Photo Credit: Edwina Hay<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Review by Yassin Mokbel<\/p>\n
When duo Armand Hammer took the stage at Arts at the Armory last night, rapper billy woods had a few comments on the weather.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s good to be in the Northeast during the fall,\u201d the New York-based artist said. \u201cIt feels real good when you put that hoodie on.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Woods and his counterpart Elucid, who released their first project together in 2013 and have remained bastions of the underground since, like to keep it simple. They arrived at their small venue concert in everyday outfits and performed in front of a screen that plainly read \u201cArmand Hammer.\u201d After 13 years together, and even longer solo careers, touring is a regular job for them, the artist equivalent of a 9-to-5. They show up to a city, appreciate the weather and rock a set for an audience of hardcore fans.<\/span><\/p>\n While Armand Hammer shy away from the glitz and glamor of performance, don\u2019t let their lack of showmanship fool you into thinking they don\u2019t care. After an electrifying opening set from labelmates ShrapKnel, the two kicked off with tracks from their last album, 2025\u2019s \u201cMercy.\u201d The duo\u2019s contrasting synergy, which really came through on that record, seamlessly translated to the stage. Woods raps every verse like it\u2019s his last, his breath exhausted and his emotions palpable in each word. Meanwhile, Elucid is more carefree and melodic in his delivery, allowing himself to easily flow through his performance. On songs like \u201cLaraaji\u201d and \u201cScandinavia,\u201d where the two rapidly exchange back-and-forth verses, this duality is especially effective.<\/span><\/p>\n The rest of the set showcased a mix of throwbacks, deep cuts, and the duo\u2019s biggest songs, alternating between solo and collaborative tracks, occasionally interrupted by troubleshooting audio issues. Amidst the set, it was easy to tell which songs resonated more with the audience. The harder-hitting instrumentals of \u201cMisery\u201d or \u201cRehearse With Ornette\u201d certainly worked better in a live setting, while the spacier, more sparse \u201cThe Flexible Unreliability of Time & Memory\u201d and \u201cWaterproof Mascara\u201d did seem to slow down the show\u2019s momentum, even if undeniably impressive performances. Their mix of solo and duo songs was also appreciated, but it felt like a missed opportunity to not perform more collaboratively, as those moments were easily the highlight of the show.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Despite slight clunkiness in the setlist\u2019s flow, when Armand Hammer hit their stride, they proved why they\u2019ve been staples in the hip hop scene for so long. The ability to spit complex, high-concept verses, littered with historical references and double meanings, is unparalleled. When combined with a killer hook and beat, like on \u201cBlack Sunlight\u201d or \u201cSuper Nintendo,\u201d it makes for a masterful performance. Even if there’s a lack of catchiness in their discography, you can still feel a high level of audience engagement and appreciation on tracks like \u201cFalling Out the Sky\u201d or \u201cStonefruit.\u201d The latter, which closed the show, generated the loudest moment of the night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After the duo wrapped up their just-over-an-hour-long \u201cno breaks\u201d set at around 10:15 p.m., they made their way to the merch table, where they personally signed memorabilia from the audience, an act that underscored their humanity and dedication to the art. What woods and Elucid perhaps lack in theatrical flair, they make up for with a genuine connection to the fans. Their extensive experience as artists hasn\u2019t stopped them from taking a moment to talk to everyone who comes to their show. After all, apart from the occupation, what makes them that different from us? They put their head down, do their work and when the weather gets a little cold and it feels like home, they look forward to putting on that hoodie and getting comfortable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo Credit: Edwina Hay Review by Yassin Mokbel When duo Armand Hammer took the stage at Arts at the Armory last night, rapper billy woods had a few comments on the weather.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s good to be in the Northeast during the fall,\u201d the New York-based artist said. \u201cIt feels real good when you put […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26292,"featured_media":54785,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1525,1523,15],"tags":[2768,2621,327],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54784"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54784"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54787,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54784\/revisions\/54787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}