Written by Jason Marecki
In this series of reviews, Jaden Reynolds and I are covering each major Armand Hammer release in preparation for their new album, Mercy, out November 7th.
Haram is the duo’s sixth album and their first full collaboration with fellow New Yorker and producer The Alchemist. Released March 26th, 2021, the album sees billy woods and ELUCID slowing down in the best way possible. In the past when the two took things slow, it often resulted in tracks feeling bloated, uninteresting, and barebones. Haram does it perfectly. Armand Hammer slowly crashes in and out of every track. For every “Falling out the Sky”, woods and ELUCID taking things slow, peacefully riding out on The Alchemist’s production, there’s a “Peppertree”, loud, shrieking brass and the duo sprinting through it all.
“Falling out the Sky” is one of the tracks I want to talk about the most. It’s the first Armand Hammer song I ever heard, and I found it on a Postal 2 edit on TikTok. It’s their most popular track by far, and for good reason. The track begins with the soft crash of waves and a calming melody slowly gliding over top of it. Earl begins with the first verse with no urgency. With no effort, no power or anger, Earl just rides the wave of the beat. His raps match his energy as well. He speaks of dripping water, letting things take their course. You can’t stop “stars fallin’ out of the sky”, sometimes things just happen that way. It’s better to light up a spliff and let it burn than trying to be something we’re not.
woods follows it up with his verse after a Little Richard sample. woods picks up the energy, but he’s never fighting the waves. If Earl was lounging on a boogie board during his verse, woods is paddling on a surf board, approaching the next wave. His energy matches his raps as well. He’s more active than Earl. He’s actively working towards a goal, while Earl is just letting the universe wash over him. woods’ ultimate goal is still relaxation, “It felt sleepy at night but I liked that / Felt like you could relax, like you could disappear / Like I wasn’t surrounded by the past” but it’s a goal he fights for.
ELUCID ends the track with looking back. Earl lives in the moment, woods looks to the future, and ELUCID reminisces on the past. His verse is chock full of imagery of a childhood spent playing and wondering. One of my favorite bars of all time comes from this song and it’s because of the imagery ELUCID elicits: “Red moon over the rec room in direction of discovering/ Idle time wondering, thumbing 70s Ebony mags / Dripping red icee on the pages” It’s incredible. Who hasn’t been that kid finding your parents magazine, reading it like you had any idea what was going on? It’s a lazy summer, there’s nothing else to do but sip red icees and make your own fun. No joke, it gives me goosebumps.
“Falling out the Sky” is Armand Hammer’s most popular song for an incredibly good reason, and it’s indicative of the rest of the songs on the project. “Peppertree” is a little more jarring, but even then, every track has this sway, this impossibly smooth pull that makes it so amazing. The ONLY issue I have with this album is by the end of the album, things feel ever so slightly samey. I think Haram is the perfect length, but I can see where maybe ONE song could be shaved off.
Haram feels like 3am on a porch. Any porch at all. There’s a small AM/FM Radio by your side, tuned to no station in particular. A small, ridged dial on the side of the radio controls what frequency it’s tuned to. It’s warm outside. Maybe the wind is blowing through the trees. Maybe waves crashing ashore. Your finger begins to just roll the dial, slipping through the frequencies, not stopping on anything for very long. Short snippets of sermons, a coast to coast show, free jazz, some top 40s hit, classic rock, static. A hell of a lot of static.
That’s why Haram sticks out to me so much. Not because the raps are technically impressive or the beats are crazy out of this world complicated, but because the tapestry Armand Hammer and The Alchemist paint is so vivid, so incredibly clear it’s impossible to ignore.
As always I want to take a look at rap albums coming out around this time period at the same time as Haram and see where it sits. Some noteworthy releases include LP! By JPEGMAFIA, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert by Little Simz, the absolutely beautiful and incredible By The Time I Get to Phoenix by Injury Reserve, Call Me If You Get Lost by Tyler, the Creator, Pray for Haiti by Mach-Hommy, Foreign Exchange by Rx Papi and Gud, The Fool by Bladee, and Super Tecmo Bo by Boldy James and The Alchemist. The Alchemist was popping off in 2021, but Haram still feels fresh and special to this day.
Not only was 2021 marked by a year of incredible rap releases, but also by civil unrest across the country and aisle. Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murder, Kyle Rittenhouse was not. Weather, both heat, cold, and storms took the lives of thousands across the country. An attack the likes of which not seen since 1814 took place at the nation’s capitol 6 days into the new year. The Milwaukee Bucks won the chip with Giannis Antetokounmpo dropping 50 points in Game 6 to close out the series 4-2. Tom Brady won his seventh ring, a dark year indeed.
In a year spattered with blood and violence, Haram is a clearing. It’s in the eye of the storm, but teetering on the edge. You can see the storm approaching, feel the wind and rain slapping at your face and ripping shingles off your roof, but for now, for RIGHT NOW, you’re okay.
9.5/10.
Favorite Tracks: Falling out the Sky, Peppertree, Indian Summer, Aubergine, Stonefruit
Check back next week for Jaden Reynolds’ triumphant return when he reviews We Buy Diabetic Test Strips by Armand Hammer!
You can find the previous entry in this series, my review of Shrines here.