Underground rap duo Armand Hammer released their latest full-length LP We Buy Diabetic Test Strips on streaming services in September 2023. Despite this fact, if you pull up the record on Spotify or Apple Music, you'll see a release date of February 27, 2024, along with a few noticeable differences from the original September release. The Armand Hammer album has introduced a new bonus track titled "Doves" to its end, but mysteriously, the two Junglepussy features that were previously present on tracks "Y'all Can't Stand Right Here" and "Empire BLVD" are now missing.
Fans immediately began to notice these changes after the updated version of the album went live in February, prompting an outpouring of questions as to why Armand Hammer members billy woods and Elucid would want to remove Junglepussy from the album. While no concrete answers have been provided by any party involved, subtle hints suggest a possible reason for this change.
Read More: On The Come Up: Junglepussy
Junglepussy Seemingly Tweeted About Her Removal
On the day the Armand Hammer project re-released, Junglepussy shared a post on social media that may relate to her removal. Her tweet read "I remove myself from situations where I'm being treated poorly no matter what I don't stick around to save face for nobody." This prompted fans to inquire if billy woods and Elucid mistreated the New York femcee or if the associated management and label executives involved with distributing We Buy Diabetic Test Strips underpaid her.
Subsequent posts shared to Junglepussy's X account seemed to shade the underground rap duo, including a March 2 post that reads, "I've had to teach artists I used to look up to that they cannot treat me like sh** just bc they've been thru sh**" as well as a March 9 post which says "I had no idea choosing to remove myself wud keep my name in the mouths of these dusties." While no party has confirmed that these comments are related to the Armand Hammer situation, the timing certainly casts suspicion on their connection.
Junglepussy's Features Were Controversial Among Fans
While Junglepussy's social media posts hint at potential mistreatment or underpayment by Armand Hammer, some fans have actively supported the removal of her inclusions online. A number of Reddit commenters have stated displeasure with Junglepussy's spacey, spoken-word delivery and brash, grinding lyrics, and have found that they enjoy "Y'all Can't Stand Right Here" and "Empire BLVD" more without her vocals.
Regardless, many other fans prefer the original Junglepussy versions of the songs, making the new iterations seem shallow and incomplete. Armand Hammer have scrubbed all versions of Junglepussy's vocals from streaming services, even eliminating the tracks from downloaded Spotify libraries. In this way, it seems clear that Armand Hammer are trying to unceremoniously sweep Junglepussy's contribution to the record under the rug, despite there being droves of fans who stream "Y'all Can't Stand Right Here" and "Empire BLVD" just to hear her well-articulated sultry tones.
billy woods And Elucid Have Not Responded
The duo behind Armand Hammer have not acknowledged or responded to Junglepussy's removal from the record, solidifying fan theories that something personal went awry between the three New York artists behind the scenes. billy woods, known for being highly elusive and difficult to reach online, has not made any public statements. However, Elucid has continued to champion the rerelease of We Buy Diabetic Test Strips on social media.
The official Armand Hammer Spotify account shared the new album with the caption "Featuring new bonus track Doves" without making any mention of the other changes. For now, it seems that the only way to hear Junglepussy's original verses is to dig up YouTube archives of the two tracks or purchase early presses of physical We Buy Diabetic Test Strips releases.