Ahead of releasing his feverishly anticipated fourth album next week, Danny Brown has dropped the project’s most anticipated collab: “Really Doe,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Earl Sweatshirt. Yes, this is now a real song that exists in the universe and not just in your wildest dreams. Get excited.
The star-studded banger boasts an ominous, fractured beat with looped bells; it kind of sounds like a nefarious ice cream truck rolling down your street at midnight. Brown kicks things off with his idiosyncratic flow, and each subsequent verse is tied together with Kendrick’s hook: “They say I got the city on fire / I ain’t boomin’, that’s a goodamn lie.” It’s practically impossible trying to decide whose bars here are the illest — with a collab like this, we all win.
Speaking to NPR, Brown explained how “Really Doe” came together, saying, “Me and Kendrick always talked about doing stuff, and I had the idea to get K Dot and Earl together... but first I got me and Ab Soul. And then one day when I was mixing the album with Ali, K Dot snuck in and just laced it. I had to be patient and wait on Earl, but it was all worth it you know because hip-hop needs that posse cut. We just wanna make the best possible song ‘cause we know the hype on paper. I know it’s gonna satisfy, my feet is up.”
Brown’s Atrocity Exhibition, the follow-up to 2013’s Old, arrives September 30.