Erick The Architect: Live at the Velvet Underground

Photography, writing, and editing by Kian Gannon

Flatbush Zombies member, Erick The Architect chose four cities for his “Future Proof” tour and luckily Toronto was one of those stops. It’s not often that Toronto is chosen for such a small tour, let alone some major rap tours. Regardless, the Velvet Underground transformed on Nov. 14th for one of my most memorable shows in a while.

Supporting Erick on his tour was AK, member of The Underachievers and a longtime collaborator. Doors opened at 7pm and fans braved the cold to form a long queue outside the Velvet for a chance at being in the front row. At around 7:45 I was fortunate enough to meet up with Erick and AK’s tour manager, Jordan, and head up to the green room. It was a surreal experience as a fan myself and there were nothing but good vibes with both Erick, AK, and other members of the tour.

At approx. 8:15, AK headed on stage to an insanely excited crowd filled with fans from all eras. Notably a few fans wore old Underachievers merch from their earlier projects, as well as some fans in Flatbush Fronto Leaf jerseys and old “Zombie!” hoodies. AK performed many of his recent solo hits, old Underachievers hits, and some unreleased tracks from both himself and his duo with Issa Gold. One of my favorite moments from the whole night was AK’s performance of “Flowers” which included AK giving a fan in the front row a bouquet of flowers, provided by @wildnorthflowers.

AK’s set ended, and tour DJ Jasan kept the crowd going until around 9:30 with some of the best and most obscure mixes I’ve heard. Erick was next and came with some of the best crowd engagement all night. Songs like “I Can’t Lose”, “Let It Go”, and “222” brought fans together to sing each song front to back. As expected, Erick once again proved that he can pretty much do everything. His breath control on faster, grimier tracks, as well as his melodic performances made for an extremely memorable set-list. Just like AK, Erick played a few unreleased songs (both solo and collaborations) including a special song he wrote for his dad to listen to while cooking. This personal anecdote clearly made the song important to Erick and made for a wholesome moment during his set.

In complete contrast, Erick then brought up AK to perform their new single “No Ice” along with three lucky fans. The energy that had built throughout the entire night led up to this moment and it showed. Three fans danced and rapped with Erick and AK through the whole song and shared many special moments. One of these moments included Erick and AK pointing out a fan’s Beast Coast shirt and New York Knicks timbs. This song concluded the show and left fans waiting around for the chance to meet Erick and AK after the show, regardless of how tired they were.

This show proved to me once again how special Erick, AK, and the entire influence of the Beast Coast team is to rap/hip-hop music. I want to extend a huge thank you to Erick, AK, Jordan, and the entire team working behind the scenes on this tour for being so genuine and helpful throughout the night.  Additionally, to the Velvet Underground for making this show possible. Finally, a special thank you to Jordan for being so open minded and having me come document Toronto’s stop on this tour.