Long-Rumored Elton John Collab Surfaces on New Young Thug EP

[News]

Two of music’s great eccentrics collaborate on new song “High”

Back in 2016, news broke that Atlanta rapper Young Thug and glam rock legend Elton John hung out after publicizing their love for each other’s music. At the time, the encounter merely blessed us with an incredibly wholesome set of instagram pictures. Two and a half years later, a collaborative effort between the two has surfaced.

Young Thug’s new On The Rvn EP is a quick six song, 20-minute jaunt, with additional lyrical assists coming from Jaden Smith and 6LACK. The majority of the project’s runtime is head-bob-inducing but all too familiar. Any of the first five tracks would fit snugly into Thug’s last mixtape Slime Language, released just over a month ago.

The immediate standout is clearly final track “High,” a long-rumored song based around a generous sampling of seminal Elton John hit “Rocket Man.” Vocals ripped from an a cappella performance of the song make up the majority of the song’s chorus and bounce around in the periphery of the beat during Young Thug’s verses. Thug harmonizes with Elton on the hook, stretching and warping the refrain “I’m gonna be high/like a rocket man” in his signature syrupy, auto-tuned style of crooning.

The verses are peppered with the aggressive posturing that’s common in Thug’s music, but it’s the more reflective and sincere lines that truly land. Over somber piano keys and spacious 808s, Thug touches on being financially able to take care of his family, drug addiction and rocky relationships. “She let me back in like she never cried/she let me back in like I never lied/I look like a cat with eleven lives,” he raps.

On his most high-profile collaboration yet, Young Thug combines his penchant for amorphous vocalizations and sticky flows with a level of emotional depth that keeps him from getting washed by one of the biggest stars in the history of music. Thugger has been pumping out releases over the past few months, and this final track off his new EP offers much reason for optimism for whatever direction the shape-shifting artist heads in next.

The post Long-Rumored Elton John Collab Surfaces on New Young Thug EP appeared first on Verge Campus.

Source