Mixtape Review: Flatbush Zombies – ‘D.R.U.G.S.’

Never has a mixtape caused me to regard humanity in such an abominable light. Flatbush Zombies, a duo consisting of rappers Zombie Juice and Meechy Darko, clearly take the mindless need of carnal pleasure to a dangerous extreme, and D.R.U.G.S. is the window into that grotesque lifestyle.

Far be it from me to tell someone how to live or act – I can barely get a job – but no experience applies to gaining a modicum of common sense, a guide these two zonked-out poets clearly lack.

While they started off with an obscure screed on the nameless shackle of “religion” (most certainly implied as Christianity by the introduction’s talk of a biblical God), they immediately devolve into skewed, sloppy verses lauding Pussy, Weed and Money in excessive fashion.

This triune idol of worship for Flatbush Zombies seems impossible to satiate their needs, resulting in this 16-track pamplet on a bacchanalian existence. There’s not even a real need to quote lyrics due to how aggressively redundant the duo remains throughout. At least Eric Ark Elliot, who produces more than half of the project, can rustle up appropriately dingy and paranoid stoner beats to place a deceitful sheen on the overused content.

This review seems almost unnecessary to begin with. The Flatbush Zombies emerged from a post-ignorant phase of rap, one where the supposed end results of hard work and real talent – Pussy, Weed and Money, become the sole topic of discussion. This form of rap serves only the performer and the listener’s primal urges, bashing the crumbling ideals of endless luxury onto the walls of sanity for so long that they finally crack through and take precedence over all. Likewise, D.R.U.G.S. stands as a sad reminder of the shallow state of our beloved medium, and how certain destructive strains appear as the next big thing.