Black Thought, Madlib and Your Old Droog have teamed up for a new collaboration — listen to it below.
Released on Wednesday (May 1), “Reekyod” finds the Roots MC and New York-via-Ukraine rapper trading verses over dusty production from the Beat Konducta.
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“They say the root of all evil is light green/ Make many a wife leave pursuing the right dream/ I met a few on the last train from nowhere/ The reason I reside in the fast lane is to go there,” Black Thought raps.
Seamlessly taking the baton, Droog then spits: “Never wanted fame, I came to dissolve this/ Conspiracy theory and clear me of the false charges/ Rescue your ears from that hot garbage/ Everything I spit shine, I’ma get mine regardless.”
The song was released via Madlib’s Madlib Invazion imprint, but there’s no word on whether it’s part of a bigger project or just a standalone single.
Black Thought revealed that Madlib had “bombarded” him with around 100 beats during his appearance on his bandmate Questlove‘s Questlove Supreme podcast in December.
“Sometimes I’m writing not to beats but it’s more exciting for me to write to beats,” he said. “I got a batch of joints from Madlib, for example. Like, maybe two to three weeks ago. He hit me, he was like, ‘Yo, Monday, I’ma start bombarding you with joints.’
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“Boom, Monday rolls around, he sends me like 100 beats. And then I got the beats, I narrowed it down to like 18 and I started vibing to those joints. But you know, it’s exciting now for me to come home and dig through that collection.”
The Philadelphia rap veteran also said he flew to Los Angeles and spent time in the studio with the elusive producer.
“We had a couple sessions in L.A. over the weekend,” he said. “I came back. So that’s what I’ve been chipping away at. I went to L.A. to do a book event at USC, but the studio is my church — that’s where I feel most at home.
“So if there’s any possibility for me to go and sit in a studio some place and hear music and chill and smoke and be social, whatever, whether I’m actively working on a thing or not, that’s what I’m gonna opt for.”
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On the same podcast episode, Black Thought named Your Old Droog as one of his current favorite MCs, despite admitting he didn’t initially like him because “he sounded too much like Nas.”
“I met him on the road opening up for Royce [Da 5’9″] and [DJ] Premier when they were doing their PRhyme tour and we sort of hit it off,” he said. “I talk about mentorship and, y’know, just artists that we share demos with one another and I’m able to offer wisdom […] he’s been one of those artists.”
