute and talks gunplay the next.

The Brooklyn rap group Flatbush Zombies deliver an off-kilter take on '90s touchstones like Gravediggaz and the Flatlinerz with a touch of ODB. Their debut LP is a deep dive into psychotropia—the highs and lows—with paranoia and invincibility trading places with suicidal thoughts.

With three mixtapes already in their discography, this Brooklyn hip-hop trio arrived with a debut album more fully formed than most, but 3001: A Laced Odyssey is still a staggeringly big and stunning release.

Though ‘3001: A Laced Odyssey’ is their first official studio album, Flatbush ZOMBiES - the Brooklyn-based trio of Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice