Earlier this year I did a post about two different versions of a Future Islands song. While admittedly out of the new music loop (especially for non-hip hop) I was enamored with The Future islands. Part of that post was pointing out that the singer, Sam Herring, was also a part time rapper. From what I could find on the internet, it seemed to be more of a hobby than a job. Little did I know how serious he was.
Well, turns out Sam AKA Hemlock Ernst is actually tied in with some talented people in the rap world. He’s doing an EP with Madlib under the name “Trouble Knows me”. They just leaked a first song and…well, it’s pretty fucking good. It’s a mix of styles that probably shouldn’t work as well as it does.
At least I think so. I’m curious what you think.
Phat Friend
Sweeping generalizations and unicorns
Phat Friend 
I was listening to it yesterday and I knew you very going to do a yay/nay.
It’s pretty fucking good as you said. The voice could be a bit louder in the mix, but I guess they wanted it this way, DOOM style
i talked to sam right after the Gangreen track came out and he wasn’t sure how the singing would be received with the raps..think this blends both well
i dunno much about the future islands but this track (and the ones from your previous post are good). More importantly I thought Madlib was a skinny mofo, is he on the same shit Dr. Dre was on?
I was also thinking how different Madlib looks now. It’s that midlife crisis like “oh shit women think Im unattractive now that Im old, better hit the weightroom to balance out this hairline” thing.
Which incidentally Im going through.
I love me some Future Islands. “Balance” and “Dream of You and Me” in constant rotation for the last year. I’m impressed with Sam Ernst’s versatility and the fact that he’s working with Madlib, but can’t say this track does much for me.
I’m a fan of both artists, but Madlib is my favorite producer, so he’d have to really fuck up for me to ever turn on him & even then, I’d probably make excuses for the misstep like he was an actual friend or relative. I liked this, but admittedly would prefer the instrumental over the vocal track.
That beat is really nice. Definitely in the same vein as Madvillain.
If I only heard thing song with no info. the guys voice sounds like Macklemore
Like Mqcklemore? Come on bro. He sounds nothing like that.
The first time i watched Future Islands was in a Jools Holland show video on youtube. I actually had no idea this dude was also a rapper. The dude is a very intense performer to say the least and also a little bit awkward looking to the point that i just can’t picture him rapping at all. This was pretty damn good though.
I do not like these kind of productions. This is not something I would admire for sure. You are not even creating your beat from nothing for god’s sake. So just add some layers, get the sample out of its routine. These kinda productions like a slice of cake keep turning on the plate. Break that god damn loop man! This is not sampling. Sampling is an art that when you hear the beat and the orginal, you could say “No fckin way!”.
Peace out!
Is it just me, or does dude sound a little like Roc Marci? Ether way, I enjoyed this.