With the announcement that seminal electronic artist DJ Shadow will release his fifth studio full-length, The Mountain Will Fall, new music has finally come forth. One of the 13 tracks that will be featured on the new LP is “Nobody Speak,” and it features verses from El-P and Killer Mike of acclaimed hip-hop super-duo Run the Jewels. Is it much of a surprise that pairing electronica’s most groundbreaking producers with rappers at the pinnacle of the hip-hop game is a recipe for pure fire? Check out the track below and find out for yourself:
DJ Shadow had this to say about deciding to collaborate with Run the Jewels on this new track:
“Occasionally, I make a beat that demands a specific vocal treatment and attitude. In the case of ‘Nobody Speak,’ I wasn’t going to settle for anyone other than Run The Jewels; in my mind, it was them or no one. Fortunately, they agreed, and they took the track to a place I could never get to on my own. That’s the definition of a rewarding collaboration.”
The song kicks off with a guitar lick that fades into a rumbling bass track, with El-P and Killer Mike trading rhymes – sometimes mid-verse – in the style that has garnered the duo such critical acclaim. Lyrically the song is loosely based around the chorus of Yellowman’s iconic dancehall song “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt,” altering the lyrics to “Nobody speak / Nobody get jumped!”
In addition to being featured on The Mountain Will Fall, “Nobody Speak” will also be available through the Run the Jewels VRTJ viewer. The viewer will be available for music fans this weekend for Record Store Day on Saturday, April 16.
The Mountain Will Fall is slated for release through Mass Appeal Records on June 24 and includes additional guest turns by artists like Nils Frahm, Ernie Fresh, Matthew Halsall and G Jones and Bleep Bloop.
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