Erick the Architect, Westside Boogie Follow ‘Instincts’ on New Single

Erick the Architect rolled out his latest single from his forthcoming debut solo album I’ve Never Been Here Before on Friday. “Instincts” also features Westside Boogie and explores the possibility of shedding doubt and embracing intuition.

The song was released alongside a new video, which sees Erick in a secluded field rapping, “Follow my instincts Monday to Wednesday/Life is a mystery/What do my friend think?” A sweet Sixties tune unwinds as he picks up a lone duffle bag while unpacking his own indecisions, admitting, “I’m tryna fix up my relations, I still gamble with stress/I don’t wanna drive you crazy over something/I said In my mind I got it all and still I hang by a thread.”

For Boogie’s part, the Compton native echoes the opening verse and asks, “I done seen my hands bleed from tryna plant seeds, what your bands mean when they matter in the grand scheme?/What do my friends think?” The black-and-white video ends with Erick shot in a parking lot and the contents of the bag stolen, while the refrain plays: “Save me from this darkness I see, ‘cause I won’t feel at home ‘til I’m free.”

When speaking to Rolling Stone last November, the rapper-producer of Flatbush Zombies discussed his upcoming solo record, out Feb. 23. “I was always looking for that throughline, that braided, one my interest in making music, but also where it came from and also to purge on the things that make me feel vulnerable,” he said.

“It’s been so much. So much that I’ve sacrificed, the title being I’ve Never Been Here Before. You know, some people may look on the surface level and say,’ Oh, this is the guy from the Flatbush Zombies. It’s the first time dropping an album, I’ve Never Been Here Before.’ And like you can take that for that. I guess that’s the definition on the surface level,” he added. “But what it really means to me is that I’m okay with the things that I’ve lost, because I’ve gained more than what I lost.”