The defining moment for and so far remains a of the duo standing before racks of t-shirts in a Hoboken vintage store, rapping like their lives depend on it. As a droning loop unfurls and a raspy voice croaks, “What the fuck is good,” two boyish-looking white guys emerge, black hoodies cinched around their faces. Lungs, whose blond brows and eyelashes intensify his unblinking gaze, raps like a wartime Morse code transmission, warning of an impending anxiety attack.
His skinny frame is almost alien; he jabs a bony index finger at each syllable to ensure the doomsday message sinks in. Behind him, Phiik bobs like a sidelined , occasionally mouthing along. When he’s up, he darts to the mic, immediately unwinding a percussive flow that ripples and sputters like raindrops on a drumhead.
“Life is anything but a dream,” he spits, “and I’m foaming at the mouth.” The video, which was filmed for Top Shelf Premium’s Off Top freestyle series, captures the sheer intensity of Phiik and Lungs as a duo. Their chemistry comes easy.
They both grew up on Long Island and have been friends since high school, sharing an admiration of early Def Jux and Wu-Tang records. In 2014, Lungs joined Tase Grip, the New York City collective founded by . Phiik quickly followed suit.
Theirs is a tape-saturated, sound, fresh and immediate but strikingly outside of time. The four entries in the pair’s series, all produced by Lungs himself under the moniker LoneSword, are full of frantic, imagist.