Rappcats Presents: Madlib & Future Islands Frontman Sam Herring Are Trouble Knows Me - "Streetsweeper" (Madlib Remix)

It's really a wonder how Future Islands frontman Sam Herring came to be the highly-scrutinized then "unnamed emcee" behind Madlib's latest masterpiece, Trouble Knows Me EP; unlike his fellow Hip-Hop-loving Indie Rock brethren Paul Banks and Peter Bjorn & John, Herring is front and center with some surprisingly sharp-tongued rhyming skills. Sam Herring has quietly been playing Baltimore club gigs under his Hemlock Ernst rapping alter ego between Future Islands album cycles since around June 2013, in addition to "waxing poetic" wordplay alongside the likes of Gangrene & Earl Sweatshirt, Scallops Hotel, Du Blonde, and Rapdragons. "Madlib x Hemlock Ernst project Trouble Knows Me officially dropped today [September 1st]. The Master & The Student. Double Dragon," @futureislands ecstatically Tweeted Tuesday afternoon upon the release of Herring's first widely-available "solo" project. Trouble Knows Me EP, which was initially available for pre-order last month, has now become available to the general public on Gustavo Eandi & Jeff Jank-designed, hand-printed Hit & Run silk-screened vinyl in 15-20 unique variations; "three rap tracks + three instrumentals on Side A. Flipside has instrumentals for the rap tracks." When asked if Madlib's newly-rearranged "Streetsweeper" (Remix) would ultimately see a vinyl release as well, Now-Again/Rappcats founder @nowagain quickly responded, "probably not... but hopefully, they'll make more official music soon." And with that said, Madlib's latest celebratory "Streetsweeper" (Remix) is really an all too brief, albeit beautifully orchestrated, flute-accented number anchored by Sam Herring's gritty, almost Atmosphere-reminiscent vocal chops.