Ibrahim Maalouf werkt samen met Erick The Architect
De veel geprezen en gelauwerde componist brengt vandaag een nieuwe single uit van zijn aankomende zeventiende (!) album.
Op Money is Erick The Architect (Flatbush Zombies, Beast Coast) te horen. Hij is maar een van de velen die samenwerkten met Ibrahim Maalouf voor diens volgende album 'Capacity For Love' dat uitkomt op 4 november 2022. Er zijn nog een pak mooie namen die meewerkten aan de plaat die vlak na 'Queen of Sheba' aankomt, de plaat die hij maakte met Angeliqque Kidjo. Meer daarover later.
Money is een aanklacht tegen de systemen die sommige mensen onder controle houden door anderen in dienst van geld en ziet Ericks scherpe flow samenkomen met de kwarttonale, Arabische kenmerken van het spel van de in Libanon geboren Maalouf.
Over de samenwerking zegt Maalouf: "Over the years, I had been trying to get in touch with Erick. I am a big fan of Flatbush Zombies and listened to them a lot. When it came to my attention that my management team at Quincy Jones Production had started to work with Erick as a solo artist under the name of Erik the Architect, I seized the opportunity and asked the label to work out something so we could be introduced to one another. One day, we finally met. I presented this track to him and explained my vision for it; it was about having our actions controlled by others in the name of money. I wanted to make a song about that. The idea was to imagine people as pawns, controlled and exploited, like in The Matrix. Erick was immediately on board with the concept."
Erick The Architct verklaart hoe de samenwerking ontstond: "While I was in Paris for a show, I met up with Ibrahim in his studio and we made our first song together. There was a special energy about working alongside Ibrahim, and I wanted to see if we could make some magic, again. He then played me the instrumental for ‘Money' and gave me a bit of the premise of what he was imagining for the song. I loved his enthusiasm and direction - it inspired me. The perspective I wrote from was an individual who believes he can control anything, much like the attitudes of people with a bunch of money (Laugh). My favourite part of the record is when I switched my flow up at the end when things go a bit haywire. I wanted to write a song like this because of what it represents. If you exploit anything you worked hard for, you may even turn on yourself."