Haram (album)

Haram is a collaborative studio album by American hip hop duo Armand Hammer and American hip hop record producer The Alchemist. It was released on March 26, 2021, via Backwoodz Studioz.

Haram
Studio album by Armand Hammer and the Alchemist
Released	March 26, 2021 (2021-03-26)
Genre	Hip hop, Art rap
Length	39:54 (Standard) 43:08 (ALC Records release)
Label	Backwoodz Studioz ALC
Producer	The Alchemist Earl Sweatshirt
Armand Hammer chronology
Shrines (2020) Haram (2021) We Buy Diabetic Test Strips (2023)
The Alchemist chronology
Alfredo (2020) Haram (2021) This Thing of Ours (2021)

Cover controversy

The album art, which depicts two bloody decapitated pigs, drew criticism from animal rights group PETA, who called it "terrifying" and "cruel", and told the Alchemist to change it and "focus on the music, not the shock value of dead animals", after he posted it on Twitter.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	83/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Clash	7/10
Pitchfork	7.8/10

Haram was met with widespread critical acclaim upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 83, based on six reviews.

Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Paul Simpson felt that "The result is a dizzying swirl of disembodied soul samples and hazy beats that frequently dissolve and return, as the emcees deliver complex, metaphor-heavy rhymes addressing subjects such as colonialism and white supremacist oppression." In the Review for Clash, Nathan Evans claimed that, "The best tracks on 'Haram' come together with crooked production that twitches with sharp samples and cuts, and AH’s billy woods and Elucid filling the space with pointed flows. The boys are stiff-nosed and mean-mugged, tightly rapping about dead bodies and vulgar sex to such a degree, it could classify as vore fantasy. To match, Alchemist crosses his signature style with crimson atmospheres that are as wet and eerie as a blood-soaked slaughterhouse." Concluding a review for Pitchfork, Matthew Ismael Ruiz from wrote that "Haram offers another perspective of New York City’s hard heart, rooted in ruminations on power and how it’s wielded. These are the spiritual descendants of Def Jux, rappers that not only embrace the darkness, but wear it as a protective cloak."

Accolades

Haram on year-end lists

Publication	List	Rank	Ref.
Paste	The 50 Best Albums of 2021	16
Pitchfork	The 50 Best Albums of 2021	26

Track listing

All tracks are produced by the Alchemist, except for track 6 co-produced by Earl Sweatshirt.

Haram track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Sir Benni Miles"	Elucid Billy Woods Daniel Alan Maman	2:59
2.	"Roaches Don't Fly"	Elucid Woods Maman	1:28
3.	"Black Sunlight" (featuring Kayana)	Elucid Woods Maman	2:43
4.	"Indian Summer"	Elucid Woods Maman	2:40
5.	"Aubergine" (featuring Fielded)	Elucid Woods Maman	3:17
6.	"God's Feet"	Elucid Woods Maman	2:17
7.	"Peppertree"	Elucid Woods Maman	2:00
8.	"Scaffolds"	Elucid Woods Maman	2:55
9.	"Falling Out the Sky" (featuring Earl Sweatshirt)	Elucid Woods Maman Thebe Kgositsile	3:40
10.	"Wishing Bad" (featuring Curly Castro and Amani)	Elucid Woods Maman Kinte McDaniel Amani	3:45
11.	"Chicharrones" (featuring Quelle Chris)	Elucid Woods Maman Gavin Tennille	3:28
12.	"Squeegee"	Elucid Woods Maman	2:53
13.	"Robert Moses"	Elucid Woods Maman	1:35
14.	"Stonefruit"	Elucid Woods Maman	4:17
Total length:			39:54

ALC Records release

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
15.	"Moneylenders"	Elucid Woods Maman	3:14
Total length:			43:08