Armand Hammer: “Trauma Mic” [ft. Pink Siifu] Track Review

Armand Hammer, the duo of rappers billy woods and Elucid, are not doomsayers—they just examine the grim realities of life and report their findings. Both can be blunt and poetic, their stark, hi-definition vignettes burning their way into your subconscious. This dynamic persists on “Trauma Mic,” the lead single for their sixth album We Buy Diabetic Test Strips. Elucid offers a glimpse inside a complicated mind, rendering paranoia with Biblical heft (“I am the mud waiting for the flood that they said would never come”) and registering his own shortcomings. woods disputes any hope for solidarity (“Them niggas ain’t dying for you”) while getting in humorous shots at overly prolific rappers (“Brother dropped a project every month, got the nerve to ask if I peeped it”). Paired with producer DJ Haram’s drum claps, sirens, 808s, and bleach-white distortion, it’s a cacophonous and enveloping experience, one that continues to explore the gritty space between light and dark.