When it comes to appearances on late-night TV, hip-hop acts often upgrade their live shows with the addition of live bands, but Brooklyn’s Flatbush Zombies took the concept a step further last night on The Late Late Show with James Corden. Rather than simply adding a live drummer and some guitars, the raucous trio went all-out, bringing in part of the University of Southern California marching band to back them up in a devastating performance of their Vacation In Hell hit, “Headstone.”
While the Zombies’ live performances are always frenetic, with the addition of some marching band fight music, their late-night set threatened to explode off the stage as Erick, Juice, and Meechy went through their usual lively motions with embellishments and flourishes from the brass section. How the tiny Late Late Show stage managed to contain their brawling energy is a mystery, but the crowd — and host James Corden himself — seemed to love every second. Even as the group self-edited some of the song’s raunchier lyrics, it seemed little was lost in translation. If anything, they may need to put some of those band members on retainer for special occasions, because after that, even their usual furious live sets might pale in comparison.
Vacation In Hell is out now via Glorious Dead Recordings. It’s also on Uproxx’s Best Rap Albums of 2018 list.
