Armand Hammer and the Alchemist Deliver a Masterclass PopMatters

At a recent show near Detroit, touring to support his masterful GOLLIWOG, Billy Woods commanded the dark stage, shrouded in mystery. His presence on stage is so hypnotic that I found myself not so much nodding along as staring in awe. He and the other artists on Backwoodz further the trail blazed by artists like Aesop Rock, storytellers whose mastery of their craft leaves me vacillating between nodding my head and following along with lyrics to savor every line, every reference. His work with E L U C I D as Armand Hammer is equally powerful and as endlessly replayable.

One of the most beloved releases in the Armand Hammer canon is Haram, and that set expectations high for Mercy, which is another collaboration between Woods, E L U C I D, and the Alchemist. While none of these artists has a bad record among them, there is something truly special that comes from their dedicated collaborations, and Mercy is no different.

GOLLIWOG is a nightmare of a record, more real-life horror than the horrorcore of the 1990s. It would have been more than enough to ensure his place on year-end lists, but Woods and E L U C I D have returned with Mercy, the latest Armand Hammer project. The beats on Mercy are more eerie than the jump scares of GOLLIWOG, even taking a breath on lighter-sounding tracks like “Dogeared”. The soundscapes might be lighter, but the subject matter is not, as Woods is questioned about the role of the poet in these times, and he shares how that question haunts him throughout his day.

It would be easy to quote the endless stream of nightmare images, darkly humorous lines, and pop culture touchpoints that flood Mercy. I won’t recall every knockout line, every reference to a film or filmmaker, but the way both artists seamlessly blend these into every song is bound to draw in the lyric-readers, referencing anything from deep cuts like Gary Oldman’s directorial debut Nil by Mouth to Fred Williamson’s action epic Bucktown to anything in between.

Mercy opens with a showstopper. “Laraji” begins with a beat that is stabbed by guitars as the two trade dense verses filled with images of lives and spaces ravaged by drugs, as Woods ponders where god is in all the destruction. It sets a different tone than GOLLIWOG, but is no less unsettling. The Alchemist has long been recognized as one of the elite producers in hip-hop, drawing from the 1990s East Coast glory days without merely paying homage. His small choices, such as a haunting voice buried in the mix or the tire screeches that punctuate “Glue Traps”, showcase how his attention to detail sets him apart from the generic beats that permeate more mainstream releases.

Earl Sweatshirt turns up for “California Games”, seemingly tossing off a stream of consciousness over a jazzy, soulful beat before E L U C I D and Woods come in with force on their verses. Closer “Super Nintendo” recounts a relatively low-stakes day of pleasure and rests on a beat that sounds like a video game for the name-checked console.

It’s not that Mercy is less intense than GOLLIWOG, because it wrestles with many of the same themes as Woods’ first masterpiece of the year. Nothing about the music that Woods, E L U C I D, and the Alchemist produce collectively or on their own sounds compromised, and it has maintained a staggeringly high standard of quality. For listeners drawn to the art of hip-hop, the music meant to stand the test of time, Mercy is a feast.