Flatbush Zombies Think They're in the Top Five Best Weed Lyricists Ever

Being a Flatbush Zombies fan these past few months has like going to the toilet at a party for two seconds and then coming out to find everyone's used the party poppers and the stripper's come out of the cake already. A few months ago they were these weird guys taking acid with VICE, now they're NYC's finest export. I feel like I can't even call them my best friends anymore.

Before we let them into the dark cesspit of misspelled retardation that is YouTube comments in our People VS, I got to talk to them about important stuff like Wiley, dolphin noises and if it's annoying when journalists ask artists how it feels to suddenly blow up. Though not before getting all concerned mother on them about their weed intake…

Noisey: Hey! Umm, it smells quite strongly in here.

All: I’m sorry.

Meech: I haven’t showered this morning. I'm about to shower.

Of weed! It's also a common subject in your music…how's that for a segue, eh?

Erick Arc Elliott: I talk about marijuana because I like marijuana a lot.

Juice: It’s second nature to me. If you listen to my lyrics, in almost every song I mention the holy sweet Mary Jane. Whether I’m influencing you to roll it up on your own, whether I'm having a great day and I'm rolling up on my own, somewhere in between the lines I'm gonna tell you that it's time to get high dawg. I think I’m the top five best motherfucking weed lyricists ever.

Weed Lyricist is a strong job title. I tried to get Halloween Slut on my Noisey business card but they wouldn't let me. How much do you smoke on average?

M: I feel like if you know, you're not smoking enough. I think it depends. If I'm awake for two hours a day, I will smoke for two hours a day.

E: If I was by myself I know I’d smoke more weed. That’s why I live with my parents

M: I'm smoking my mother out of the house personally.

I always wondered what happens when people are on tour? Do you have someone in every city to get you some weed?

M: Sometimes fans bless us with shit. On tour, especially on the West Coast, I’d be like 'damn man, I need weed right now'. I’d just go in the crowd and they’d be like 'here you go, here’s an eighth on the house".

J: Also, social media.

M: But I don’t want to snitch on myself and shit. Cops be on Twitter.

Moving on, everyone has been covering the resurgence of rap on the East Coast, does that ever get annoying?

M: Not at all because all my niggas are getting spotlight and people are really starting to notice everyone. It’s deeper than just us. As selfless as it sounds, I’d rather you talk about the New York renaissance than Flatbush Zombies alone. There’s other shit going on. People that we didn’t even do songs with are fucking with our shit. I want people to understand that it’s deeper than New York and we’re trying to back individuality and originality but it is bigger than New York. It just happens to have started there.

Would you say it’s a genuine resurgence?

E: I think people look for things to latch on to all the time like 'this is gonna be the next big shit' but this honestly feels real. You can’t deny the real.

What do you think brought it on?

M: I don’t know, the internet? It could be Soulja Boy. I like to blame everything on Soulja Boy, in a good way. Soulja Boy killed YouTube. He was the first nigga to do that YouTube shit and even though people said shit about him, he still went from wearing Bapes in his little ass room and a little camera to wherever the fuck he is at now. I think that started things for my generation because people were able to see the talent.

E: Justin Bieber started that shit.

M: Nah, Superman that hoe man!

E: There’s pictures of Justin Bieber when he’s like 13 years old with his guitar.

J: Soulja Boy was before that though.

M: Justin Bieber is a little white kid who’s also Canadian.

E: Justin Bieber isn’t hip-hop bro.

M: I think it started with Soulja fucking Boy, tell that nigga I said that. Shout out Soulja Boy.

Soooo, is it that the Internet plays a big part in helping people come up faster? Do you think the danger with that is you’ll fall at the same rate?

M: I think that it just makes things very saturated. People will be like, ‘oh shit Flatbush Zombies dropped a video and got over a million views. I'm gonna do it now'. They do it and it might work, it might not.

E: You’ve got all these Twitter followers and YouTube followers and all that but you go to the shows and there’s about four people there. Once something leaves the computer, something that’s not inanimate, that’s real. Once things leave the computer and it’s reality and shit, that’s how you know that the internet is not gonna diminish your career. You're in control.

M: There are Internet rappers though.

Like?

J: To be honest, I wish I could tell you.

M: I don’t listen to anything, I really don’t. I listen to Erick’s beats, my psychotic thoughts and that’s about it.

E: I listen to things that were created three years ago or sixty years ago. I don’t really use modern music to influence anything that I do to be honest.

So you don’t ever get the appetite to snoop around and listen to what everybody else is doing?

All: Nah.

M: I check up on my friends, I’ll see what A$AP is doing or whatever, but other than that…

J: My iPod right now just says Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder.

M: My music section says no contents.

[Meech flaps his iPhone music library around. He's not lying.]

Ha! OK, do you just listen to yourselves?

E: We used to listen to ourselves.

M: I listen to beats, I listen to sounds.

E: I'm making music right now.

Oh, right now? What is your process for making music?

M: Everything

J: …Part of your skirt.

M: That’s not a skirt. That’s a shawl type thing converted into a skirt.

It’s my muppet jacket. But yeah, go on, how do you make music?

E: When I write it’s different but when I make beats, I like to be by myself or with these guys or with a woman. Usually when I start making music I don’t know what the fuck I'm doing. I just play. I never went to school to learn shit like ‘this is the rolling chord’, I just looked it up on YouTube to be honest. I usually smoke weed before I start making music. Music to me, I hate to say this, but it’s literally the only thing I think about besides my family and friends.

That's beautiful.

E: We started making music for our friends really. It wasn’t like we were trying to become billboard shit or whatever, or be here in London. It's not something that I thought would happen, especially not this fast.

Yeah, it's been really fast. But is that also another annoying journalist thing to be, like, 'welp, you’ve grown really fast…WHAT NOW'?

M: I lived 23 years to get here We’ve been working for our whole lives and our debut was our whole lives.

When could you tell that you were blowing up?

M: When you just told us that we’re blowing up! Nah, I personally think it’s something that you can’t wrap your hands around. I don’t even dwell on that shit, I don’t think about it.

Have you had any diva moments just yet?

M: Yeah, once in a while. I mean nothing too crazy.

J: First time I go into my hotel room, first thing I do is kick down the tables and TVs and shit.

[He shouts across to his manager Phil "SORRY TO YOUR CREDIT CARD"]

Me too. Do you like London? Do you listen to music from here? Wait, you don’t even listen to music…

E: We know Giggs, Wiley…

M: Shout out to Jai Paul.

E: I don’t know if that new album is his new album. That shit was amazing though. “Jasmine” is sick and whatever Track 15 is. See, I know shit.

M: There’s a Wiley freestyle on Tim Westwood, that shit is the best. I'm watching this guy just go through verses in his head without a breath. I swear I watch that once every three months and just laugh.

I love that rappers coming over from the States right now have a good knowledge of grime and UK acts.

J: Yeah, I mean, Dizzee Rascal’s first album. I fuck with that.

M: I’m actually gonna listen to all that shit tonight and absorb it. I just really like Wiley. Because he’s a goon and shit. Giggs is a super goon. He’s like Super Saiyan. I love Giggs, I need to do a song with Giggs, please.

Agreed. OK, what do you make of rappers like Waka Flocka Flame and Juicy J?

M: First of all Juicy J is a rap God.

E: You’re gonna realise that soon.

M: I’ve seen him perform and it’s always a good show.

J: Shout out Three 6.

M: I don’t think you can be a rapper, at least from my generation, and not have respect for Juicy J or Three 6 Mafia period.

Again, agreed. I find it adorable that, over here anyway, lots of kinda white, upper class kids love Waka.

J: I’m a fucking Jamaican man and I listen to fucking everything. I think sometimes you’d be surprised.

M: A person might listen to Waka if they wanna get loose. They might need that shit to make them feel on the edge.

J: That’s part of the id man.

M: People are surprised. People come and chill out with me and think I listen to crazy music. I play Marvin Gaye. I listen to the sound of the police sirens outside.

E: Juice, what’s that shit that you play?

J: Relaxation radio…

Like dolphins and the sound of the sea?

J: Yeah. Aquatic stuff from the sea.

M: Dolphins and all that shit.

I have a sleep app that plays dolphins, I recommend it. So what are you doing with the Red Bull Music Academy?

M: Well, we have to say thank you. I don’t even say thank you to my mum, but thank you. Thank you Red Bull. My mom’s gonna read this.

Hi Meech's mum. Finally, what can we expect from you in the future?

E: Better Off Dead

M: Porn

You’re making zombie porn?

M: Yeah, I’m directing that shit though.

E: Nah, Better Off Dead comes this spring/summer.

M: If me and Phil can get enough money…we’ll make a little video.

Porn video?

M: Nah! For Better Off Dead. You’re getting confused now.

E: Yup, a porn movie with Phil.

I look forward to the porn and the album. Thanks Flombies!

Noisey would also like to give a big sloppy kiss to Red Bull Music Academy for bringing them to London for their debut UK show. This year's Red Bull Academy is running in NYC. For more info go to www.rbma.com