For this latest Needle to the Groove episode, we’ve finally gone in-person. After the first episodes were conducted remotely, we were fortunate enough to have Erick the Architect open his home to us in LA’s Highland Park neighborhood.

Taking us down to his studio, The Flatbush Zombies rapper and producer showed us his extensive record collection before picking out the seven vinyl he chose for his episode: Gorillaz’s Demon Days, James Blake’s Before EP, Peter Tosh’s Legalize It, Amy Winehouse’s Frank, Billy Joel’s The Stranger, James Brown’s There It Is, and Michael Jackson’s Thriller. While listening to his selections, it was fun to hear Erick recount working with James on the Before EP, make his case for Billy being in his top three of greatest New York artists (the other two may surprise you), and why he loves to find Japanese versions of his favorite records.

By the end of our conversation, it was clear — Erick is a devout vinyl lover who continues to grow his collection each and every day.

“When it comes to music, there’s no price. I’ll go broke buying shit,” he said. “I think that all collectors, we have something about us — I’ve always been infatuated with the past. Even when I called my project Future Proof, I decided that the future is based on nostalgia, and I think that the more separated we get from each other because we lose the intimacy with all the digital shit, it makes me retract back further…and this the way we should listen to it, on vinyl, bro.”

Coming up, Erick will be releasing his debut full-length solo LP this winter, and he has recently released two new songs from it, “Ambrosia” featuring Channel Tres and “Parkour” produced by James Blake.

Watch the new episode below:

Needle to the Groove – Featuring Erick the Architectwww.youtube.com