Just days after surprise releasing “The Yankee and the Brave (ep. 4)” from their forthcoming album RTJ4, Run the Jewels are back again with a new song. It’s called “Ooh LA LA” and features DJ Premier and Greg Nice of East Coast hip-hop duo Nice & Smooth.
“Ooh LA LA” boasts the same tight production and energetic flows that RTJ fans have come to expect. It’s built around a sample of “DWYCK” by Gang Star, a 1992 classic featuring Nice & Smooth. Preemo’s turntable scratches lend “Ooh LA LA” some old-school swagger, while Greg Nice provides the song’s beating heart — those infectious “Ooh la la”‘s and “Ah oui oui”‘s that will stick in your head long after you turn off the track.
As El-P told Beats 1 Radio’s Zane Lowe, he and Killer Mike have been wanting to cut a song from that sample for years. He said,
“There’s not a lot of classic un-mined golden age material that hasn’t been turned into a fucking jam. I have been listening to this goddamn sample for like 15 fucking years. Ask Mike. I’ve been plotting on this shit probably for the last three albums, and I’m gonna be very honest with you, Zane. This is the first one we could afford it. This is the first time that Run the Jewels had a real fucking budget to clear samples.”
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That’s money well spent. Check out “Ooh LA LA”, and listen to the interview with Zane Lowe below.
RTJ4 is set “to arrive soon,” according to a press statement. It was recorded primarily at Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La Studios, as well as the famed Electric Lady Studios in New York.
In December, Run the Jewels contributed a cut to the Cyberpunk 2077 video game soundtrack. In a perfect world, the dynamic duo would be readying themselves for a massive tour with Rage Against the Machine, but in light of the coronavirus pandemic, many of those tour dates are getting rescheduled. Still, the quarantine won’t last forever, and you can get Run the Jewels tickets here.
