Rappers Billy Woods and Elucid make up Armand Hammer, one of the most electric rap projects of the 21st century. While other artists struggle to stay of consistent quality even with breaks between projects (cough cough, Tyler, the Creator), Armand Hammer has released one album a year since 2017 and they have all been great. The last time the duo joined up with master producer The Alchemist was in 2021, resulting in their best record “Haram”– and this album is thankfully no different: top quality abstract hip-hop.
The chemistry between Woods and Elucid is unmatched, and the duo’s compliments go far beyond just the ability to effortlessly alternate verses while keeping a natural flow. Elucid’s voice has a slightly darker, richer tone than Woods’, while Woods’ brings slightly more energy to each bar– there’s not an extreme juxtaposition, but the subtle differences coalesce into an overall gorgeous diversity.
One of the big draws of abstract hip hop for me is the room for the lyricism to get as wild and creative (and often conscious) as possible. Look at “Glue Traps”, where the duo speaks on the lower-class being forced into criminal lifestyles, gentrification and ties them into Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Or on “Scandanavia” where the duo commentates on capitalism and class warfare.
Of course, this album isn’t just Armand Hammer– it features The Alchemist. The Alchemist understands abstract rap and jazz rap in a way that many producers simply cannot. His support here results in some of the best backing beats of the decade. Whether it’s jazzy, snare heavy, synth layered “Crisis Phone”, the heavy-metal guitar riffs on “Laraaji”, or the gorgeous jazz flute on “California Games”, the range of The Alchemist is unmatched.
There’s plenty of great variety here thanks to the wide range of influence put into the beats. Though most tracks are best described as east-coast jazz rap, there’s elements of drumless, chipmunk soul (which is when samples are sped up and looped, think early Kanye West) and even psychedelic, dreamy elements with all the sampling. “No Grabba”, a track with layered, old TV samples, a bittersweet and damn near mysterious beat, with a jump between complex flows and a catchy chorus sounds straight off an MF DOOM record. “California Games” could easily be produced by Earl Sweatshirt himself with the crackly samples.
There’s no shortage of variety despite the more grounded feel of “Haram”.
Past collaborators return to bolster the duo’s diversity throughout the record. Pink Siifu, Quelle Chris and best of all: Earl Sweatshirt. Earl Sweatshirt once again takes the reins behind the best track on the album “California Games”, a relaxed, jazzy beat with that signature warm vibe that Earl often brings to tracks. Despite the incredible features, many of the better tracks are featureless, letting Armand Hammer and The Alchemist shine on their own, like the aforementioned “No Grabba”.
At times I do think some of the beats blend together and the lack of extremities there was on “Haram”can give it some staleness. While the jazz beats are incredible, I can see why one would dismiss it as stereotypical alchemist work. Considering the kind of bizarre stylings that he went for on their last collaboration, it is a bit of a shame to see him playing into the stereotypical “alchemist type beats”– which are not bad beats by any stretch of the imagination, but after a decade I would have liked to see some uniqueness.
This album shows an excellent side of this duo (or trio, I suppose) that we missed out on “Haram”. “Haram” (much like the bloodied pigs on the album cover) felt raw. It captured this experimental side of The Alchemist that I doubt we’ll see soon. “Mercy” however takes a step back and a breather: resulting in one of the best hip hop albums of 2025 and Armand Hammer’s best album to date.
FINAL SCORE: 8.5/10
