Skip Culture Is Relentless, But Erick the Architect Isn't Playing That Game
Fresh from a Jamiroquai tour slot, the ex-Flatbush Zombies rapper-producer talks going global, going solo and pushing back on internet-era impatience.
Erick the Architect in 2024. Image by Ellington Hammond.
2016 was a turning point in many ways. While key political shifts set the tone for much of what feels fractured right now, many found themselves looking back at the moments, music and memes that defined 2016—either wincing at the cringe or sighing at what once was.
Ten years on from 3001: A Laced Odyssey, the debut album from Brooklyn rap group Flatbush Zombies and Erick "The Architect" Arc Elliott, its founding member and producer, is feeling wistful too.
Celebrating the milestone in March, Erick remarked on "the album that changed [their] lives forever". It debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200 and proudly claimed top spot on the independent albums chart, all with zero label backing. The trio—Erick, Demetri "Meechy Darko" O'Neal Simms and Antonio "Zombie Juice" Lewis—all lived together while making it; Meech and Erick as roommates and Juice living downstairs. It was there, in that house, that Erick fully embodied the self-bestowed title of “the Architect” as he handled every aspect of the album’s production.
Now, the members are on their own paths. Erick's 2024 solo debut album I've Never Been Here Before moves between hip-hop, soul, dub and psychedelia. Featuring long-time collaborators like Joey Bada$$, James Blake and Channel Tres, it's a much more personal project. "I was going through a lot of shit," he tells The Culture Crypt. Meanwhile, his collaboration with indie dance band Jungle on "Candle Flame" was a slingshot into a newer and bigger crowd.
Erick joins via Zoom from his Los Angeles home studio, in his first interview of 2026—and mine. Fresh from supporting Jamiroquai on their UK/EU tour, he sounds rested. “Sounds,” I say because his camera stays off for the entirety of our conversation, leaving me staring instead at the screen name glowing in the centre: ‘el arquitecto’.
Throughout the conversation, he’s extremely candid, particularly about the state of music as he sees it: the loss of physicality, the speed of consumption, the erosion of real engagement. It's something that echoes a track on 3001, "R.I.P.C.D.", an elegy that anticipates the decline of physical formats. Even then, he was already questioning where things were headed.
This doesn't make him a complete luddite, though. After the interview, he would be hosting a watch party for The Substance on Discord, chatting with a tight-knit community of fans he calls his "cousins". He's also deep into gaming (before our chat, I played the INBHB video game that he created on PUNKASS MODE, its easiest level…) and 3D design, where he builds low-render, low-spec worlds that extend his music beyond the usual formats.
I came away from the call feeling hopeful. In an industry that often rewards speed over substance, Erick the Architect is taking his time, making stuff and hoping you like it.
The Culture Crypt: You've had some major career highlights in the last year, like supporting Jamiroquai on tour. How did that come about?
Erick the Architect: "I toured early last year with a French band called L'Impératrice and I was on their album Pulsar. I hadn't heard of them prior, but I immediately fell in love with their music because they're so good. I opened for them and there was a little party upstairs with the band. We were hanging out and I saw a dude with a Jamiroquai hat and we started chatting.
I was like, 'Dude, I have this Junya Watanabe jacket on and JK is one of my favourites of all time.' He's like, 'Oh yeah? I'm his manager.' He must have sent JK a picture of me wearing the jacket and that might have started it, like, 'Oh, this dude is a real fan.' Months later, I got the offer to open."
“Jamiroquai’s fans are 10 years old, they’re 20 years old, they’re 50 years old. There was an 80-year-old lady at the end of the night telling me how great I was. It means I did alright when the 80-year-old grandma’s like, ‘Yo, good job.’”
Was there a tour date that stood out for you?
"London. England has always had a place in my heart. Every night for my set, I tried to tailor it to where I was gonna be performing. I know how it is when somebody foreign comes to a place and they play music pretending like they know the culture. I knew I got a lot of love from London and I wanted to be sure that I played stuff that would reflect how involved I am in dance and funk music. There was certain shit I wanted to play just because I was in London like DJ Luck, 'A Little Bit of Luck'. I didn't know if they thought an American would know it so I made sure not to play that anywhere else."
How did you approach the responsibility of opening then?
"I'm a fan so I know how eclectic the Jamiroquai crowd is. Jamiroquai's fans are 10 years old, they're 20 years old, they're 50 years old. There was an 80-year-old lady at the end of the night telling me how great I was. It means I did alright when the 80-year-old grandma's like, 'Yo, good job.'"
Well now, you've been solo for a while, even before Flatbush Zombies. With the band, there's a strong sense of place, being Flatbush, being Brooklyn, being New York. Do you still feel that same sort of regional identity or does it live differently now?
"That's a great question. When I think of my music individually, it's still centralised around New York. But New York is such a melting pot of culture and people so I'm already used to catering to different kinds of people. The special thing about New York, even in a city like London, there is no cap for the type of creativity that could come from somebody who is exposed to all of that diversity. You have no choice but to be inspired by what's around you.
My music by myself is different now. Doing a feelgood dance record like "Candle Flame" with Jungle really changed a lot about how people thought of me previously. It spoke to a global audience too. I've heard that record in LA, London, Japan. I've heard it in Starbucks and H&M. I never had a record that would play in those spaces. Now, I want for people to not judge me based on what they knew me for but to fall in love with what I'm currently doing. And that's not to knock what I did prior."
Do you appreciate when people know you from Flatbush Zombies or do you quite like when people meet you as Erick?
"People knowing you in general is weird. What really gets me is someone saying, 'Hey Erick, I know you. I went to your show.' That's how you'll get the extra dap from me. When you tell me you saw me in person, that means that you extended a part of yourself to me and we shared something that's deeper than just on the internet."
“I can’t imagine how long it took for The Temptations, The Chi-Lites, Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye to break into another continent. Now that should happen in 10 minutes.”
As an artist wanting your listeners to enjoy your music physically, how do you think the internet has changed how you see music and marketing?
"Because of the internet and radio, music has more opportunities to expand and reach people. Without it, I wouldn't be global and have my records touch places that I've never even been. I can't imagine how long it took for The Temptations, The Chi-Lites, Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye to break into another continent. Now that should happen in 10 minutes.
The consumption of music changed because people devalue what it takes to make it. It's partially not our fault. If you have a cassette tape, you can't fast forward. You have to stop it and then wait for it to get to the point of the song that you want. If it's a CD, you can skip songs but there's a slight delay so it's easier to just let the music play through, especially on a first listen. If it's a vinyl record, you've gotta literally lift the needle up. With the internet, you're just using your fingers to play, skip or only play all the features in an album if you wanted.
It's literally the wild wild west of how to listen to music and I think that changed how much we appreciate it. I could work on my album and spend millions of dollars and someone can say it's trash in three minutes. Or it's the best album of the year but it's only been out for two minutes, so how the hell do you know that?"
People are quick to form an opinion because music and cultural criticism feels like such a rat race. People want to be the first to have their take.
"Not even right, just first."
Well on the subject of marketing, when a song's featured on a video game soundtrack, it goes stratospheric. You had "Jammy Jam" appear in the Skate soundtrack. What was the impact of that?
"'Jammy Jam' kind of sounds like your name. [Laughs] When you're a part of any legacy video game, from FIFA to Skate… I've been in NBA Live, NKA 2K as well… so many people who play video games listen to the music that's playing and the songs can get fucking annoying. Still, I hum it because I hear it all the time. It opens up your whole world to be like, "Who is this dude?" So I'm super grateful to be integrated in one of the most popularised and amazing skateboarding games. Video games and music have always been best friends so it's cool to be part of that again."
You love video games, but you also make them. You also made a music video with 3D design, mocking up your own home studio. What do you say to people who are surprised that you make all of this yourself?
"If I don't get surprised responses, I haven't done my job. It means people are still discovering me. Everyone who knows who I am probably already expects that of me. When I make an appearance on the internet, I like to think I'm doing something different. The internet rewards you for copying people and it makes me sad. So hell yeah, people are shocked because it's very uncommon for people to see someone being genuine in a time where a lot of it is imitation.
I want to know more about Twitch. Are you still streaming?
"Here and there. I try to talk to my homies on Discord. Like tonight, we're watching movies together. We don't talk but we just put pictures of what's going on to laugh so that everybody can make fun of the movie while we watch it but not interrupt because we hate when people talk during movies."
Is this a community of fans?
"I tell people all the time that my fans are my cousins. They're not my homies that I grew up with but they're definitely the active community of people listening to my music."
It's interesting to see you close that gap and engage directly with your listeners since I don't really see many artists do that. What's that like?
"Like their access to me? For the most part, people are really nice to me. I extend myself to them because they're humans and so am I. I'm doing a disservice to myself by not speaking to someone on a deep level when they love you and your music. I think that you're stupid to act like you don't have time for those people.
When you're constructing your next album, you're going to be so detached from your community that they may not even like what you're doing because you don't even know what they feel. That's not smart but also, some artists don't lend well to that kind of community. But being nerdy is cool now. I'm not the type of nerd that wears his pants up to his nipples, but I'm the type of dude that'll play Final Fantasy and all my homies that I grew up with are crips. If I could be the spokesperson for bringing worlds together, then that's one way of doing it."
Artistic distance is definitely important, though…
"All my fans are usually good people. Some of them are psychopaths. You get people that walk up to you and say weird stuff but that just comes with the job I have."
So what's next for you? What can people expect or look forward to in 2026?
"I've already finished my next album. I'm just picking the time to release it. But this project is just one of the things I'm doing this year. I have so many other things in my hands: a graphic novel, an app…
When I did my first album, I knew that would be the introduction for a lot of people to hear me by myself. I had to tell quite a sad story because it was a transitional album and moment for me as a man. A lot of vulnerability had to be used in that space because I was going through a lot of shit.
One of my favourite artists is DMX. I've never seen anybody cry and make it hard. Like what the fuck, bro? How could you look at that and call somebody pussy like it's just crazy to me. He made being gangsta and being religious and loving God and being God-fearing and also being an orphan hard. How do you do that?
My second album is not that at all. I'm ready to show people what it is that I've been feeling. I think the world needs some more variation. I don't know how people will feel about it, but I think it's definitely my best work to date, so I'm excited for it."
Well now, when you make the announcement, I can just say "first."
"Yeah, please do [laughs]. Comment first. Say, 'he told me, he let me know.'"
Stream I've Never Been Here Before below: